Walnut and Rosemary Oven-Fried Chicken

This is quick and easy with lots of flavor.  I doubled the coating and used Kefir instead of buttermilk. You need to watch the Panko closely while browning in the skillet.  After slicing the boneless skinless chicken breast laterally they were about 1/2" thick and took 20 min to bake.

I really enjoyed this. I used a little more buttermilk and let it marinate for about an hour. I also used large flakes of parmesan and fresh rosemary. Mine took close to 25 minutes to cook at 425. 

I really enjoyed the flavors of the crust. It's a nice way to have a lower fat fried chicken. I think I'll probably hit it with some additional slices next time around. Perhaps pepper and paprika.

Another tip would be to use a spice (coffee) grinder to grind the nuts super fine.  

Excellent.  Big hit in a house that is tired of chicken. I used home made wheat bread crumbs (didn't have any Panko) and dried rosemary. I used full size chicken breasts and cut them in half length wise. Perfect size and thickness. Quite moist.

Delicious

The coating prevents the chicken from drying out.  I used boneless breasts, each cut up into 3 smaller pieces .  I had to add a few minutes cooking time.  Served with an arugula salad.  Excellent.  I would definitely make this again.

This is delicious. Had it for a special Sunday dinner and everyone raved. Compliments from a sometime non complimentary group. When they are quiet and eating and smacking their lips, you know it is a truly great recipe

This was good. Next time I'm finely chopping the walnuts To give more flavor.

Very easy and tasty. The crust is flavorful and crispy. the chicken is nice and juice. It comes together for a quick weeknight meal but looks and tastes more like a special weekend dish

We loved this chicken! We served it with a simple salad and found it was definitely not only delicious, but plenty of food. I'll happily make (and eat) this again!

4.5 stars. Very good simple recipe. I made my own buttermilk using fat free milk and lemon juice. Threw in some red pepper flakes and garlic, which I add to everything. It was the perfect amount for 4 cutlets (2 large, 2 small).

Simple & delicious! I always pound out boneless chicken breasts into thin cutlets for this recipe. The cooking time is based on very thin pieces of chicken. This has become a go-to weeknight meal for our family. Flavors are great & I agree with other reviewers that no single flavor overpowers here. We often serve with rosemary roasted potatoes. Yum!

I honestly didn't expect to give this recipe 5 stars after reading all the reviews. But it does deserve 5 stars even though it's "just a chicken dish." I made it exactly as instructed although I did let my chicken marinate in the buttermilk and honey mustard for about an hour before cooking. I made 2 large chicken breasts and cooked them for 25 mins at 425 degrees. This is now my and my husbands favorite chicken dinner served with asparagus. This was surprisingly flavorful, not overwhelmingly nutty or mustardy, and just the right amount of salt and parm flavors. If you love rosemary like me, I would add a little more if you want. but it's flavorful enough even without it. Perfect delicious dinner for a couple on diets :) but who still crave some freakin flavor in their "healthy" chicken dinner! this did it for us.

This recipe is really outstanding! Such a fantastic way to get a crunchy taste to your chicken while remaining moist and eliminating all those carbs and calories from a traditional coating/fry method! My only change was using deli mustard instead of dijon because that is what I had on hand. And I completely agree with the other reviews that the cooking time is WAY off. I doubled the time and checked with a thermometer until I was just at 165. My husband still felt like his was too rare, so he put his portion back in for another 15 minutes. Next time I'm going to half the breasts and pound them out to try to get a lower cooking time. Overall a fantastic recipe and it was VERY easy to make on my own! We have a winner!

Recipe is very good but I needed to cook it longer. I also used about half the mustard, since my husband is not a big mustard fan.

Very good and very easy. Great weeknight recipe. I did not have any Panko on hand, so I used Italian style breadcrumbs. It was delicious. I will try Panko next time.

Delicious! I used chicken breast halves instead of cutlets so had to bake it longer but it stayed moist and flavorful. Served with steamed broccoli and sweet potato spears that had been tossed with olive oil, garlic and rosemary and roasted in the 425 degree oven with the chicken. Definitely will make again!

very easy and very good. i would make it again for sure. i may brave some improvisations as well by using different seasonings or nuts.

