Homemade Shake and Bake

Brace yourselves people, I’m sharing my weekly secret weapon, my Homemade Shake and Bake Recipe!

My kids are picky. What else is new, right?

When it comes to chicken with a bone, sauces or spices alone just won’t do. They love Shake’n Bake on their chicken! So, it’s usually something I have on hand in the house.

Yet one afternoon I was prepping for a meal that included Chicken Drumsticks, and there wasn’t any Shake’n Bake packages in the pantry. Fabulous!

Not wanting to run to the store yet again this day just for seasoning mix, I knew there had to be a recipe online to make your own shake and bake coating mix. Thank god for the internets, right?

Indeed I found many recipes, yet chose a couple that used simple and common ingredients. Some can get pretty fancy, yet I wanted easy, simple and most like the original.

Note: This is a recipe for Homemade Shake and Bake without bread crumbs!

The final easy recipe I used is tweaked a little from one I found online, since I didn’t want as much salt as that recipe called for.

Turns out this is the best coating I’ve ever tasted, and most likely won’t go back to the store bought varieties. I use this copycat shake and bake recipe so much, I haven’t purchased the grocery store variety in years.

You can use this homemade version to make shake ‘n bake chicken and shake and bake pork chops. It’s great for baking in the oven or using in the air fryer.

I’ve used this Easy Homemade Shake and Bake for:

• chicken thighs
• chicken legs
• boneless pork chops
• bone-in pork chops
• boneless chicken breasts
• mixed pieces of chicken
• chicken nuggets

How to Make Homemade Shake and Bake Coating

You’ll need the following simple ingredients to make this recipe. The detailed instructions are on the printable recipe acrd below.

• all purpose flour
• finely crushed saltine crackers
• salt
• sugar
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• black pepper
• paprika
• vegetable oil

To Make: Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Drizzle oil over mixture then mix thoroughly until oil is well distributed and particles are fine.

Store mix, refrigerated, in a tightly covered container.

I like to crush my crackers in a large ziplock freezer bag using my hands and a rolling pin. It’s an easy way without the mess. Yet you can also use a food processor as well, if you’d like.

When it comes time to coat your meat, add the chicken pieces or pork chops to a ziplock bag (zipper-top plastic bag) once piece of meat at a time, and gently toss until the coating mix covers the piece.

Then arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil (or a baking dish), repeating with all pieces of meat.

Then bake until meat is cooked thoroughly. I use a meat thermometer to ensure it’s properly cooked.

This copycat recipe is so simple! Each piece is golden brown and so crispy.

How Long Does Homemade Shake and Bake Last?

This recipe makes a huge batch of shake n bake, just keep it all in the fridge in an airtight container. It doesn’t make so much that you’ll need a massive container taking up room in the fridge though. For us, I make ~9-12 drumsticks at a time and this one batch lasted for 3 meals.

You could cut the recipe in half, yet I like making the full batch, so that I have some whenever I need it. I keep mine for about 2-3 months stored in the fridge.

Even if you don’t need a coating for today’s meal, make a batch of this easy homemade shake and bake. Having it on hand might save your day very soon, and it only takes minutes to make!

Here’s my recipe for Homemade Shake’n Bake coating, one that the entire family loves. Enjoy!