Crispy Panko Chicken, made with panko, walnut, and Dijon mustard crust, is one of my favorite dishes, and my private chef clients love it, too. It's a quick 1-2-3 at the breading station, and you end up with perfectly juicy chicken with the most unbelievably crunchy crust.
Best crispy chicken ever
This is a super versatile protein you can use to top salads, pasta, or risotto, put in a wrap, or just chomp it on its own with a dipping sauce. Both kids and grown-ups adore it! You can also freeze it before cooking to store and use later. I have a stack of them ready to go in my freezer, and clients always request 'Rosie's crispy chicken,' so I usually stock theirs with it, too!
Ingredient notes
Making crispy panko chicken relies on (funnily enough) panko breadcrumbs to get that super crunchy coating. Panko yields far, far superior results to ordinary breadcrumbs, so if you want super crispy chicken, you definitely need to use them. They are made from dried Japanese milk bread, which is very light and fluffy due to the tangzhong method used to make it. We mix the panko with chopped walnuts for even more crunch and a bit more flavor, as panko is basically a texture rather than a taste.
The flavor in this dish also comes from the 'wet' stage of the breading process, where we mix herbs and Dijon mustard into the egg. I use an outrageous amount of Dijon as I like my mustard (a lot), but you can tone it down to suit you.
Good quality chicken breast is the other variable, and I really recommend buying the best you can afford. Free-range, organic chicken will give you much juicier meat.
See the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for full quantities and step-by-step directions on how to make crispy panko chicken.
Get set up
Make your three breading stations. Spread flour onto a plate (station one). Mix the egg, powdered garlic, lemon zest, and Dijon mustard together in a shallow bowl, Tupperware, or dish (station two). Place the panko breadcrumbs and chopped walnuts into a large bowl or onto a tray (station three). Season all three stations with salt and pepper.
Prepare a baking tray with a wire cooling rack on top of it.
Now you're ready to panée chicken breast with panko and walnut crust!
How to panko chicken breasts
- Flatten the chicken breast by placing each one between a folded piece of parchment paper (baking paper) and bashing it hard with a rolling pin. We want the chicken to be an even thickness of around 1-2cm (around half an inch).
- Press the flattened chicken breast into the flour on both sides to ensure an even coating. Then, dip the flour-coated chicken breast in the egg and Dijon mixture. Ensure it is fully covered and wet with no dry patches.
- Pick up the chicken and allow the excess to drip off, then place it into the panko walnut mixture.
- Toss the panko coating mixture over the chicken and really press it in on both sides. Place it onto the wire rack on the tray and repeat as needed.
Expert tip
Delegate a dry hand and a wet hand when panéeing chicken (or anything). So one of your hands does the flour and panko (stations one and three), and the other does the egg. This lessens the risk of more panko coating ending up on your fingers than the chicken. You can also use tongs for this.
How to fry crispy panko chicken
Fill a large frying pan to around 1cm or ⅓ inch with neutral cooking oil with a high smoke point. Canola oil and sunflower oil are both widely available, lower cost options. Avocado oil is a better quality option but much more expensive.
Turn the heat to medium/high. Test it is hot enough by throwing a crumb of panko in and see if it sizzles immediately. If it does, use tongs to carefully lower a panko walnut-coated chicken breast into the oil. Lay it in the oil away from you so that if it spits, it doesn't spit on you!
Wait until the base has turned a golden brown, then carefully turn it over by lifting it up with a spatula and using the tongs to flip it. Each side should take a few minutes. Keep an eye on the heat; you may need to adjust it if it looks like the coating is turning too fast or too slow. It should be sizzling steadily and vigorously but not sound too angry, and it definitely should not be smoking.
If you are cooking multiple walnut panko chicken breasts, place them back onto the wire rack on the tray once cooked on both sides and put them in the oven to stay warm yet stop them from going soggy. Do not place them on paper towels. The oven can be quite low as we don't want it to dry out; I keep it around 160°C/320°F.
Rest for a few minutes, then squeeze over some fresh lemon juice and slice into strips.
