Oven-Fried Granola Chicken Tacos with Mango Crema

Tropical, sweet, and spicy flavors all come together in these oven-fried chicken tacos. Made with coconut almond granola, these crispy chicken tacos pair exceptionally well with a sweet and spicy mango crema.

Granola fried chicken? Have I completely lost my mind? Now just hold on a minute before you hit the X button to rid yourself of this crazy notion. Don’t think of it as granola crusted chicken but rather crispy chicken with a coconut-almond-oat crust. Which then gets covered with mango crema, avocado, radish, red onion, and cilantro. See, doesn’t that sound lovely? I knew you would understand.

The reasoning behind this creation is that I am entering it into Golden Girl Granola’s Blogger Recipe Challenge. Sure I could have made an egg breakfast casserole or French toast of sorts but that would be expected. I wanted to throw in something inventive yet still easy to make and oven-fried chicken is one of my favorite hacks for creating crispy like-fried chicken at home without all the scary hot oil. Seriously, I love turning just about anything into breading for chicken.

The Golden Girl original granola flavor is anything but bland with coconut and almonds, resulting in perfectly tropical and nutty chicken tenders for these tacos. The sweetness of the granola is also complimented by the sweet yet spicy mango crema which is drizzled over the top. All this flavor sits on top of a smashed avocado, sliced radish, red onion, cilantro, and a soft flour (or corn) tortilla.

One year ago: Greek Hummus Dip with Homemade Pita Chips

Two years ago: Breakfast Stromboli

Four years ago: Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Cookies

OVEN-FRIED GRANOLA CHICKEN TACOS WITH MANGO CREMA

Serves 3

Ingredients:

CHICKEN

1 cup Golden Girl original granola

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 egg white

6 small chicken tenders

MANGO CREMA

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cup diced mango

Zest and juice of 1/2 lime

1 Tbsp finely minced cilantro

1 Tbsp honey

1 tsp sriracha

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Salt, to taste

TACOS

6 small flour or corn tortillas

1 avocado, pitted, peeled, and smashed

3 radishes, sliced

Cilantro

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange a wire rack on a large baking sheet; coat rack with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Place the granola in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until finely ground. Place the granola crumbs into a shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add egg white to a third bowl and lightly beat. Dip the chicken into the egg and then coat with the granola crumbs. Arrange on prepared rack and lightly spray tops with cooking spray. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden and cooked through.
3. While the chicken cooks, prepare the crema. In a food processor (or blender) place all the ingredients. Pulse until combined and then process until smooth. Set aside.
4. To assemble, spread avocado evenly on all 6 tortillas, top with chicken, radishes, crema, and cilantro. Serve immediately.

Source: Adapted from my Oven-Fried Chicken & Biscuit Waffles & Oven-Fried Avocado Tacos with Cilantro Lime Creme.

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