Baked Buttermilk Chicken
Baked Buttermilk Chicken recipe is southern food at it’s best. This creamy chicken dish will “wow” your taste buds as well as your dinner guests!
I spent some time down in Savannah, Georgia a few years ago while down south for a friend’s wedding. I ate better food than I have ever eaten in my life while down there. By better food, I mean the greasiest, fattiest food in the world that caused me to have to go to the doctor’s and get temporary medication for IBS. No joke. Was that TMI? I’m just saying that it was totally worth every bite. I mean, basically everything is fried down in Georgia. I want to go back just for the food…but maybe just play it a little safer this time. I definitely paid for it afterward, but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
Since I won’t be doing that anytime soon, I have to bring Savannah food to my own kitchen. One of the famous Southern home cooking restaurants down there is called Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining Room. It’s a family-style small and cozy restaurant. Unfortunately, when Mr. Wishes and I went to hit it up the line was down the street and we didn’t have time to wait. Lucky for me, I found the recipe for their Baked Buttermilk Chicken online.
I’m sure nothing beats the taste of it straight out of the restaurant, but this simple and delicious chicken dish will knock your socks off. It’s super easy to make and has tons of flavor. The tangy buttermilk gravy is the star of the show here and everyone you serve this to will want to just eat it with a spoon. I did this. I definitely did this. This meal is totally “serve to dinner guests” worthy!
I actually doubled the gravy so I had enough to serve it over mashed potatoes and biscuits. You might want to do the same! Serve with mashed potatoes, rice, egg noodles, etc. Comfort food in the fall and winter doesn’t get much better than this.
- 4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1½ cups buttermilk
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 (10 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley, for garnish (or use fresh)
- Preheat oven to 425F.
- Melt butter in a 9x13 inch pan.
- Place ½ cup of the buttermilk onto a shallow dish, set aside the rest.
- In another shallow dish, mix together the flour, salt and two kinds of pepper.
- Dip chicken in the buttermilk and then dredge the chicken into the flour mixture.
- Place the dredged chicken in the prepared pan.
- Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.
- Turn the chicken over and bake for 15 minutes more.
- Combine the remaining 1 cup of buttermilk and the cream of mushroom soup.
- Pour over chicken and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
- Transfer the chicken onto a serving platter and garnish with parsley.
- Stir the gravy up real well and then transfer to a gravy boat or other serving dish.
- Serve topped with the pan gravy and a side of mashed potatoes or rice.
Recipe source: adapted from Mrs. Wilkes Boardinghouse Cookbook
That gravy!! I just want to swim in it!!
I haven’t been to Savannah in a while, and your buttermilk chicken makes me miss the food there. It looks so wonderful.
Look at all that luscious gravy! It would definitely be amazing over mashed potatoes. I would love to visit Savannah one day. Will have to be sure to pace myself. Haha
Haha – I don’t mean to laugh I’m so sorry Mrs. Wilkes’ food and Savannah food in general gave you temporary IBS! But you are spot on – that sure is some “rich” food! There used to be an Uncle Baba’s down there that had some super tasty seafood – stuff that you could only eat once a lifetime!
BTW – Ashley, this chicken sounds scrumptious – live the cream of mushroom soup and buttermilk combo!
Dear Ashley, what a marvelous dinner…your chicken sounds wonderful and it looks like perfection. Gravy and biscuits go perfectly….such a comforting meal for the winter. xo, Catherine
Southern cooking is so good, isn’t it? Not the healthiest stuff, but absolutely delish. Anyway, this is a fantastic dish! So much flavor. Thanks!
My boyfriends family lives in the south and I always indulge a little too much because the food there is just too good! Love the sound of this buttermilk baked chicken.
haha we were just in Charleston for a wedding and ate so much heavy food! At the rehearsal and the wedding!! It was definitely rich!!
This chicken sounds delicious!!
Well I guess I should add that making in tonight. Leaving tomorrow afternoon and wouldn’t get to eat it until friday so I was trying to figure out the best way to store it thanks.
It should be fine. I mean, it will always taste best when it’s eaten the same day that it is baked. Wrap it in Saran Wrap and also foil. You can always warm it up in the oven for a bit before eating.
Hi, I got to your website through Rebecca’s Easy Meal Plan post (I read them religiously) and I was just wondering about cooking chicken breasts (boneless) for 1 hour at 425º. If I’m baking for a long time, I usually lower the heat – my usual time is 1/2 hour at 350º Doesn’t the chicken get really tough? Thanks!
Hi Carol! Feel free to cook it at a lower temperature for a shorter amount of time – as long as you’re checking the internal temperature of the chicken you should be fine and never end up with tough chicken! Mine came out perfect cooking it this way, but I know oven times/temps also vary 🙂
Thanks Ashley for the quick reply. I think it’s a recipe my sons would love.
Could I use cream of chicken soup instead of cream of mushrooms ( not a fan mushrooms )!
Of course! -Ashley
I’m making this and just pulled it out to flip the chicken over. The entire bottom layer of coating stuck to the dish. It’s also pretty blackened and I’m wondering if I should have added more butter. I like to follow recipes to a T the first time, but I’m not sure this is working out so well! Did this happen to you?
No this has never happened! It should have been enough butter to keep it from sticking. So sorry this happened with yours! Mine always comes out perfectly.
Thank you so much for responding! I just wasn’t sure about the butter. Good to know it turns out usually. My family loved the meal! They said the recipe is a keeper! I served it with biscuits, but next time mashed potatoes will be a must. Thanks again!
Oh yes!! Definitely with mashed potatoes!! Sorry about the chicken sticking at the bottom. Really not sure why that happened 🙁 I wish I knew! (By the way, this is Ashley, but somehow my responses on the app always come up as my husband’s name-Nick) i have no idea how to fix it lol
If you are using stick margarine vs real butter, or another product that has added water?
That is often the problem with sticking for some folks….
We LOVED this recipe! The chicken came out perfectly and it was so easy to put together. I liked it so much that I recommended it in my latest post. Hope you don’t mind!
If I’m out of commercial buttermilk, could I ‘make ‘my own substitute with milk and rice wine vinegar?
Thanks!
yes! I have made my own before, also 🙂
Made this with skinless, boneless chicken thighs (12 of them), doubled the sauce and served with mashed potatoes and roasted veggies. Pretty tasty! I will make this again, but I will probably put some seasonings in the sauce, just to make it a little something more to my taste. A good recipe as is, and I recommend anyone making it the first time to follow the recipe as written because most folks will probably like it without thinking it needs any tweaking.
I made a baked buttermilk chicken recipe when I was in high school 44 years ago. I had to make it for my family, of dad, mom, 3 brothers and 1 sister, at home and they had to grade my work. Thankfully it was a hit and I got an A. But my mom then would continue to make this dish for us many times after that. I also had to make it in the classroom after I had made it for my family. I lost the recipe for about 40 years. The gravy was what I loved most about this recipe!!! All those years ago I learned to double the gravy recipe!!! I’m making this dish today for my adult children and grandchildren. One thing I have to do is add chicken thighs for my husband as he doesn’t care for white meat. I’m so excited to be making this dish again after so many years! Thank you for sharing this absolutely delicious recipe!!!
This looks great! I only wish there was a “print” option . . .
You must have missed it. It is at the top of the Recipe page. Right next to the Star rating. 4.5/5