Tuesday 27 December 2016

Gluten-Free Oven Fried Chicken


Quite a while back, I watched an episode of Hemsley & Hemsley : Healthy & Delicious where the Hemsley girls made oven fried chicken. What's interesting about their oven fried chicken (called Pablo's Chicken after the boyfriend of a cousin) is that the chicken is coated with ground almonds instead of flour.


The chicken is "fried" in the oven, well baked rather, and it turned out looking so beautifully golden and crispy. I was quite intrigued and grabbed 2 packets of ground almonds when I went to Tesco.

One weekend I gave it a go and was pleasantly surprised at how well the chicken turned out. I did not blog about it but I told myself that I should, the next time I made some.


Well, this almond crusted chicken did not cross my mind in recent times until one weekend when I found a packet of ground almonds in the fridge. Hah! Time to make that nice chicken again.

But one packet was not enough for 8 pieces of chicken. So I dug around hoping to find another one (knowing full well how I love to hoard stuff) but all I could find was a packet of ground hazelnuts. Almonds, hazelnuts, they are nuts and they were ground, so it should work.


It worked beautifully. If you ask me, which is better, regular fried chicken or this, I would say that each has it's own merits. I enjoy either one. If I had to choose, I would have one of each hah..hah...

Serve this fried chicken with your favorite salad. I like mine with coleslaw.


To get the best flavors, be generous with the seasonings. I find that most recipes tend to be a little on the conservative side. So I just go loco and double or triple the recommended amounts.

Eat immediately after it comes out of the oven for that nice crunch because the coating loses it's crunchiness once cooled.

Gluten-Free Oven Fried Chicken
Recipe source : Adapted from Hemsley & Hemsley

Ingredients :
- 4 chicken legs, thigh and drumsticks separated
- 130g ground almonds
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 heaped tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 2 eggs, beaten

Method :
1. In a mixing bowl, combine ground almonds, smoked paprika, cumin. salt, thyme, oregano and garlic powder. Whisk or stir to ensure all ingredients and evenly mixed.
2. Dip chicken into beaten egg, shake off excess and coat with the ground almond mixture.
3. Place coated chicken pieces on a lined baking tray.
4. Bake at 180C for 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked and coating is crispy and golden brown.

39 comments:

  1. Wah! Nice!

    And healthier version than the normal fried chicken, eh?

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  2. Great idea! Almonds. We used to coat with grated cheese, nice also...or cereals - now that is out now, no more of those.

    One thing about those almonds - my girl enjoys them and would want to buy but there is always a warning at the back that they are produced at factories which also produce non-gluten free stuff. We would avoid those as well. Maybe we'll use cashews, own-oven roasted.

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    Replies
    1. Own roasted would be safer though it can be a hassle to grind the nuts. But with a food processor or spice grinder, should not be a problem.

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  3. Deep fried chicken coated with ground almonds and ground hazelnuts sound so delicious and crunchy though I have never tasted any before.

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    Replies
    1. It was very good, the nuttiness contributed to the nice taste.

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  4. I suppose this is the way to go to make crisp chicken at home...baked...yay! ;) But if I eat out, I of course want it properly deep fried....haha! :D How do you keep your chicken dry and not soggy with oil at the bottom? You do not need to put the chicken pieces on a rack (in the oven) to drain off the oil? Coz when I bake chicken, usually I notice oil oozes out of the chicken onto the baking paper.

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    Replies
    1. It would be best to place the chicken on a rack for better results. Mine was obviously not crispy at the bottom. I could have flipped the chicken over but was afraid that the coating would come off. Next time I will do it with a rack. More washing though hah..hah..

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  5. Yummy! I would love to have this meal too especially the coleslaw... anytime!!

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    Replies
    1. It was very good and coleslaw is a great accompaniment to fried chicken :)

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  6. Gluten-free oven baked chicken!! This is something new to me. Ooo. Your beautiful coleslaw. Everything looked delish.

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  7. Your chicken looks amazing and nice. I have not tried this before and still guessing how it tastes. Where can I try them besides for your forbidden kitchen? LOL

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  8. I definitely prefer bake version, healthier and not to mention that cleaning is easier as well!

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  9. I love that idea of using almonds instead of bread crumbs!

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  10. Ayoo sedapppp nya PH
    Dah lah sedap sihat pulak tu kann

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    Replies
    1. Ya, Kak Noor, lebih sihat berbanding dengan ayam yang digoreng.

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  11. So delicious! Oven friend chicken with coleslaw - best combination! Yummy!

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  12. Oh my. Tomorrow I have guests for dinner. So this will be the menu. I adore crispy golden chicken and this looks so delicious and easy to make.
    Thanks for sharing your finds, dear. :)

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    Replies
    1. Your guests will love these "fried" chicken, I am sure!

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    2. The "oven" chicken was a success. I was asked for the recipe... but I left 50 min in the oven, for it to be cooked and crispy. This is a great recipe for a casual meal (with beer) at home. Many thanks

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    3. I am so happy to hear that!

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  13. eeee ... i want this ... the mix of ingredients sounds more appealing than whatever kfc's secret herbs and spices are :D i've not heard of Hemsley & Hemsley, so i should check them out on youtube :D

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    Replies
    1. Do check out Hemsley & Hemsley. I love their recipes and the sisters are very easy on the eyes too :)

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  14. First, just wanna tell, i dah jumpa cajun seasoning tu, tapi blm beli lagi, heheh..
    Wah, nice la, most important senang nak buat. Tapi nak kena beli ground almond dululah, tak simpan.

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    Replies
    1. Oh, OK dah jumpa :) PH pun jarang simpan ground almond sebab dulu selalu expired sebelum sempat guna.

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  15. Hi Phong Hong,
    Now i know whatelse I could do with ground almond. These crispy baked chicken surely look yummy !

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    Replies
    1. Hi Karen! Yes, for baking cookies, cakes and even chicken LOL!

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  16. You ni mmg rajinkan PH.... Emmm bilalah i nak rajin mcm you. Aduhhh...
    Tulah nak membeli nut nut tu yg malas, takut tersadai dalam esbok pulak haha.... Weyh you punya BBQ sos hari tu pun i belum bukak lagi haha....

    Mesti rasa dia ada lemak lemak kan PH sebab ada kacang

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    Replies
    1. PH pun sama jugak, Hainom....kejadian terlebih rajin tu sekali sekala aja. Macam sawan2 rajin lah kiranya heh...heh...Dah banyak kali beli ground almonds, simpan sampai expired. Rugi sebab bukannya murah benda tu. Anyway, sedap ayam bakar macam ni. Ada rasa "nutty flavor". Hainom kalau sawan rajin tu, boleh cuba lah...

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  17. I seldom cook Chinese food. But for Western and some kinda like fast food, I always try to make it healthy for the kids n hubby. Tak rugi if bookmark this recipe. Thanks for sharing.

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    Replies
    1. Most kids tend to be a fan of western food. I hope you try this recipe.

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