I made this last night not expecting it to be too great, since I feel like every time I make baked chicken, it comes out really dry. I was very pleasantly surprised. It was moist, yet the crust was crispy on the top. The bottom was not quite as crispy, but it didn't take away from the dish at all. It had tons of delicious flavor. The only thing we changed was that we used whole buttermilk, because our grocery store didn't have lowfat. I would like to try it again with other reader's suggestions of using yogurt. I served it with lemon parmesan brussels sprouts that also had dijon mustard in the sauce, and it complemented it perfectly!

I can't use dairy product, can I use eggs instead? anyone?

This is a really solid weeknight recipe. The prep is easy if you put the walnuts in the food and the cutlets cooked beautifully in 13 minutes!

I've made this a few times as written but this time I modified it a bit. Like others, I used yogurt instead of buttermilk and pecans instead of walnuts. I also used a grainy hot mustard instead of the Dijon. It was delicious and quite a bit more flavorful this way. I will definitely make this again.

Really good and easy. Whole family, including 3 year old kid, loved it! Took someone's suggestion to let the chicken marinate longer in the buttermilk.

Very Very delicious!! Recommend this dish for any night. I didnt have any walnuts on hand so chopped up pecans instead, and it worked out fabulous!

Quick to make, would be very kid friendly esp. with smaller pieces of chicken. I used greek yogurt instead of buttermilk because I had it. I would mix the yogurt with milk next time. We just had it two nights ago and mi esposa requested it again this week.

Unbelieveably delicious! This main course is fantastic and so very quick & easy to make! A couple of tips: Make sure your chicken is imersed in the buttermilk mixture prior to doing anything else in this recipe; really allow it to soak up the marinade. I used only 1 tbsp of the mustard to 1/2 cup of low-fat buttermilk; I thought the balance was a bit better that way. Don't skip the toasting step for the panko to get the crunch on the chicken. Total time for this dish is ~25 minutes (even with a 15 min cook time on the chicken). Flavors on this one are dynamite - serve with some simple sides (like steamed green beans) and feel free to plan for this one as dinner during the week! 100% a keeper; enjoy!

This was a great dish that both my husband and I enjoyed. I paired it with Whole Roasted redskin potatoes and Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic and onion. This was easy to make and having everything in the oven at the same time gave me time to relax before dinner instead of having to watch several things cooking at the same time.

REALLY good....we left out the cheese (added more panko and nuts) which was just fine and used thin sliced chicken breasts and it worked great. Also love the 25th anniversary issue of Cooking Light (definitely an issue to buy if you are not a subscriber).

Love this...easy to make on a weeknight. Even the toddler helped bread the chicken and it wasn't a complete mess because there's really only one station! :) I put the chicken in the buttermilk/mustard in a ziplock so I could marinate it better. Cooked for about 15-18 minutes. Moist, delicious and a winner!

This was really good! It's a 5 star recipe with 20-25 mins of cooking at 425 degrees & double the panko/walnut mixture for the chicken. yum!

The secret to my success with this recipe was working with chicken cutlets rather than pounding chicken breasts flat. I simply asked the butcher at Whole Foods and he cut a package of breasts in half laterally. Also, I found powdered buttermilk to keep on hand rather than souring milk as a replacement. I followed the recipe exactly and had folks picking the crumbs off the baking sheet! Also, the original version in the magazine had a great dressing for the salad greens which I love!

This was a little disappointing, flavor-wise. I used skinless, boneless chicken breasts and should have pounded them flat before cooking them. But that was not the problem. If I try this again, I would add garlic salt, pepper, and more rosemary. I served it sliced atop a bed of greens with a little light ranch dressing. I've had better oven-fried chicken recipes from Cooking Light.

This was GREAT! Didn't have buttermilk or the walnuts, but used non-fat yogurt and pecans. It had great flavor. Hubby liked it too! Will definitely make this one again and again.

