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!
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?
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour
- 4 cups finely crushed saltine crackers
- 1/3 cup salt
- 2 Tbsp . sugar
- 1 Tbsp . garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp . onion powder
- 1 Tbsp . pepper
- 4 Tbsp . paprika
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Mix all dry ingredients together.
- Drizzle oil over mixture then mix thoroughly until oil is well distributed and particles are fine.
- Store mix, refrigerated, in a tightly covered container.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 50 Serving Size: 1 ServingsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 70Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 791mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 2g
My kids would love this, I’ll have to see if I can make it gluten free!
Good idea Rosina! I’m sure you can!
Looks great! Favor-ting now so I can print later 🙂
Kas
Which reminds me. I got ingredients all over my copy last time, I’m printing a new one off too. I took out chicken for tomorrow, and I need to make another batch!
Sounds delicious! I’ve always loved shaking when baking lol.
You have to do a little shake {and possibly a jump and full turn} when you bake. That’s a given, right?!
🙂
can you store this without adding the oil?
Yes of course. The oil helps hold it to the chicken, gives flavour and adds some moisture.
That looks delish!
This is great, I too often find myself out of Shake n Bake and I love that this is made in your own kitchen with no preservatives or other unpronounceable ingredients!
That’s right Monica. I made more last night and thought of just that – I know what’s going into this!!
I haven’t bought Shake n bake in years. I usually use bread crumbs instead of saltines, but most anything works. That is what I love about mixing it yourself. It is just the way your family likes it 🙂
Yes, even to make it more spicy, it’s all your choice and preference!
🙂
This is great. I think it would work over tofu, too.
never thought of making my own, thanks for the recipe. it looks so easy!
you’re very welcome, Terry!
Sounds yummy and definitely much better for you than the store bought mix.
Im going to give this a try…yum!
tweet https://twitter.com/dropcqueen/status/237190661537951744
How long could this be stored refrigerated?
Hi Amy, sorry I didn’t see your comment earlier!
I have read ‘several months’ based on the ingredients. Myself, a batch never lasts more than 6 weeks at the most, we use it way before it should be tossed!
🙂
Thanks so much for the recipe! This would be much cheaper to make than buying it in the stores and I like that you can control the sodium content much better when you make it yourself!
Yum. This looks like a winner. Thanks for sharing!!
This looks great! I’m pinning it!
I was actually looking for something like this a few months ago! Thanks for the recipe, I might even add a bit of cayenne to kick it up a little bit! 🙂
Another recipe I just printed. Thanks for sharing. We loved the stuffed chicken wrapped in bacon. So good.
Tried this and was delicious! I’d put 5 stars but its only letting me hit 4!!
I have tried making my own and I love it much better than store bought shake and bake 🙂
My 8 year old just tried shake and bake and loves it. I made pan fried chicken nuggets fried in a little butter. I will be trying you recipe soon. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
I have to try this recipie – looks delicious! My husband loves shake n bake so I’m going to see if he tastes the difference!
Looks good!
that must cut the sodium way down compared to the prepacked shake n bake. I make my own tacoéchili spice mixture too. the sodium is ridiculous in the prepackages.
Never thought of using crackers, will have to try this. I normally use spiced up corn flakes or panko.
We love Shake-n-Bake, but sometimes I find myself with none in the pantry, oops! Thanks for sharing your recipe. I’ll definitely be giving it a try.
Thanks for this recipe, I am definitely going to make this up. Like knowing exactly what is going on my food and it would be nice not to rely on the premade mix
mmm will have to try this on my kids!!! Always forget to by the Shake and Bake!!!
Never have tried homemade shake and bake!
Thank you for the recipe. If you wanted to cut down on the salt even more, you could use “unsalted” crackers.
Nice money saver – I’ve printed this and also plan on sending it to friends!
This looks great, I think it is nice too because we could use the Whole Wheat crackers (my husband won’t eat white flour) as an alternative 🙂
Crackers instead of breadcrumbs or panko, what a good idea!
definitely going to use this. I love shake and bake but I dont like the sodium count in it and who knows what else is in package, glad to see this.
My husband would go for this
I made this and my family definitely prefers this offer the premade mix
Thanks for the recipe – definitely a money saver
Thank you for this recipe for homemade Shake n Bake. I know I will use it and I see, too, why you reduced the amount of salt,. Thank you again.
Looks really good, I love shake and bake but the salt content is crazy, this is a great way to control sodium.
Definitely adding this to my to try file!
Thanks for the Shake’n Bake recipe! I try to make most of the commercial mixes myself to cut out on some of the toxins that we get overloaded on! This is a new one for me to try! 🙂
I’m always looking for new recipes that I can make from scratch…..usually so much better then store bought, will be giving this one a go. Thanks for sharing
This looks like a good idea because I can use whole wheat saltines
It’s great to make your own so you can control what is in it and limit the chemicals and salt!
always i used to read smaller articles that also clear their motive,
and that is also happening with this paragraph
which I am reading at this time.
Thanks so much for the recipe. I loved Shake and Bake but stopped buying it after reading the ingredients on the box. Very scary. The seasoning combination you came up with sounds delicious. I love that you can make it in bulk and it keeps in the fridge. Perfect!
Tengo bastante de tiempo viendo su sitio
I think this is a wonderful recipe for Shake and Bake and I intend to try it out very soon. Thank you for such a simple and useful recipe.
I LOVE shake n bake but not the sodium,this recipe looks even better than the processed kind..thank you for the great idea. 🙂
Awesome. Definitely going to try this! Bookmarking for later. Thank you!