Storage and Freezing
Crispy panko chicken is best enjoyed fresh straight after cooking. Placing it in the fridge or freezing it afterward will significantly affect the crispness, and it won't be nearly as good. The best option is to bread it in advance and store it raw, covered in the fridge, and layered with parchment paper for up to a day before cooking.
Alternatively, freeze it after the panko breading stage to cook from frozen later. After you finish up at your breading station, layer the walnut panko-crusted chicken in ziplock bags or air-tight containers separated by sheets of parchment paper. It needs to be frozen completely flat, or when you put it in the pan to fry, it will not cook evenly.
How to cook crispy panko chicken from frozen
You can cook panko chicken from frozen, which is what I love most about this dish. No need to defrost!
Preheat your oven to 180°C/355°F. Prepare a baking tray with an oven-safe wire cooling rack on top of it.
Fry the panko chicken in oil as above on both sides until golden brown, then transfer to the oven on the wire rack/tray for 10 minutes until it is cooked through. A meat thermometer should always read 74°C/165°F when cooking chicken.
Troubleshooting
The chicken doesn't cook evenly - it needs to be an even thickness. If one part of the chicken is fatter than another, it will not cook at the same rate, and the crust will not brown evenly.
The crust burned - check the heat of the oil; it is likely too hot. You may have also added too much walnut or chopped it too finely. The walnut pieces must be roughly the same size as the panko breadcrumbs or a bit larger.
Side dishes
I like to serve crispy panko chicken with the following side dishes:
Equipment
I shallow fry panko chicken in good quality stainless steel cookware. It needs to be wide enough to fit the flattened chicken breast in, have good heat distribution, and be responsive. If you have a deep-fat fryer, you can also use this. Lower it in with tongs. Set the temperature to 180C/355F.
If you try this recipe...
If you make this recipe, I'd love to hear how it went! Please leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on the recipe card and consider leaving a comment as well. Your feedback helps other readers and is greatly appreciated.
📖 Recipe
Crispy Panko Chicken With Walnut and Mustard Crust
Equipment
- large stainless steel saute pan or other large pan with good heat distribution
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breast
- 60 grams (½ cup) plain flour /all-purpose flour
- 100 grams (2 cups) panko breadcrumbs
- 50 grams (¾ cup) walnuts finely chopped, not blended
- 2 eggs
- 4 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ lemon zest
- salt and pepper
- 60 ml (¼ cup) neutral oil for frying e.g., canola, sunflower, avocado
Instructions
How to panko chicken
- First, flatten the chicken. Place each breast between two pieces of parchment paper and hit it hard all over with a rolling pin to an even thickness of 1-2cm or half an inch.
- Set up your breading stations. Place the flour onto a plate. In a shallow dish, mix the eggs, mustard, garlic powder, and lemon zest so it's fully combined. Finely chop the walnuts and mix them with the panko breadcrumbs in a third dish. Season each station with salt and pepper.
- Toss the chicken breasts first in the flour to evenly coat them. Then, move them to the egg/Dijon mustard mixture and make sure they are wet all over. Allow excess to drip off, then toss in the panko mixture and press it in so it is fully coated in the crust. Place the breaded panko chicken onto a wire rack on top of an oven tray.
- You can freeze at this stage (see notes section) or continue.
Time to cook
- Heat the oil in a saute pan until it is hot. Test it by tossing in a panko crumb; it should sizzle immediately. The oil needs to be about ¼ inch deep.
- Use tongs to gently lay each panko chicken breast into the oil. We want it to sizzle vigorously, but if it sounds too angry, then adjust the heat.
- Let the first side reach a golden brown color before using a spatula and tongs to carefully flip it over and fry the other side. Then, remove it to the wire cooling rack on the tray. Do not place it on kitchen paper, as it will go soggy.
- If required, keep the crispy panko chicken breasts warm in a low oven as you cook the other portions.
- Rest the crispy panko chicken for 3-4 minutes before slicing up and serving with a wedge of lemon.
Notes
Nutrition
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