DEFINITELY a keeper! This is one of THE best recipes that I've gotten off of this site. My husband raved about it. This will definitely be in the dinner rotation at our house. I, too, added a little garlic powder to the panko/nut mixture that I toasted together. I mixed up the buttermilk & mustard and let the chicken sit in the mixture about 5 minutes while I toasted the dry ingredients and got my pan ready.

my husband in lactose intolerant...do you think i can make this recipe without the cheese and substituting almond milk for buttermilk??

I mixed white vinegar into milk to make buttermilk. I also used regular boneless skinless breasts and cooked longer. My hubby claimed this was the juiciest chicken ever. I wasn't expecting much from this chicken but it was so flavorful, crispy and juicy. This goes into the rotation!

Wow! Dynamite recipe. Very easy and full of flavor. Don't skip the garlic - it makes a huge impact. We doubled this and used chicken breasts vs cutlets. I'd suggest baking for 25 minutes on the max. We did 30!and was a bit dry. Great recipe - the rosemary adds really well to this too.

This was definitely "good" and "solid", but not something I'd jump to make again. Crispy coating was tasty -- worked really well to cook as instructed. Felt like it needed a sauce of some kind to keep it more moist.

This is very flavorful chicken and it turned out well, though not as browned as I would've liked. I forgot to add the mustard to the buttermilk and didn't haven any parmesan but it was still amazing. I also toasted the walnuts to give it better flavor. It took about 17 minutes to cook through rather than 13. I served it with braised kale and a mix of mashed sebago and sweet potatoes. Will make this again :)

This was full of flavor! I loved it. My sister and some friends came over for dinner and they loved it as well. I forgot to have the chicken 'sit' in the buttermilk mix first (only dredging it before breading it) and the buttermilk/dijon flavor was still very present. Can't wait to make it again.

The chicken was moist and had great flavor. I wanted a dipping sauce though-wish there was a link to the salad and sauce that was pictured with the chicken.

Loved it! Made it last night with a green salad w/balsamic dressing and mashed potatoes. I really enjoyed the walnut/panko combination. I still have rosemary growing in my herb garden, so that was convenient. It took longer to cook than 13 minutes though, more like 30 in my oven.

this recipe was AMAZING. i marinated the chicken for about an hour before dipping in the panko crumbs. i made it without the walnuts and it was still delish! i will DEF make this again!

I could have had 2 chicken breasts. this was so tasty!! Hands down a favorite if you are in the mood for a light fried chicken meal

This was so easy and it tasted delicious. I used chicken strips and let them marinate in the buttermilk mixture overnight. I also toasted the panko, nuts, and rosemary together. I didn't add the additional 1/4 tsp salt and found the flavor wasn't lacking. I will be making this again.

This was excellent! My daughter (1 1/2 yr old) LOVED it and was looking for more! Next time I will try marinating the chicken for awhile longer. It tasted delicious!

Loved this. The crumb & nut mixture was a little short so have extra on hand as you might need them. This even reheated well in the toasted oven.. crisped right up. Loved it with the honey mustard sauce. Might go heavier on the rosemary next time

Totally yummy and easy to make. I substituted the buttermilk for milk with a dash of lemon juice, because I didn't have buttermilk on hand. Next time I think I'll skip adding any extra salt. The parmesan I used made it plenty salty enough for my tastes. I think I might also let it marinate in the mustard mixture for several hours, if possible. I never seem to figure out what's for dinner with enough time to do any marinating!

Very nice results with this recipe. I used whole-grain panko, Grana Padano cheese instead of the Parmigiano-Reggiano (what I had on hand), and chicken breasts instead of cutlets. Since the breasts were rather large, I doubled the buttermilk-mustard and bread crumb-walnut mixtures, and they took almost twice as long to bake, but the results were delicious.

I make this with pecans rather than walnuts since I like them a lot better and usually have them on hand. Otherwise I make it exactly as written. The chicken is excellent -- very moist and tender. Tonight I served it it over the Garganelli with Asparagus and Pecorino Cheese recipe that appeared in the April, 2011 Cooking Light. An excellent and very attractive meal that is company worthy.

