This Yum Yum Chicken recipe with crispy crust is made with Yum Yum sauce! The fresh chicken breasts are coated in Yum Yum sauce then dredged in a Parmesan Panko mixture. The chicken is then cooked in the air fryer (or you can make it in the oven or pan fry if you prefer).
The chicken yum yum dressing can be store bought or use my homemade Yum Yum sauce recipe. Either way the results will be delicious, moist and tender. It's pretty amazing that this great recipe, has just 6 ingredients and is ready in just a few minutes!
Yum Yum Sauce Chicken
If you have ever eaten at a Japanese Hibachi Steakhouse, you have had Yum Yum sauce. I'm a big fan of the mayonnaise based sauce. Since I like to use a mayonnaise as a coating to adhere bread crumbs on meats and veggies, it made sense to try using the sauce in the same manner.
That is how I came up with this easy Yum Yum chicken. For extra flavor I used garlic powder and Parmesan cheese in the Panko breadcrumbs used to create a crispy coating for the chicken breasts. The results were a hit, so the recipe made it here.
How to Make Yum Yum Chicken
Here I will walk you through the simple process of making this yummy chicken recipe, complete with pictures. Not into all that? Jump right down to the printable recipe card below to make this recipe..
The recipe makes 4 servings.
Prep Time: 7 mins Cook Time: 15 mins
Ingredients you will need:
- 1-1 ¼ pounds of chicken breasts (3-4)
- ½ cup Yum Yum sauce*
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
*Chick-fil-a sauce is pretty similar in flavor to Yum Yum sauce, and can be swapped if it is convenient for you.
Directions to Make the Chicken:
Mix together the breadcrumbs, grated cheese garlic powder and black pepper.
Coat the chicken breasts in the creamy sauce. Either mix in a bowl or use a Ziploc bag to thoroughly cover the chicken pieces. Marinate for a couple hours for extra deliciousness, or move right on to applying the crust.
Ingredients you will need:
- 1-1 ¼ pounds of chicken breasts (3-4)
- ½ cup Yum Yum sauce
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Directions to Make the Chicken:
Mix together the breadcrumbs, grated cheese garlic powder and pepper.
Coat the chicken breasts in the creamy sauce. Either mix in a bowl or use a Ziploc bag to thoroughly cover the chicken pieces. Marinate for a couple hours for extra deliciousness, or move right on to applying the crust.
Take each piece of chicken, shake off excess sauce, then place in the bowl of crumbs to coat. Gently press to adhere, then flip and press again. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on any bare spots.
Preheat the air fryer to 390 degrees.
Place the breaded chicken breasts in the basket in a single layer. Don't overlap or crowd the chicken. If it is too much for your air fryer, split it into two batches.
Air fry for 15 minutes, flipping after 10 minutes. The crust will be golden brown and crispy and the chicken will have an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees F when it is fully cooked. [ref USDA]
Remove the cooked chicken from the air fryer to a serving plate.
Serving
Serve simple sides like sautéed veggies, air fryer sweet potato fries, or macaroni salad. Some extra Yum Yum sauce on the side as a dipping sauce and some daikon pickles for a refreshing crunch are great choices too.
Standard Oven Directions
If you prefer to bake the chicken in a regular oven, that is also easy. Cooking will just take longer and the baked results may not be quite as crispy as air fried.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and place the breaded chicken breasts on a baking sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper for easy clean-up). The chicken will take 20-25 minutes to cook.
Keto Yum Yum Chicken
This recipe is simple to adapt to a keto dish. Simply use my recipe for Keto Yum Yum sauce and swap the panko crumbs for crushed pork rinds. Team it with a low carb veggie, like broccoli, green beans or cauliflower rice, (such as my cauliflower rice pilaf).
Q&A
Mix together ½ cup of mayo, 1 tablespoon of ketchup, ½ tablespoon sugar, ¼ teaspoon paprika, ¼ teaspoon onion powder , ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder and pinch of cayenne pepper. Whisk all the ingredients together.
Of course extra sauce is great for dipping the chicken into, so I encourage you to make the full batch or at least ½ batch of the hibachi style sauce.
Yes, boneless chicken thighs will work. You will likely need to cook chicken thighs a couple minutes longer, unless they are small, to reach internal temp. of 165.
No, it is unnecessary. You can mist some oil on if you really want to.
If you bake the chicken and don't use a liner in baking sheet, it would be wise to spray that.
Yum Yum Chicken Recipe
Equipment
- 2 bowls one wide shallow
Ingredients
- 1-1 ¼ pounds chicken breasts 3-4
- ½ cup Yum Yum sauce
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Mix together the breadcrumbs, grated cheese garlic powder and pepper.
- Coat the chicken breasts in the creamy sauce. Either mix in a bowl or use a Ziploc bag to thoroughly cover the chicken pieces. Marinate for a couple hours for extra deliciousness, or move right on to applying the crust.
- Take each piece of chicken, shake off excess sauce, then place in the bowl of crumbs to coat. Gently press to adhere, then flip and press again. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on any bare spots.
- Preheat the air fryer to 390 degrees.
- Place the breaded chicken breasts in the basket in a single layer. Don't overlap or crowd the chicken. If it is too much for your air fryer, split it into two batches.
- Air fry for 15 minutes, flipping after 10 minutes. The crust will be golden brown and crispy and the chicken will have an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees F when it is fully cooked.
CHERYL says
I made this tonight. Everyone loved the recipe. Thanks.
Heather says
I made this tonite I baked it on 400 for an hour it was delicious! I marinated the chicken in yum yum sauce for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. I had garlic bread crumbs so I used that with Parmesan cheese. It tasted like shake and bake I was not prepared for that but it was amazing thank you 🙏
Karen says
I best chicken recipe ever. We LOVE this, I use chicken thighs, marinate overnight or all day, it adds so much more flavor, I use a convection oven...I made extra for the next day, but not much was left over