Bottom o’ the Bag Crouton Chicken

The big two-pound bag of roasted garlic focaccia croutons from Costco is a staple in our pantry. Yes, I know these croutons are not exactly diet food, but they are delicious and so I sprinkle them sparingly (or not?) on our daily salads.

Invariably, there’s an inch or more of crouton crumbs at the bottom of the bag once we’ve worked our way through it. I hate to throw away these crumbs, so every few months I make Bottom o’ the Bag Crouton Chicken for dinner.

It’s EASY and yummy!

Here’s an approximate cast of characters (yours may vary):

And an approximate recipe (your quantities and ingredients may vary):

• Chicken breasts
• Eggs
• Milk
• Spices (I use a mixture called “garlic & rosemary bread dipping blend” that I got at TJ Maxx for $2.99!)
• Croutons (the buttery, garlicky kind, of course)
• Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

The great thing about the bottom o’ the bag croutons is that you can turn them into bread crumbs just by running a rolling pin over the closed bag (or almost closed, if you don’t want an explosion) a few times.

Mix the eggs, milk and spices together in a pie tin. Pour the crushed croutons onto a plate. Now, dip a chicken breast into the egg mixture, coating it completely. (Yeah, just get your hands in there!) Once well-coated, place the chicken breast onto the crumbs and press down to coat the bottom side of the breast. To coat the top side, just scoop generous amounts of crumbs from the plate and pile them high on top of the chicken. Don’t skimp. Remember that the whole idea is to use up the croutons!

Now place the chicken into a well-greased 13x9 pan. Grate some Parmesan over the crumbs and bake the whole mess at 325 degrees for about 45 minutes. (Addendum: make that 350 degrees for 45 minutes. We had to put ours back into the oven!)

I serve the chicken with a green salad and another Costco’s discovery, Harvest Medley wild and brown rice mix. Deslish!

If it’s as gorgeous a day where you are as it is in Seattle, you might want to eat outside like we did!

Enjoy!