This little baked chicken supper goes all the way back to my grandmother’s farmhouse kitchen. On busy nights, when the chores ran long and money was tight, she’d pull out a box of plain crispy rice cereal, a bit of mayo, and some chicken pieces and have supper in the oven in no time. The cereal bakes up into the most cheerful, golden crust—light, crackly, and just salty enough if you buy a seasoned cereal. There’s nothing fancy here, just three humble ingredients and that wonderful crunch that takes me right back to her warm, bustling kitchen.
I like to serve this crispy rice cereal chicken with simple, old-fashioned sides: a baked potato or buttered mashed potatoes, a pan of green beans or sweet corn, and maybe a little coleslaw for something cool and crisp. It’s also lovely with a tossed salad and some dinner rolls to catch any juices from the chicken. For a true Midwestern-style plate, add a scoop of applesauce or a few pickle slices on the side—nothing complicated, just the kind of easy comforts that let the crunchy chicken be the star.
Oven Baked Crispy Rice Cereal ChickenServings: 4
Ingredients
2 pounds bone-in chicken pieces (drumsticks, thighs, or bone-in breasts, skin on or off as you like)
1 cup mayonnaise
3 cups plain crispy rice cereal (lightly crushed by hand)
Directions
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy cleanup, and lightly grease the foil so the chicken won’t stick.
Pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels. This helps the coating stick and keeps the crust crisp in the oven.
Spoon the mayonnaise into a shallow bowl. In a separate shallow dish or pie plate, add the crispy rice cereal and gently crush it with your hands or the bottom of a measuring cup. You want smaller pieces but not fine crumbs—those little bumps are what give you that wonderful crunch.
Working with one piece of chicken at a time, coat it all over with a thin, even layer of mayonnaise. You can use a spoon or your fingers. The mayo should cover the chicken but not be gloppy; it’s acting as your seasoning and your glue for the cereal.
Roll the mayonnaise-coated chicken in the crushed crispy rice cereal, pressing lightly so the cereal sticks and forms a good, bumpy crust. Turn the piece a few times to make sure it’s well covered.
Place each coated piece of chicken on the prepared foil-lined baking sheet, leaving a little space between pieces so the heat can circulate and crisp everything up.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35–45 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken pieces, until the coating is golden brown and crisp and the chicken is cooked through. The juices should run clear when you cut into the thickest part, or an instant-read thermometer should read 165°F (74°C).
Let the chicken rest on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before serving. This helps the coating set so it stays nice and crunchy when you lift it from the pan.
Variations & Tips
If you’d like a little extra flavor without adding more ingredients, choose a lightly seasoned crispy rice cereal rather than plain, or use a mayonnaise that already has a hint of lemon or garlic in it. You can also use boneless, skinless chicken tenders or thighs and simply shorten the baking time by 10–15 minutes, watching closely so the cereal doesn’t overbrown. For smaller households, halve the recipe and bake everything on a smaller sheet, or cook the full batch and enjoy cold leftovers the next day—they stay surprisingly crisp. If your oven tends to brown unevenly, rotate the pan halfway through baking so the crust comes out evenly golden all over.
