Happy Mothers Day to all the amazing Mums! I’ve got an indulgent Mothers Day Chocolate Feast I’m preparing for afternoon tea later today… hope to post about it in the next few days. In the meantime, there is this Healthy Chicken Bake with a crunchy and flavorful Popcorn Crumb Topping that the whole family will adore. It’s easy to prepare, and best of all – it’s light and healthy, not full of butters and other fattening ingredients usually found in comforting Chicken Bakes.
To make the Chicken Bake with Popcorn, you start by cutting 2 chicken breasts into 5 strips each (10 in total)
Dip each piece of chicken in a bowl with a beaten egg and then place into a large oven proof dish, ready to bake later.
Set the prepared chicken strips aside and pan fry a chopped onion, 2 garlic cloves and 200g of sliced mushrooms until golden and reduced.
Then, in a mini food processor, grind a cup and a half of popcorn to a fine crumb. You may need to do it in a couple of batches because all the popcorn may not fit at full size! Then, top the crumbed popcorn with a generous portion of the mushroom and onion mixture and mix until well combined, again you may need to do this in batches. Taste after each mushroom portion addition and use as much of the mushrooms as you need to get the perfect taste, the rest of the mushroom mixture can be kept for a delicious Omelette filling!
Get out your prepared chicken strips waiting in the ovenproof dish and top with the crumbed popcorn/mushroom/onion mixture. This is not a fully crumbed dish, so just make sure that the crumb is evenly distributed so each chicken strip gets about the same volume of crumb.
Place the Healthy Chicken Bake with Popcorn in your oven, preheated to 200°C /392°F and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the chicken is browned and cooked through.
The flavor is incredible, the chicken nice and tender and not at all dry, from it’s short burst in the hot oven. The crumb taste almost peanut buttery as a result of the unusual combination of popcorn, onions and mushrooms – whatever it is, it’s heavenly and is a dish I’m going to be cooking a lot from now on!
I cut them into little Mini Chicken “Nuggets” for Mr (almost) 2 and he couldn’t get enough of them! I gave it to him in a Muffin Tin Meal, along with some whole popcorn and grapes. He’s started learning his colors and at the moment he calls every color “yellow”, so I thought I’d give him all yellow muffin liners to reinforce his learning – and we kept singing “yellow, yellow, yellow” all mealtime!
Healthy Chicken Bake with Popcorn
2 Chicken Breasts (about 500g in total)
1 Egg
1 teaspoon oil
1 Onion, diced
2 Garlic Cloves, finely diced
200g Mushrooms, diced
1 and 1/2 Cups Popped Popcorn
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C /392°F.
2. Cut each chicken breast into 5 strips, so there’s 10 chicken strips in total.
3. Beat the egg in a small bowl and then dip each chicken strip in the egg and place in an ovenproof dish. Once all the chicken strips are dipped in egg and sitting in the ovenproof dish, set aside.
4. Heat the oil in a frying pan and then over a medium heat, soften the onions and garlic. Add the mushrooms and cook until reduced and caramelized.
5. Place the popcorn in a mini food processor, in batches, and process until you achieve fine crumbs.
6. Add the onion/mushroom mixture to the crumbed popcorn, a few tablespoons at a time and blend until you achieve your desired taste and texture.
7. Get out your prepared chicken strips waiting in the ovenproof dish and top with the crumbed popcorn/mushroom/onion mixture.
8. Place in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the chicken is golden and cooked through.
9. Serve with a salad on the side or on a bed of popcorn!
Serves 4
More Chicken Recipes:
Coconut Chicken with Quinoa
Peanut Butter on Toast with Hidden Chicken (Picky Eater Trick!)
The Perfect Chicken & Mushroom Burger
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