potato chip crusted chicken

This is a recipe that I have been making since I was a little kid. My mom had a children's cookbook that had this recipe in it, and I LOVED it as a child. It's a great way to use up leftover chips or the little bits that are in the bottom of the bag. Those bits don't even need to be perfectly fresh and crunchy either, because the oven makes them crispy again.

You can think of this recipe essentially as oven fried chicken, but instead of using a batter or breadcrumbs before popping in the oven, you use crushed potato chips.

Seasoned flour, egg wash, crushed chips is the order in which you batter the legs. Keep in mind that you can use breast, thighs and tenders if you wanted, but I almost always use legs because they are cheap and cook pretty nicely.

Sort of like how I use macaroni and cheese as a way to get rid of my leftover dried pasta, I use this recipe to empty out our snack container of the half eaten, crushed chips that Ed doesn't want to eat. So, above is a combination of Publix brand dip chips and Middleswarth barbecue chips sent down from PA from my Mom. They are the best. You can use whatever chips you would like, I've even used kettle cooked jalapeno chips before.

Try to press the chips into the legs as much as possible, but they don't stick amazingly well even with the egg wash. What I end up doing, usually, is trying to get as many to stay put as possible while dredging and then topping each leg with the extra chips once they are in the pan. They pretty much will all hang on after being cooked. Bake uncovered- they won't get a ton of color, but they sure are delicious.!

Potato Chip Crusted Chicken
5-6 chicken legs
2 cups crushed potato chips, any variety
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup flour
1 Tablespoon All Seasons Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In three separate bowls, prep the coatings. In the first bowl, combine flour and seasons salt. In the second, beat egg and water together to make a wash. In the final bowl, finely crush potato chips. Dredge each leg through the flour, then egg wash and finally the chips. Repeat for each leg. Place on a cooking pan that has been sprayed with cooking oil. Top each leg with leftover crushed chips. Bake in oven for 35-45 minutes, or until chips are crispy and brown and chicken is no longer pink and cooked through. Enjoy!