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HG's Diet-Friendly "Fried" Food Secrets...

Posted Thu, Jul 02, 2009, 3:47 pm PDT

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At Hungry Girl, we're victims of serious junk-food cravings, and we LOVE the taste of fried food -- but we DON'T like all the fat and calories that go along with it. So check this out...

Welcome to Hungry Girl University's Department of Faux-Fried Studies

Objective: To make foods that satisfy your craving for crunchy fried foods without deep-frying anything, AND to add a huge boost of fiber to your diet. Take notes, freshman!

Intro to Faux-Frying

Step 1: Simply pour Fiber One bran cereal (original) into a blender/food processor/Magic Bullet, and grind away until it reaches a breadcrumb-like consistency.

Step 2: Pour your newly crushed crumbs into either a sealable container (like Tupperware) or a gallon-sized plastic bag. Season those crumbs to your heart's content -- our standard seasonings are garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper, but you can customize it to suit your tastes (i.e. cinnamon & sugar, Italian herbs, powdered seasoning packets, etc.).

Step 3: Pour some fat-free liquid egg substitute into a bowl. This will make the breadcrumbs stick to whatever you're coating them in. If you want to get crazy, you can dredge your food in another liquidy substance (like Frank's RedHot or your favorite sauce/dressing).

Step 4: Take the object of your faux-frying desires (chicken, for example), coat it in egg substitute or sauce (shake off excess), coat it in crumbs (shake off excess!), and lay it on a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray. Repeat with the rest of your items.

Step 5: Bake 'til crispy.

Step 6: Eat!

Quick Helpful Tips (Like Cliff's Notes!)

1. If you have faux-fried leftovers (not likely, but still...), simply crank the oven to 400 degrees, lay out your leftovers on a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray, pop it in the oven, and let 'em crisp up for about 10 minutes.

2. If you don't want to grind Fiber One EVERY time you faux-fry something, just grind up a big batch, keep the crumbs in an airtight container, and season to taste! If you're following a recipe, know that 1 cup of the cereal is equal to 1/2 cup of the crumbs.

Ready for Recipes?

Faux-Frying 101: Our Most Essential Recipes

Hungry Girl's Fiber-Fried Chicken Strips

Hungry Girl's Lord of the Onion Rings

Intermediate: More Complex Methods & Seasonings

Freakishly Fantastic Faux-Fried Zucchini

HG's Fiber-Fried Green Beans with Spicy Cucumber Ranch Dip

Advanced: Getting Adventurous with Your Bad Self

Planet Hungrywood Sweet & Cap'n Crunchy Chicken

Sweet Cinnamon Fritter Fries

Dessert time? Check out these Guilt-Free Answers to Ice-Cream Cravings.

LOOK! IT'S HUNGRY GIRL'S NEW BOOK!

Hungry Girl 200 Under 200: 200 Recipes Under 200 Calories is packed with TWO HUNDRED easy and delicious recipes, each with less than 200 calories a serving! Check it out RIGHT NOW!!

For a daily dose of guilt-free tips, tricks, food finds, recipes and more, visit hungry-girl.com and sign up for free daily emails!

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53 Comments

1. Posted by Jenni on Thu, Jul 02, 2009, 4:59 pm PDT

Frying chicken in cereal? That sounds disgusting. =-( I wonder what it tastes like. I'm usually open to trying new things, but I wouldn't give that a try.
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2. Posted by tives001 on Thu, Jul 02, 2009, 5:32 pm PDT

I second that. Knew it was tooooo good to be true.
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3. Posted by to.valerie on Fri, Jul 03, 2009, 3:37 am PDT

sounds like semi-sweet fibrery shake n bake
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4. Posted by Shewulfwyn on Fri, Jul 03, 2009, 4:19 am PDT

Actually, FiberOne is not sweet at all and these things are pretty good! No different from using breadcrumbs or corn flakes.
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5. Posted by jengraf_80 on Fri, Jul 03, 2009, 7:28 am PDT

I've tried it, and it does add more sweetness that regular breadcrumbs. It's ok if you're, for example, going to put the chicken on a salad with some dried fruit and nuts... but it's gross for savory things like chicken parmesan. You have to consider the flavor combination. If you're trying to lose weight, the best thing is just to make fried food an infrequent indulgence -- then you can have the real thing. "Faux" fried food will never be as good, so why not just grill or broil instead?
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6. Posted by mefy2k on Fri, Jul 03, 2009, 9:37 am PDT

Most of the stuff featured on this page are made with chemical laden products. The snacks that are suggested are also full of preservatives, as are the ingredients used in the "faux" dishes. Cut back on servings, use natural ingredients. It's much healthier that eating all this junk.
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7. Posted by coffeeboy503 on Fri, Jul 03, 2009, 10:23 am PDT

