When that chicken nugget craving hits, it's impossible to shake. Until you get some crispy chicken in your life, you'll be singing alone in your bedroom: "I can't live, if living is without you, I can't liiiiiiiiiive, I can't give any more." (No, just us?) But instead of racing to the nearest fast food restaurant, satisfy your cravings at home. Because these six recipes are better than chicken nuggets. They're crispier, breaded with cheese, coated with homemade ranch sauce, and other alluring descriptors.
1. Magic Crispy Chicken
More magical than the Sanderson sisters, and just as bewitching. This chicken is oven-baked, yet insanely crispy. How DO we do it? Check the recipe to find out. Homemade honey mustard sauce is not optional.
2. Chicken Milanesa with Maggi Ranch Sauce
Why dunk when you can pour ranch sauce allllll over one giant chicken tender? Thin-pounded fried chicken breasts are a dream quick weeknight dinner. If you can't find Maggi sauce, it's still awesome.
3. Dale Talde's Chicken Nugs
Chef Dale Talde calls these nuggets the "reinvention of the McNugget." They're marinaded in hot sauce and yogurt, battered in rice flour for extra crispiness, and ready to dip in three sauces—if you're feeling ambitious.
4. Parmesan Chicken Cutlets
The grown-up version features Parmesan-spiked panko breadcrumbs for crust cheesier than A Walk to Remember.
5. Gochujang-Ranch Crispy Chicken Bowl
This is the anti-grain bowl that you can bring to lunch tomorrow, or eat in your pajamas at home. These chicken thighs bake up to prime crispiness while you prep the other ingredients for the bowl. The gochujang-ranch, again, is not optional.
6. Chicken Katsu
This is editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport's go-to dish to make for his son, and aren't we all kids at heart? Add traditional Japanese katsu sauce if you want, or turn it into a sandwich. Just don't make common cutlet mistakes when you're cooking—no one likes burnt chicken. But then—and only then—you'll have an excuse to head to the drive-through.