Almond Crusted Chicken
Updated Jan 06, 2026
This Almond Crusted Chicken is crisp and juicy, ready in 30 minutes, needs only a few ingredients and has a restaurant quality flavor!
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Change Up Your Chicken Dinner
There’s a restaurant in Dearborn, MI that makes Almond Crusted Chicken and I used to order it all the time and absolutely loved how it tasted, so I decided to try to replicate that flavor with this homemade version. You just need to grind your almonds or even use almond flour to make it easier for the breading. Then the way I bake it in the oven is on a wire rack which allows the chicken to get crisp all around. If you loved my pecan-crusted chicken recipe, try this almond crusted chicken recipe next!
Happy Cooking!
– Yumna
Almond Crusted Chicken Ingredients
- Chicken: I use boneless skinless chicken breast for this recipe and cut it down into cutlet thin sizes, or you could cut it into strips or nuggets. Just adjust the cooking time for different sizes.
- Almonds: Dry unsalted roasted almonds work best for this crusted chicken recipe. Use a food processor to grind them into a fine breadcrumb size texture or swap for almond meal or almond flour.
- Parmesan cheese: Pre-grated works just fine here. But if you have time, you can freshly grate the cheese so it it melts and toasts into the crust.
- Seasonings: onion powder, paprika, dried parsley, salt, and black pepper.
- Egg: This binding helps the almonds stick to the chicken cutlets.
- Cooking spray: This adds an even layer of oil over the almond coating and helps crisp them up.
How to Make Almond Crusted Chicken
Almond Crusted Chicken
This Almond Crusted Chicken is crisp and juicy, ready in 30 minutes, needs only a few ingredients and has a restaurant quality flavor!
Video
Ingredients
- Cooking spray as needed
- 1 cup dry roasted unsalted almonds
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 1 ½ pound chicken cutlets
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450˚F. Place a baking rack on top of a rimmed sheet pan, then spray the rack with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place the almonds in a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form. Scrape the almond crumbs into a shallow bowl, then mix in the Parmesan cheese, onion powder, paprika, parsley, salt and pepper.
- Place the egg in a separate shallow bowl and beat with a whisk. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, then working with one cutlet at a time, dip in the egg. Let the excess egg drip off of the cutlet, then dip in the almond mixture, pressing the crumbs onto each side of the cutlet to ensure that they adhere. Place the coated cutlet on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat the process with the remaining chicken.
- Spray the chicken with more nonstick cooking spray, then bake for 15-18 minutes, flipping the chicken halfway through cooking time, or until the cutlets are cooked through and the almond mixture is golden brown and crisp.
Notes
My Top Tip: Don’t skip the wire rack. This is my favorite hack for getting this extra crisp in the oven because the wire rack allows more heat to circulate around the chicken than resting on parchment paper.
Storage: Store nut-crusted chicken in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat in a 350˚F oven until warmed through or in a 350˚F air fryer for 3-4 minutes. Properly stored, it lasts 3-4 days.
Freezing: After coating the chicken cutlets in egg and almond, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet in a single layer and freeze. Once frozen, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, put in a freezer bag, and store up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Serving: 6oz, Calories: 474kcal, Carbohydrates: 10g, Protein: 49g, Fat: 27g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Monounsaturated Fat: 14g, Trans Fat: 0.03g, Cholesterol: 161mg, Sodium: 724mg, Potassium: 950mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 467IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 226mg, Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Recipe Tips
- Make ahead. You can bread the cutlets and freeze them in a single layer on a sheet pan until firm, then store them tightly wrapped in a freezer safe bag between sheets of parchment paper for up to two months. When ready to eat, bake from frozen, adding about 5-10 minutes of cooking time.
- Use roasted almonds if possible. Roasted almonds make a difference! If you cannot find unsalted roasted almonds, buy raw almonds instead and toast them at home in a 350˚F oven on a sheet tray for about 8-10 minutes. Let them cool before proceeding with the recipe.
- Don’t skip the wire rack. This is my favorite hack for getting this extra crisp in the oven because the wire rack allows more heat to circulate around the chicken than resting on parchment paper.
- Let the chicken rest. Give the chicken about 10 minutes after removing it from the oven to rest. This helps lock in the juices and flavor for the most delicious bite.
Serving Ideas
- Dips: Ranch Dip, Marinara Sauce, Lebanese Garlic Sauce (Toum)
- Rice and pasta: Creamy Risotto, Lemon Rice, Fettuccine Alfredo
- Veggies: Quick Green Beans, Stovetop or Roasted Broccoli, Roasted Zucchini
- Salads: Arugula Strawberry Salad, Roasted Beet Salad, Classic Caesar Salad
Comments
I absolutely loved this recipe. Never used almonds instead of breadcrumbs before and happy I tried it!
Aww, so glad you loved it! Thank you so much, Kate!!
Not a fan of this recipe. I bought beautiful chicken breasts from my butcher and I toasted the almonds in an iron skillet, I used a rack in my oven as well. I was disappointed with this recipe and would not make it again.
Hi Marcia, the recipe doesn’t call for toasting the almonds before coating the chicken in the almond cheese mixture. They likely burned after being toasted and then baked. I recommend trying the recipe again without adding the toasting step. Hope that helps!
This was good but I expected bit more. I’m probably not doing this again. Still was tasty.
Thanks for the feedback! Glad you liked it!
Can you please confirm if it’s 327kcal for one serving? How many grams of chicken is one serving?
Yes, the nutrition facts are for 1 serving! The recipe uses 1 lb of chicken cutlets and makes 5 servings, so each serving is about 0.2 lbs (or approximately 91 grams). Hope that helps!
Exactly what I was hoping for.
Yay, so happy to hear it!!
Can this recipe be made without the cheese? Is there a substitute for the cheese that is non-dairy?
Thank you!
Sure, you could use nutritional yeast instead.
This is one of the most requested items in our family. We might have it 2-3 times a month. I make it for meal trains for people. The last time I did this, the lady said that it was the best chicken she has had in years!
Hi lady!
Thanks for this recipe! I found a killer Spaghetti with Almond and sundried tomato sauce recipe off food and wine. My wife and I are die hard carnivores and need some kind of meat with a meatless dish. I thought it would be a great idea to use your recipe as a topper for the pasta, it would be similar to a chicken parm but with its own identity. Thanks for this excellent recipe!!
I love that combo! So glad it worked out!
Thanks for recommending this sauce. I’m going to try this & the chicken tonight ๐
I followed the recipe to a T. Came out with wet spots and not crispy. I even placed it on a wire cooling rack above the sheet pan and let it cook another 6 mins, but no luck.
Hmm, I am sorry to hear that they didn’t turn out crispy. Did you use the baking/cooling rack for the entire cooking duration or just for the last 6 minutes?
This is delicious! But how to keep the almond cover on the chicken? Some of it falls off.
Did you grind the almonds into a fine powder? The size of the almonds does affect how well it sticks to the chicken.