Crispy Coconut Chicken

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Coconut crusted chicken
This coconut crusted chicken is just amazing and goes so well with Jasmine rice and soy sauce, and peanut sauce – my personal fave. Ina Garten (my hero) says, “Store bought is fine!” For peanut sauce, I concur. House of Tsang makes a great Bangkok Peanut Dipping Sauce, but any peanut sauce from the Thai section of your grocery store works for this dinner.
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Coconut crusted chicken

Crispy Coconut Chicken

  • Author: Yael
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
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Description

Use thin sliced chicken cutlets for these, or chicken tenderloins pounded flat.  If the chicken is too thick, it may not get cooked through by the time your coconut panko coating has browned.  See my notes for tips on how to pound them flat.   Cook some white, brown, or jasmine rice to serve alongside.

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut flakes
  • 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 2 scallions (green onions), sliced thinly
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1 pound thin chicken cutlets, or chicken tenderloins, pounded thin
  • Kosher salt
  • Ground black pepper (optional)
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • Peanut sauce and/or soy sauce for dipping

Instructions

  1. Set up 3 shallow bowls for a dipping and breading station. In the first one, combine coconut, panko, and sliced scallions. In the second bowl, place the flour, and in the third, beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of water using a fork.
  2. Season the chicken with salt, adding pepper if you like. Dip each side of each piece in flour, then the egg, letting any excess drip off, and then coat it in the coconut panko mixture, pressing it gently into the chicken to adhere it.
  3. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add half the chicken and cook until golden brown and cooked through, and then using a fork or a pair of tongs, gently turn the chicken pieces over to brown on the other side.
  4. Cook the chicken in a few batches. As each of the chicken pieces finishes cooking, transfer it to a plate lined with a paper towel and cover with foil or an inverted plate, to help it retain its warmth. If the oil and crumbs left behind in the pan start to burn, stop, allow the pan to cool for a few moments, and wipe out the pan with a dry paper towel.
  5. Add the remaining oil to the pan, heat and add the remaining cutlets. Cook on both sides and remove to the platter.

Notes

If you’re using regular chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins (basically, anything other than thin sliced cutlets), I highly recommend pounding them flat for this recipe.  The coconut and panko makes for a thick coating and a thick piece of chicken will be difficult to cook all the way through by the time the coating has browned.

To pound the chicken, I recommend putting the chicken between two pieces of was paper on a cutting board, and pounding the chicken through the wax paper, peeling it away and discarding it once your chicken has been pounded nice and thin.  A stainless steel meat tenderizer is perfect for this; the side with the small spikes is good for actually tenderizing a tough meat, like certain cuts of beef, but for our purposes, to pound chicken, use the flat side.  Stainless steel is easy to clean and dishwasher safe.

Recommended tools & equipment:  Large cutting board, stainless steel meat tenderizer.

  • Prep Time: 25
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Category: main dish, chicken
  • Cuisine: American

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