Pecan Crusted Chicken Recipe
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This pecan crusted chicken is one of my oldest and most favorite chicken recipes. It’s from my mom’s kitchen, and always feels like home. You get crunchy pecans crusted over tender chicken served with your favorite side dish.
This was actually my mom’s recipe. She taught me to make this about #@*# years back, and I could never come up with something that was better than her recipe. So instead of reinventing the wheel, I swallowed my teenage pride and paid attention to how she made it. Am I ever glad I did!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s a quick and delicious way to “bread” chicken while still enjoying new, amazing flavors.
- Leftovers make a fantastic sandwich the next day.
- Just 15 minutes of prep time.
What To Serve With Pecan Crusted Chicken
Want ideas for side dishes? Here’s a list:
- Roasted vegetables
- Garlic green beans
- Asparagus
- Arugula and pear salad
- Spinach salad
- Kale and quinoa salad
- Wild rice pilaf
- Garlic mashed potatoes
- Sweet potato mash
- Honey mustard dressing
- Cranberry relish
- Maple Dijon glaze
- Buttermilk biscuits
- Cornbread
Pro Recipe Tips
- Make sure you set up a quick assembly line to coat the chicken.
- Use gloves when coating the chicken. The crust tends to stick to your fingers a bit, so gloves will help it stick to the chicken instead.
What You’ll Need To Make Pecan Crusted Chicken
- Chicken breasts – Boneless and skinless
- Egg – Size large.
- Raw pecans – While you can use roasted nuts, you risk them burning. For this reason, I strongly recommend using raw pecans.
- Grated Parmesan cheese – Use the real stuff, not Kraft or any processed cheese like it.
- Dried thyme
- Dried marjoram – Don’t have marjoram or don’t like it? Use dried parsley instead.
- Salt
How To Make Pecan Crusted Chicken
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Add all ingredients (except chicken and egg whites) to a food processor.
Blend together until you have a nice crumbly mixture (will be slightly wet).
Set up your assembly line so that everything is on its own plate. Put chicken on one plate, the egg on another, and the nut blend on yet another so you can grab your chicken, roll it in egg whites, then in the mixture, and put it right on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the chicken reaches 165F on a meat thermometer.
Slice and serve.
Storing Pecan Crusted Chicken
Store any leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Freezing Pecan Crusted Chicken
If you wrap this well, it will freeze for up to 4 months.
Reheating Pecan Crusted Chicken
Reheat on a low oven at 300 F. until warmed through. If burning the pecan crust is a concern, simply place a loose piece of foil over the chicken in the oven.
More Healthy Chicken Recipes
- BBQ Tandoori Chicken
- Chicken Souvlaki
- Chicken In Lemon Caper Sauce
- Garlic Green Beans – In photos above.
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Recipe updated on 12/24/24.
Nut Crusted Baked Chicken Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Food processor
Ingredients
- 1½ lb. chicken breasts (3 breasts)
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup pecans
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp. thyme
- 1 tsp. marjoram (or parsley)
- 1 tsp. salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add all ingredients (except chicken and the egg ) into the food processor.
- Blend together until you have a nice crumbly mixture (will be slightly wet).
- Set up your assembly line so that everything is on it’s own plate. Put chicken on one plate, egg whites on another, and the mixture on yet another so you can grab your chicken, roll it in egg whites, then in the mixture, and put it right on the parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the chicken reaches 165 F. on a meat thermometer.
- Slice and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe from the Gracious Pantry® archives, originally posted on 10/19/2009.
WONDERFUL healthy recipe!
* I am making this tonight* this just sounds so good. thanks Tiffany
Trude – Wonderful! It IS good!
I LOVE nut crusted chicken- will have to try your recipe – mine go to recipe is mustard instead of egg whites, with paprika and almonds – HUGE hit! Thanks for this one 🙂
Mandy – Ooooh! That does sound good!! I’ll have to try it your way next time. Thanks!
i make mine with mustard too:)
Kristin – Sounds yummy!
oh and i bake for 20 min at 400 degrees–makes it crispy:)
Kristen – Great tip! Thanks!
Michele – Wonderful! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Katie – Sure!
Cheri – Glad you enjoyed it!
Would it matter is this was made with half the salt or none at all?
ESP – No, you can adjust the salt to your own personal taste.
Ivory – My pleasure. It makes me so happy that you’re having so much fun with my recipes. That’s what cooking is all about!
Awesome! So glad you both enjoyed it!
Could this go on Salmon too?
Definitely!
My pleasure!
My pleasure! So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Great idea!
I really want to try this recipe, but due to allergies the only nuts my husband can eat are almonds and peanuts. Would this recipe be good with only almonds or do you have any other suggestions? Thanks.
Only almonds would work just fine. But any nuts will work here. Enjoy!
Thank you. I can’t wait to try it. I’ve made several of your recipes and they have all been a BIG hit in my house. I’m new to clean eating and you’ve made it so easy.
We had this for dinner tonight and we loved it! I’m not big on herbs so I put a little garlic and opinion powder in instead. I’m new to your site and am finding many new favorites! Thanks!
Welcome! Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Is there anything I could substitute for the egg wash (my son is allergic to eggs)? Thanks!
Tracie – I’ve never done it with anything other than eggs. I’ve heard it can be done with yogurt, but I’m not sure what the change in flavor would be.
Made this tonight, it was absolutely delicious! I did what the one poster said and baked it at 400 degrees for 20 minutes which gave it a nice little crunch. This is my new favorite, thanks for the great recipe!
Jamie – Glad you enjoyed it! 😀
just made this for dinner…so good! another one of your recipes i have to print out and add to my collection!
angela
Angela – Thanks! Glad you liked it! 🙂