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    Homemade Shake and Bake

    Whether you’re making shake and bake pork chops or chicken breasts, our homemade shake and bake recipe is a quick ticket to crispy outsides and juicy insides, sans frying!

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    homemade shake and bake chicken on a serving platter

    A Simple, DIY Homemade Shake and Bake Recipe

    Kraft’s classic boxed Shake ‘N Bake mixture is a kitchen cupboard classic, but we like to DIY it a bit. Why? Well, because our homemade shake and bake recipe is just, well, better! Homemade is always better. Whether you’re wanting a super crispy, shake and bake chicken or tender, moist shake-and-bake pork—BTW if you’ve never tried to shake and bake pork, get on that right now!—our homemade herby breadcrumb mixture is here to blow you away! It’s so easy to throw together, and you can even mix up the breadcrumbs and spices in a double, triple or even quadruple batch and have them on-hand for quick and easy crispy chicken dinners! And for more pork recipe ideas, check out our round up of the Best Pork Recipes.

    chicken breast, vegetable oil, breadcrumbs, sugar and spices on the counter to make homemade shake and bake chicken

    Everything You’ll Need to Make A Homemade Shake and Bake Mixture

    The full recipe (at the bottom of the page) includes meat suggestions—feel free to use chicken breasts, chicken tenders, or pork chops. But for now, let’s just focus on the shake and bake ingredients that go into the coating! The coating is really just seasoned breadcrumbs, and there’s nothing fancy about it in the slightest. The herbs are flexible—you can add all three, or just use whichever you have in your pantry right now. Only got dried parsley? No prob! Got all three? Use a mixture! What we’re getting at is that this is a really easy going recipe. You can also mix up a big container of the seasoned breadcrumbs and keep it around to make shake and bake night even easier. Without further ado, here are our of shake and bake mix ingredients:

    • Breadcrumbs

    • Salt

    • Sugar

    • Paprika

    • Onion powder

    • Garlic powder

    • Black pepper

    • Dried basil, oregano or parsley

    a bowl lined with a plastic bag filled with breadcrumbs and spices to coat chicken for homemade shake and bake chicken
    raw chicken in a plastic bag being coated with breadcrumbs and spices to make homemade shake and bake chicken

    It’s Shake and Bake, and I Helped!

    Yeah, the old school shake and bake commercial is pretty cheesy (awesomely cheesy, TBH), but our homemade shake and bake recipe is actually a really fun one to make with kids. Even the littlest helpers can get in on the action, and no, getting them involved doesn’t mean dealing with a huge mess. How is that possible? Well, this entire recipe pretty much happens in a big zip-top bag! Shake and bake directions can be summed up as “dump everything into a bag and shake, then bake”. But truly, this is so easy! Here’s how to make shake and bake:

    1. Make the crispy shake and bake mixture: Mix together breadcrumbs, salt, sugar, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder black pepper, cayenne and basil in a large zip-top bag, drizzle in a little oil. Close the bag and (this is a good moment to involve a kid, if you’re looking to do so) and sort of massage the oil into the spiced breadcrumb mixture.

    2. Dip each chicken piece or pork chop into a little water. This helps the spiced breadcrumb mixture adhere to the meat.

    3. One by one, put a piece of pork or chicken into the bag of shake and bake coating and yes, shake! Shake the bag around until the meat is totally coated in crumbs. Again, this is a super fun job for a kid! All fun, and no mess!

    4. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the meat is perfectly crisp on the outside and juicy, tender (and of course done) on the inside!

    homemade shake and bake chicken arranged on a baking sheet on the counter ready to go into the oven
    baked homemade shake and bake chicken just out of the oven on a baking sheet
    homemade shake and bake chicken on a plate
    homemade shake and bake chicken on a plate with broccoli and mashed potatoes topped with melted butter

    Tools You’ll Need

    More Quick and Easy Copycat Recipes

    homemade shake and bake chicken on a plate with broccoli and mashed potatoes topped with melted butter

    Why Fry? Shake 'N Bake!

    We really cannot resist the ultra-fab retro appeal of these old Shake ‘N Bake ads. It’s a serious YouTube rabbit hole. Seriously, watch them and enjoy. But when you do, we hope you fall equally as hard for our homemade shake and bake recipe! If you make it, let us know how you like it! Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!

