Homemade Shake And Bake Recipes

It's dinnertime...I grab my trusty box of Shake N Bake from the cupboard to coat the chicken breasts. Right beside the box is a huge bag of bread crumbs and of course my wide array of herbs and spices!

I've always purchased Shake N Bake but I'm sure there's an easy to make recipe (or maybe several) that I could try out and which cost a fraction of ready made boxed varieties. It's time to break 'out of the box,' so instead I venture to make my own mixture for dinner using this recipe:

Homemade Italiano Shake And Bake Crumb Mixture

Ingredients:

• 4 cups dry bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon celery salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• a pinch dried basil leaves
• a pinch dried parsley
• a pinch dried oregano

Directions:

In a large closeable plastic bag combine the crumbs, oil, salt, paprika, celery salt, pepper, garlic salt, basil, parsley and oregano. Seal bag and shake all ingredients together. (I find it's a lot of mixture and just mix the dry ingredients together. Then I measure out what I need and add an appropriate amount of oil to the mix before coating the chicken). Store the remaining dry ingredients in a sealed bag or container. Bake chicken at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to hour.

Note: I revamped a recipe from an old tattered cookbook I have. It calls for 1 tablespoon of salt too but I find the celery salt and garlic salt are enough.

Additional Homemade Shake and Bake Recipes

Recipe 1
Homemade Saltine Shake And Bake Crumb Mixture  

Ingredients:

1 cup crushed saltine crackers
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt (I personally don't add this)
1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 crushed bay leaf

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and store in the refrigerator. When ready to use, dip the chicken pieces in 1/2 cup evaporated milk and then coat with your homemade crumb mixture. Place chicken in shallow pan, skin side up. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Brush with 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil and continue baking 30 minutes more or until golden brown.


Recipe 2
Homemade Corn Flakes Shake And Bake Crumb Mixture

Ingredients:

2/3 cup crushed corn flakes (you could even substitute for gluten-free corn flakes)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/8 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon pepper (freshly ground)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a sealable plastic bag. Add chicken and shake until well coated. Grease pan with some Pam spray. Bake chicken at 400 degrees for 1 hour or until tender.


I've tested all 3 recipes above and would make them again. The Italiano blend is one of the family favs because of the flavouring. It's the closest to the real brand name Shake N Bake. The corn flakes mixture provides a nice crispy coating and so does the saltine mix. They all turn out very close to store bought crumb coatings. I've tried others too that failed and turned out soggy, so they didn't make the list!

Helpful Tips

- Using a variety of herbs and spices is the key to making a flavourful coating mix!
- Never reuse mixture that has had raw meat in it.
- Divide dry mixture into dinner size portions and store in air tight containers until needed, then add oil (where called for).
- Experiment with the flavours that you enjoy!

I'd love to hear what works and doesn't work for you! Please feel free to leave comments below.