Key takeout
Ree Drummond’s four iconic chicken strips are made from crushed cereals, sweet, salty and crispy. There are endless tweaks that can be made to this recipe by swapping cereals and adding herbs and spices. Chicken strips can be easily air-fried or baked, making them a low option for weekday meals.
Growing up, I was not allowed to have sugary cereals for breakfast. Chilios and Rice Crispies were as wild as things were. However, good things have come out on special occasions, like a sleepover at my grandparents’ house. All sweet cereals were allowed: Cap’n Crunch, Honey Bunches of Oats, and even my favorite cinnamon toast crunch.
As I’m an adult I can eat every cap crunch I want, but I rarely crave it, not to mention pouring a bowl for dinner. So when I came across this Ree Drummond recipe that utilizes the nostalgia of sugary childhood breakfast cereals that I paired with my regular dinner staple.
The chicken is coated with flour, then sprinkled with eggs, and finally crushed the cap’n crunch. Thanks to the crumbs, these strips are sweet, salty, crispy and super soft. They are simple enough for weekday dinners and are fun to serve as an app at parties.
Simply recipes /Alexandra Emmanueli
How to make Ree Drummond chicken strips
Ree Drummond’s original recipe calls for chicken bids, but I used the one I had on hand: boneless skinless chicken thighs – my go-to bulk purchase from Costco. To create an even-sized strip, each thigh was sliced in half lengthwise.
We installed a standard Drin Garden station using three shallow bowls. One is seasoned generously with salt and pepper, and the other comes with two whipped eggs and a crushed Cap’n Crunch cereal. To keep things organized using the “wet hand/dry hand” method, I soaked each strip in flour, eggs, and finally soaked it in grain, gently pressed to help it.
Lee’s version asks for fried food, but I wasn’t in the mood to smoke the kitchen. Instead, I broadcast the strip for 13 minutes at 350°F, then flipped it over halfway through. result? Crispy, golden crust with the right amount of sweetness and spices.
These are best eaten with a more mature taste, hot, fresh, or spicy mayonnaise or tangy mustard sides that come from a fryer basket with a squirt of ketchup.
Simply recipes /Alexandra Emmanueli
Easy adjustment
This recipe is very adaptable and this is part of the fun. I found the strip on the sweeter side, which is not surprising as it is coated with sugar grain. Smoked paprika, garlic powder, or even Cayenne can do wonders to balance it out a little more. Additionally, grains with a more neutral flavor like cornflakes add crunches without being too sweet.
If you don’t have an air fryer, you can bake oven strips on a baking sheet lined with 400°F parchment for 20 minutes, then flip through and bake in the middle. Or, if you’re a bit confused and need a lot of crunch, as REE suggests first, heat a few inches of vegetable oil to 350°F in a heavy pan and fry the strips in batches for about 3-4 minutes per side until golden and cooked.
Put it in a soft bread with oven fries, tangy slow or chicleus and spicy mayonnaise and serve strips to make your chicken sandwich fun. You enjoy them, but one is for sure. These crispy and nostalgic bids are not boring.
Simply recipes /Alexandra Emmanueli
