The recipe swept the nation back in the ’90s and its just as delicious as I remember.
It was seemingly in every newspaper and womens magazine: Rosie Daleys Un-Fried Chicken.
Swept up in the juggernaut, we made it at my house.
Simply Recipes / Photo Illustration by Wanda Abraham / Sara Bir / Getty Images
I recall everyone loving its savory, golden-brown breading that so mirrored its fried cousin.
The ’90s are in, my tween daughter recently informed me.
If thats true, then I am suddenly super cool by default.
Simply Recipes / Sara Bir
I started schooling her on the finer points ofSassymagazine, but she quickly tuned me out.
Rosies un-fried chicken surfaced in my memory.
Does it hold up as well as Doc Martens paired with flowered leggings?
Simply Recipes / Sara Bir
I dug up the recipe to find out.
She hired a personal chef, Rosie Daley, who took Oprahs favorite comfort foods and made them lighter.
), including this un-fried chicken.
Then in 1994, Rosie came out with a charmingly low-key cookbook,In the Kitchen With Rosie.
You know how things go when Oprah touts your book.
The hardcover sold 5.5 million copies in less than six months.
It remains one of the best-selling cookbooks of all time.
Rosies un-fried chicken was one of the teaser recipes that went out to the press.
Cooks across America were so curious to try it, clipping it from the paper.
If social media existed at the time, TikToks of un-fried chicken would have been rampant.
Simply Recipes / Sara Bir
What Was Special About Un-Fried Chicken?
In the ’90s, calories from fat were the devil incarnate.
An hour later it emerged, crisp and enticing.
29 years later, I made this for my parents a second time.
Thankfully, nowadays my family eats food because we like it, not because it has a gimmick.
Removed from its original guilt-free framing, the chicken could simply nourish and delight us.
My Version of Rosie’s Un-Fried Chicken
I tinkered a bit the second time I made it.
I skipped the ice water and marinated the chicken directly in the yogurt.
I bumped the temp from 400F to 425F to get the breading darker and crispier.
I kept the spice rack explosion in the breading the same, as its key to the chickens appeal.
My daughter and her dad scarfed it down with gusto.
After a 2002 cookbook with Andrew Weil, Rosie slipped into what I hope is blissfully content obscurity.
But her un-fried chicken needs to come out of the cobwebs.
I bet your family will love it as much as mine.
How I Make Rosie’s Un-Fried Chicken
Adapted from Rosie Daley.
If you use plain breadcrumbs, add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
If you are using panko, pulse it in a food processor first to get a finer texture.
For 4 servings, youll need:
Remove the skin from the chicken.
This can be tricky, especially for the drumsticks.
Use a paper towel to help grip the slippery chicken skin as you pull.
Put the yogurt in a gallon zip-top bag.
As the yogurt marinates, pre-heat the oven to 425F.
Spray an unlined baking sheet well with cooking spray.
Combine the breadcrumbs, flour, and remaining ingredients in a wide, shallow bowl.
Dredge in the breadcrumbs on both sides to coat.
Place on the baking sheet.
Spray the chicken with cooking spray.
Dont skimp; verify no dry, floury spots remain.
Bake the chicken for 20 minutes.
Carefully flip the chicken over with a thin metal spatula, trying not to disrupt any of the breading.
If it breaks off, dont worrythats just part of the oven-fried chicken game.
Spray any parts that still look dry with more cooking spray.
After 20 more minutes in the oven, check the temperature.
I use only drumsticks and thighs and prefer mine at 180F to 185F; theyre more succulent that way.
Serve immediately, though leftovers are pretty good cold.
