Pioneer Woman's Crispy Yogurt Chicken

Pioneer Woman never steers me wrong. Her website is always useful...especially her cooking section. There are always yummy recipes that are relatively easy to prepare, and great photos to help guide you along the way. I can only say that I love her website, and you should check it out for yourself.

This recipe looks like a twist on a classic. I am interested to see how the yogurt and lemon coating plays out. I was not excited about the chicken I had planned for tonight, until I found this recipe. I think I will serve this with some glazed carrots (my usual favorite) and baked potato (another usual favorite). Overall, this looks like it will be a simple and delicious dinner.


Pioneer Woman's Crispy Yogurt Chicken

Ingredients:
1-2 pounds of chicken parts (legs, thighs, etc.)
2 cups plain yogurt
2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
butter to taste (see recipe)
2 cups breadcrumbs, preferably panko
dash of paprika to taste (just for fun)
onion powder to taste
garlic powder to taste

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Place 2 cups of yogurt in a bowl with lemon juice, parsley, paprika, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and fresh minced garlic. Stir to combine.

3) Rinse and pat chicken pieces dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle with salt, pepper (not too much). Set aside.

4) In a separate bowl, combine bread crumbs with a small amount of salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, parsley, and paprika. Combine with a fork until spices are thoroughly mixed in with the breadcrumbs.

5) Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish with a small amount of butter or cooking spray, and set aside.

6) Working one by one, coat each piece of chicken generously with yogurt mixture and then roll in the breadcrumb mixture until thoroughly covered with breadcrumbs. Then, place finished, coated pieces in baking dish.

7) Place a pat of butter on top of the thickest part of each piece of coated chicken.

8) Cover with foil and cook in a 350 degree oven for 1 - 1 1/4 hours. REMEMBER: Remove the foil for the last 15 minutes of cooking time, so the chicken may get golden and crispy. Serve and enjoy!

Jen's Notes:
I did not copy her recipe verbatim, but condensed it and added a additional ingredient. All measurements are approximate, and are what I am going to use (i.e. not in the original version of the recipe).
I think the paprika will be a nice touch and give it a little extra oomph. I will see how much yogurt I actually have on hand; if I am short I will make up the difference with sour cream. Also, I am going to be using dried parsley instead of fresh. All of my chicken is skinless thighs, but I think you can use either skinless or skin-on. PW's photos show that she uses legs with the skin-on. Hopefully, my skinless chicken will be just as tasty. I will report back with the results later.