Excellent and easy chicken dish which is company worthy. The buttermilk, dijon mustard step adds an interesting flavor to the panko, rosemary mixture. I used chicken breasts sliced in half long-ways for thinner pieces; and quicker cooking. I also roasted pecans instead of walnuts as I had these on hand. Very flavorful and II will be making this again!

Just made this for dinner this evening and it was delicious!! I used regular chicken breasts and pounded them, and also doubled the coating mixture as others suggested. Loved the flavors of the coating mixture! I will definitely make this again, and my husband and I decided we would serve this for dinner guests. Wonderful!!

I too used regular breasts and just pounded until uniform thickness. Could slice some off if necessary. If breasts are large might need a little more coating if you like a lot. Recipe one of the best. I used powdered buttermilk which seemed to work fine. Fresh rosemary a must! It was fabulous. Will make it many times in future.

yes takes longer than 13 minutes to cook this stuff. I like it, but it was the best recipe i've ever had, good weeknight recipe. I added some chopped garlic to the buttermilk mixture and let them soak in it for at least 30 min while i prepared the other parts of the meal.

This was great. It was an easy recipe, and dinner was ready in no time! I paired this with some pierogies and a salad.

This chicken was so good! I used chicken breasts and cut them in half the long way so that they were thinner. I also doubled the recipe for the buttermilk and the breadcrumbs and it ended up being very necessary. I marinated the chicken in the buttermilk/mustard mix for about 8 hours and it came out super moist. I will be making this again soon for sure!!!

Made this for a casual dinner party, it was a smash hit. I will definitely make this again. I marinated the chicken in the buttermilk/Dijon for several hours, it was very moist. The recommended salad is tasty. I made mashed potatoes as an extra side. Served the cornmeal lemon cake with berries for dessert; it's a good way to use up some of the extra buttermilk.

This was so good!! I served it for friends one night and they loved it. It was a definte do-again. I also used chicken breast and then pounded them out; worked just fine. It was juicy and had a great comfort food feel that you get with fried chicken.

Made this recipe this evening and it was a hit with the whole family! I was concerned that the mustard flavor would be too strong, so I only used 1 Tbsp, but will use the whole amount next time. It went well with the individual spinach gratins. Will definitely make both again.

This was a HIT with my family! I used chicken breasts and just flattened them out; worked wonderfully. I served with pine nut couscous and roasted cauliflower. This is quick, easy, and perfect for a weeknight meal!

I've made this twice now (once using buttermilk, once using yogurt as one reviewer suggested) and I like it very much. Very tasty and so quick. However, both times I found the quantity of bread crumb and walnut mixture to be insufficient for the amount of chicken called for. Next time, I'll try increasing those quantities to 1/2 cup instead of 1/3 cup.

We have made this several times now and it is so delicious! Served with green beans drizzled with olive oil and fresh ground pepper (baked with the chicken for 8 minutes).

This was so delicious. I used chicken breasts and doubled the ingredients. It took about 25 minutes to bake. I will definitely make this again - the best part was the nice crunch to the panko, so definitely take the time to toast it beforehand.

I liked this recipe but I improvised quite a bit! I used regular mustard instead of dijon and you couldn't tell. I also couldn't find cutlets at the grocery store I went to, so I used chicken breasts instead, and they tasted great but took a lot longer to cook- the walnuts on top got pretty crispy! :)

Fantastic recipe!!! Was very easy to make, didn't have any buttermilk so I just used the Dijon and everything worked out great. I doubled the recipe and made with chicken breasts and baked at 350 for aprox 30 minutes. Served with a side of green beans. A definite keeper!

We loved this chicken! I ended up making about 2 1/2 times the panko mixture since I made 6 large chicken breasts. I used double the amount of buttermilk and mustard. I used dry rosemary. I sprinkled a little extra salt and pepper on the chicken after it was on the baking sheet before I sprayed the chicken with cooking spray. This gave it a great flavor that I think was necessary. It took about 20-25 minutes to bake the chicken.

