From Texas to Boston, cooks across the country perfected this method, making it an easy and delicious option for busy households. With just a few steps, you can enjoy a comforting dish that feels like a special treat.
How to make oven-fried chicken – Texas recipe (1939)
Oven-fried chicken is one of the dishes that is particularly simple to prepare. After the preliminary browning, all that remains to be done is simply to put the chicken in the oven, where it takes care of itself and cooks beautifully until you are ready to serve it.
Ingredients
2 to 3 pound chicken (cut for frying)
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 eggs
1/4 cup water
1 cup fine cracker crumbs
Fat for frying
1 onion (chopped fine)
1 cup cream
Directions
Dip pieces of chicken in flour to which salt and pepper has been added. Dip in beaten egg to which water has been added. Finally, roll in cracker crumbs.
Brown in hot fat (1 inch in depth). Place in baking pan, sprinkle with onion and top with cream. Cover and bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees) until tender, approximately 1-1/2 hours.
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 1 hour 30 mins
Total time: 1 hour 40 mins
Serves: 4
From The Hemphill County News (Canadian, Texas) December 1, 1939
Oven-fried chicken – recipe from Indiana (1937)
Ingredients
1 three-pound chicken
1 cup light cream
1 cup fine cereal crumbs
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons fat
Directions
Cut chicken into serving pieces. Dip each piece in cream, then into crumbs which have been mixed with seasonings. Brown on all sides in fat. Place in casserole. Add remaining cream. Cover and bake in moderate oven (350 degrees) about one hour and 15 minutes or until tender.
Uncover during the last 15 minutes of cooking so that chicken will brown. Remove from baking dish. Make gravy from liquid remaining in dish. Yield: Five servings.
From The Times (Munster, Indiana) December 17, 1937
Oven Fried Chicken – recipe from Boston (1937)
Ingredients: Two and one-half to 3 pounds chicken, 2 cups light cream, 2 cups finely sifted bread crumbs, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 6 tablespoons fat.
Order the chicken dressed, cleaned and cut up as for fricassee. Dip each piece in light cream and then in the crumbs mixed with the salt and pepper. Brown on all sides in the fat in a skillet.
Remove the chicken to a covered casserole or baking dish; add the remaining cream and bake in a moderate oven, 350 F for an hour and a half or until tender.
Uncover during last 15 minutes of cooking. Thicken gravy and serve over chicken. Serves 8.
From the Boston Globe (Boston, Mass.) July 17, 1937
New York oven-fried broilers (1934)
Dress the broilers, rub inside and out with flour, salt and pepper. Dot with butter or bacon fat. Place in a dropping pan and sprinkle with sliced onion.
Cook in a hot oven, 500 F, until tender, about three-quarters of an hour, basting occasionally with the fat. They may be cooked in the oven twenty minutes and finished by broiling under a flame fifteen minutes.
From The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland) April 13, 1934
Oven-fried chicken from Pennsylvania (1938)
Ingredients
Two 2-1/2 pound chickens
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
8 tablespoons fat
1/2 cup light cream or top milk
Directions
Order the chicken dressed and cut up. Roll it in the flour mixed with the salt and pepper; then brown it on all sides in the fat in a skillet. Remove to a casserole or baking dish; add the cream.
Cover and bake in a moderate even of 350 F for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until tender. Baste twice during the first 45 minutes of cooking. Uncover during the last 15 minutes. Serves 8.
From the Republican and Herald (Pottsville, Pennsylvania) 1938