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    Homemade Shake and Bake

    February 3, 2022

    • Serves: 6
    • Prep Time:  10 min
    • Cook Time:  20 min
    • Calories: 375
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    Ingredients

    • 1½ cups plain breadcrumbs
    • 2 teaspoons sea salt
    • 1½ teaspoons sugar
    • ¾ teaspoon paprika
    • ¾ teaspoon onion powder
    • ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
    • ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
    • Pinch of cayenne, (optional)
    • 1 teaspoon dried basil or dried oregano
    • ¼ cup vegetable oil
    • 3 pounds or 6 (½-inch thick) boneless pork chops boneless, skinless chicken breast, chicken breast tenders

    Method

    1. Preheat the oven to 400°F with a rack in the center position. Prepare a rimmed sheet pan with foil, or leave ungreased.

    2. Add the breadcrumbs, salt, sugar, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, cayenne and basil to a gallon size zip-top bag. Seal the bag and toss the mixture until combined.

    3. Open the bag and drizzle in the oil. Seal the bag and mix until the oil is fully incorporated with the breadcrumbs.

    4. Fill a pie pan with ½ -inch water. Working with one chicken breast at a time, moisten with water, allowing any excess to drip off. Add the chicken to the bag of breadcrumbs, seal the bag and shake until completely coated, gently pressing to adhere. Transfer the chicken to the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with remaining pieces of chicken.

    5. Cook in the oven until golden brown and the internal temperature of the chicken reads 165°F on an instant read thermometer (see Note), about 18-20 minutes. Do not cover or turn the meat while baking.

    Note: If using this shake and bake recipe to make pork chops, cook until the internal temperature reads 145°F on an instant read thermometer, about 15-18 minutes.

    Nutrition Info

    • Per Serving
    • Amount
    • Calories375
    • Protein71 g
    • Carbohydrates10 g
    • Total Fat12 g
    • Dietary Fiber1 g
    • Cholesterol132 mg
    • sodium1007 mg
    • Total Sugars2 g

    Homemade Shake and Bake

    Questions & Reviews

    Join the discussion below.

    or
    • Vivian

      Can you use bone in pork chops

      Sure!

    • Charlene

      What is the purpose of the sugar in the mixture?

      Adds a bit of sweetness, feel free to omit if you prefer not to eat sugar. Hope you enjoy!

    • Ellen

      After baking shake and bake chicken in the oven is it ok to put it on low setting in a crock pot till ready to serve (ie church pot luck?). Should it be baked for less time or still to 165 degree for bone-in thighs?

      The crust will probably et soggy so we wouldn't recommend that. Yes 165F make sure to test it in the thickest part of the meat and that the thermometer isn't touching the bone. Hope you enjoy!

    • Donna

      What is the timing and temp to do this in the air fryer ?

      Hi Donna, We have not tested this in an air fryer.

    • Pete

      Why does S&B say cook 40 minutes, yet you say 20 minutes. If the meat has bone in , do you double the cook time ?

      Bone in chicken will probably take 35-40 minutes to bake. We can't answer on behalf of S&B regarding their cook times.

    • Eyup

      This shake and bake chicken recipe was the best I’ve ever tried. The seasonings give so much flavor. The bake time turned out perfect for my oven. I think pouring the olive oil over the bread crumb mixture was quite clever, sure beats spraying oil lightly over the top as I “used” to do…LOLOL, thanks for sharing such a properly proportioned seasons recipe, definite repeater for me.

      Thanks Eyup, we are so glad you loved it!

    • C

      Absolutely delicious!
      Tried both with and without cayenne pepper, and I prefer without.
      So thankful for this recipe, since Shake and Bake cotains MSG, which makes me sick.

      Thanks C! So happy you loved it!

    • Pretty

      It turned out Delicious!! I skipped the step of putting the chicken in water. I also didn't press down on the seasoning mixture. I made his yesterday, and didn't read all of the steps. I will try it again with the additional steps. I remember making this as a kid, I would "shake n bake" I don't remember dippng it in water. Maybe I've been making wrong all this time.

      Boxed shake and bake call for water or egg. Glad you enjoyed this!

    • Monica

      This is a great recipe, easy to put together, and interactive if you can get some help from your kids (they can shake, shake, shake). I made both pork chops and chicken breasts on the same sheet pan, and had to take the chops out before the breasts were done. Using an instant read thermometer was helpful. The meat can sit in the bag with the seasoning and crumbs in the refrigerator for a while, creating a tenderizing effect.

      Thanks Monica, we are so glad you loved it!

    • Melissa

      Wow! This is delicious. Used panko crumbs also olive oil instead of the vegetable oil.

      Thanks Melissa, so happy you loved it!