I wanted to give this 5 stars, but I think 4.5 is most fair. It's super easy, and very flavorful. Perfect weeknight meal with a salad. The chicken was very moist. I wish the crust would have crisped a little more, but it still had good texture. I'd certainly recommend this recipe to friends.

I thought this recipe was good, but not overly impressive. I would definitely make again, with a few adjustments. We thought there was not enough dijon or kick to the chicken, so I'd increase the mustard and I might try someone else's suggestion about the chili flakes. It needs a small kick to it. I'd also marinate the chicken for longer, so the flavors can really soak in. All in all, a good dish - will definitely try again. Served with seasoned potato wedges and spinach salad.

This recipe was easy and good. Not excellent, but pretty good. The chicken was tender and fairly crispy. I'll definitely make it again, but not to wow anybody.

This chicken was so good! I followed the recipe as written and everyone loved it. The first bite you are hit with the lovely crunchiness that the coating imparts, then as you chew, you taste the dijon flavor on the chicken. I love it when dishes have layers of flavor. Try this recipe; you won't regret it!

Very, very good. I used regular boneless chicken breasts, cooked 25 minutes. Skipped toasting the panko, everything else as written. Served with red potato, snap peas and fresh fruit salad with honey ginger lime dressing, I think you can find the salad at my recipes.

Made as is except for some chili flakes added to the panko mix. Excellent. Will definitely make again but make more to freeze them.

This is a fabulous dish! I've tried a lot of oven-fried chicken recipes, but this one has the most flavor of all, and a wonderful crunchy texture.

This is one of my new FAVORITE recipes! I have already made it two weeks in a row. It was easy and delicious! They came out moist, tender, and crunchy on the outside. I put my chicken in the buttermilk/mustard mixture first thing and let it sit it in it for about 30 minutes. I will be making this for company in the future!

Definitely a keeper! I made the recipe exactly as written. The coating was perfect, crisp, and the flavors were wonderful, nothing overpowering. I will definitely make again.

I made this twice in two days, everyone enjoyed it. i'm still working on getting a good crisp on both sides. will definitely make again and again.

My husband and I absolutely loved this recipe! I followed the directions exactly and would not change a thing. I did put the walnuts in my food processor to make them finer and I used only 1/4 teaspoon of rosemary. My husband does not like rosemary at all and said that it was not overpowering with the amount I used and that it worked very well in this recipe. He even asked me if I could make it again next week! This is a big compliment from a southern boy who grew up on fried chicken.

Excellent chicken recipe. I steer from chicken as the main dish because I find it bland but this had the perfect flavor and texture. I did substitute fresh thyme for rosemary because I don't love rosemary. It was delicious and worthy of keeping the recipe for future dinners.

This was very delicious. The panko and parmesan cheese made such a crispy, tasty coating! I used regular chicken breast and just cut them in half to make them thinner. I served the chicken over a regular bagged salad mix for a healthy and quick weeknight meal.

Delicious and easy. Only substitution I made was using nonfat plain yogurt instead of buttermilk. Next time, I will let it marinate in the yogurt/mustard for a few hours. I do this with another chicken recipe and it makes it extremely moist.

This is easy and delicious. It's going into my favorites file, for everyday dinners. Made it exactly as directed, served it with a spring mix bag salad with honey mustard viniagrette.

Really good recipe that I will make again and again. I did make two substitutions: 1) pecans for the walnuts; and 2) fat-free yogurt for the buttermilk, since I never keep that on hand. Very flavorful and moist as well as easy to prepare.

I made this tonight and my husband and I really enjoyed it. I forgot to buy buttermilk, so I mixed the mustard with greek yogurt (I used a 6 oz container). I used fresh rosemary from my herb garden and the total result was extremely juicy chicken with a very tasty crust. I served the chicken with homemade artisan bread and a romaine salad with balsamic vinagrette - Delicious!

Great combination of flavors! Made as directed and also made the suggested salad. Served with French bread and the meal was complete!

