Baked chicken skins. Crispy and crackly, these poultry pork rind alternatives pack a satisfying crunch! Chicken chicharrones are a great snack and appetizer. Perfect for those that are abstaining from pork. As a reward for grinding your own chicken, you get chicken skin as a byproduct. Baking your own poultry rinds is a delicious use.
Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Skins
Description
Step one. Procure chicken skin. You can’t have oven baked chicken skin without the skin. I find that chicken quarters are often the best price per pound at that grocery store. However, I also cook with a lot of ground chicken (Like the Pesto Mozzerella Chicken Patties) which means that I need to find something else to do with the skin. The skins will shrink a lot when cooking. Be sure that your raw skin pieces are at least a half size bigger than you want your final chips. For example, if you wish 1-inch crisps, cut the skins to 1.5-2 inches in size. Compare the before and after pictures for an idea of what kind of shrinkage I’m talking about.
Chicken skin also has tons of flavorful fat and collagen. That fat will leave you with a sheet pan of drippings. I find this recipe is a great appetizer or companion for a chicken-based main course. Those drippings are liquid gold for flavoring your main dish. I am also a big nose-to-tail fan so waste not, want not.
These are also entirely customizable. I am a fan of just some essential salt and pepper, but anything you could flavor a potato chip can flavor a chicken chip. Just be warned that it will have a mild chicken taste as your base.
Nutritional Information and Ingredients
Nutrition-
Nutritional information is approximate for cooked weight. One serving is 1 Oz.
Calories: 126
Protein: 4.5
Fat: 12
Carbohydrates: 0
Ingredients-
- Chicken skin
Seasonings-
- (All spices are optional and customizable)
- Oil
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions- Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Skins
Step one. Preheat your oven to 275 degrees F.
Prep your chicken skin. Trim any unappetizing bits and pick off any extra feathers you find. Or don’t. The chicken chip CIA isn’t spying on you… (allegedly). Trim them to size before placing your chicken skin on the wire-racked baking sheet. They will shrink, so cut them a size larger than you want them.
Line the skins up on the wire rack. You don’t want them touching each other. Once you finish your flesh puzzle, spritz them with oil. Then salt and pepper them. Don’t overdo the seasonings because they shrink, which can concentrate your flavors too much. Then flip the skins over and repeat on the other side.
Once seasoned, place in the preheated oven for about an hour and a half. Rotate your pan halfway through cooking. The skins will shrink, curl, and then flatten out as they cook. It’s finished when the texture changes from soft to crispy and cracks like pork rinds.