This recipe was great though I felt it was missing a sauce to really bring all the flavors together. I ended up using a herbed sour cream I made for my baked potatos which worked out nicely. Sour cream had garlic powder, salt, and dried parsley. Instead of using walnuts, i used pecans because that's what I had on hand it came out well. I also used boneless, skinless chicken thighs which probably brings the fat content up a bit but it tasted great and the meat was very moist after being in the oven about 20 minutes. Will def make this again and will probably make some kind of sauce to go with it.

Outstanding! This has quickly become a family favorite. I served it with grilled sweet potatoes and a spinach salad. It was a big hit!

Served this last night at dinner and got rave reviews from all our guests. A little time consuming in the prep, but well-worth the effort! Fabulous taste.

I had high hopes for this and was excited about making it. I used chicken breast tenders which may have been the problem, maybe there was too much breading and too little chicken. The flavors were not there either. Served with rice and green peas.

This chicken was excellent! I pounded chicken breasts out into cutlets and used whole wheat panko. I let the chicken sit in the buttermilk mixture while I stuck the breading mixture in a food processor to maximize volume. I served with recommended salad,(not a good pairing), next time would serve with a baked sweet potato. Would make this again for sure!

This is definitely a keeper.

This was delicious! I used boneless skinless chicken breasts rather than chicken cutlets, so I had to bake them for about 25 minutes. Also I would recommend putting the walnuts in a food processor for a few seconds to chop them finely--I was in a rush so I used chopped walnuts straight out of the bag and the pieces were a bit big. The buttermilk and mustard coated the chicken beautifully. I used dried rosemary instead of fresh and that worked fine. I also made the salad with toasted garlic dressing, and used romaine--very tasty.

I have made this recipe twice now and my husband and I love it. I did make one change. I was out of bread cumbs so I used my handheld chopper and chopped up some garlic parmesan croutons.

I made this pretty much as written except I substituted plain nonfat yogurt for the buttermilk. I really like the slight tanginess the yogurt gave it. The walnut-rosemary combination is pretty good and it smells amazing while they're baking. The mustard flavor did not come through very much, so I may use more next time. I like rosemary a lot, and I think its pretty strong in this recipe, so I wouldn't make this for someone who didn't like rosemary. This was very easy and quick to prepare and bake so I'd probably make it again. If you like peanuts, Cooking Light has a similar recipe where you dredge the chicken in honey mustard then in a peanut-panko mixture and bake. It's a similar method and I think I like the flavor more than the walnut-rosemary combo.

Really good! I had two lbs. of chicken tenderloins, so used that and increased the other ingredients. Other substitutions were dried rosemary for fresh and Saco Buttermilk for fresh buttermilk. I also cooked it about 10 min. longer than the 13 min. called for, as I had more chicken. Will make again!

We loved this recipe. Nice to have a new way to do chicken. I pounded out chicken breasts and cut them in half to make them smaller since I buy them in bulk at Costco. Followed the recipe exactly and served with steamed green beans.

My husband and I liked this recipe a lot and would make it again. It has a strong dijon mustard taste, so maybe next time I will only add 1 T of dijon mustard since I'm not a big fan of mustard to begin with.

This was great; recommend you try it once without tweaking. Used less-expensive chicken breasts pounded to uniform thickness. Served with the escarole salad and no one could tell how simply it was dressed. CL's lemon-cornmeal cake for dessert. Terrific.

My favorite part of the recipe has to be the toasted panko crumbs. I would definitley not skip that part when preparing this recipe. This way the chicken is a beautiful color and has a toasted flavor. I added the chopped walnuts to the skillet with crumbs to toast those too. The dijon and buttermilk give the chicken a much better flavor than the traditional breading of egg and flour. I served this with mashed potatoes and saved a peice to top a salad later in the week.

My husband loved this recipe - and he usually complains when I make something from Cooking Light, but the combination of the walnuts/rosemary/panko breading was perfect. I actually forgot to brown the panko beforehand but it was still quite good. Will definitely make again.