The texture is good, but it tasted too sweet for me
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8. Posted by Fallen Goddess on Fri, Jul 03, 2009, 11:27 am PDT

I love this stuff. if you do it right, it tastes great, i use it all the time., Add Paprika and Basil to the chicken.
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9. Posted by Dame Stjernelys on Fri, Jul 03, 2009, 12:24 pm PDT

Personally, for savoury dishes, I'd rather stick with Special K or Cornflakes rather than Fiber One, but that's just me.
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10. Posted by mpj1775 on Fri, Jul 03, 2009, 1:52 pm PDT

I've tried it, but still prefer using Heart Smart Bisquick and the egg substitute. It just tastes more like the "real deal."
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11. Posted by darush365 on Sat, Jul 04, 2009, 1:08 pm PDT

Why would you put SUGAR and CINNAMON in bread crumbs? OK for desserts, but with meat?!? Sugary meat anyone? Yuck. I like everything savory, sugar means diabetes and overweight. Who wants that? To me the main point is using non- GMO foods.
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12. Posted by karieklassen@rogers.com on Mon, Jul 06, 2009, 4:08 am PDT

I have done a recipe with special k or cornflakes grinded up to be like bread crumbs, season and coat chicken, then drizzle with honey when almost ready, it was so crispy and yummy.
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13. Posted by vonwulff@rogers.com on Mon, Jul 06, 2009, 4:45 am PDT

Here's a lil food for thought, one man eats healthy dies at 50 another man eats,drinks and smokes all his life and dies at 97. Hmm makes you wonder.
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14. Posted by doak_procter on Mon, Jul 06, 2009, 8:54 am PDT

Hmmmm, yeah, it makes me wonder why there aren't more 97-year-old men out there eating, drinking, and smoking whatever they want, if it's so good for you.
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15. Posted by tashby3@verizon.net on Mon, Jul 06, 2009, 10:18 pm PDT

what I've found is to east fruit in season. You must tell your brain that this piece of fruit is satisfying, and it will be.. Thre key is to find fruit at its best in seson, like peaches right now. It fills you up and satisfies your sweettooth, too. Also, you must tell your brain that cool tap water tastes like sweetened soda. It works for me and I can down over a half gallon a day. Not ice water, but cool. The down side is bathroom trips, but it is worth it in appetite suppressant and hydration, especially if you have good tasting tap water. Grapes are also good for snacks. Tarbaby26662
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16. Posted by Yo it's Me on Tue, Jul 07, 2009, 2:38 am PDT

Wow, she invented Shake N Bake without the bag. Or the flavor. No wonder she is hungry.
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17. Posted by kathleen_g_reynolds on Tue, Jul 07, 2009, 5:02 am PDT

Just used unprocessed wheat bran instead of the Fiber one (the bran has no flavor on it's own, so you can spice it up any way you want).
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18. Posted by PAPI P on Tue, Jul 07, 2009, 5:33 am PDT

Bottom line less fried food is better. I loves me some french fries. Chef Papi Perez
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19. Posted by marjorieme@att.net on Tue, Jul 07, 2009, 6:05 am PDT

The onion ring and zucchini and green beans all sound delicious!
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20. Posted by marcia h on Tue, Jul 07, 2009, 7:37 am PDT

Fiber One contains Aspartame, a powerful, dangerous neuro-toxin. Check it out on the net.
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21. Posted by zaquax on Tue, Jul 07, 2009, 7:38 am PDT

Replacing olive oil with carbs is not necessarily a good idea. I am doing Atkins and it works great. Fried chicken is fine by me. Chicken coated in carbs is not.
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22. Posted by fastheidegger on Tue, Jul 07, 2009, 7:53 am PDT

Too bland for me. Might as well eat the real thing.
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23. Posted by dogmatic on Tue, Jul 07, 2009, 8:14 am PDT

"Remember Hungry Girl is not a nutritionist, she's just hungry" and an advertising whore...
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24. Posted by Jane Doe on Tue, Jul 07, 2009, 8:23 am PDT

egg substitute + high fiber (little else) cereal = faux food
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25. Posted by ce11andersen on Tue, Jul 07, 2009, 8:59 am PDT

to post #22. What do you think fried chicken is coated with other then oil? Carb and nutrient dense white FLOUR or bread crumbs. I believe both of those are considered Carbs
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26. Posted by ccdepp on Tue, Jul 07, 2009, 9:09 am PDT

I've tried to make the "faux" onion rings 2 years ago when this same suggestion was posted... HORRIBLE!!! for one the cereal doesn't even stick to the food- no matter how much faux eggs you use.... the breading is too heavy and slides right off.
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27. Posted by Ashley on Tue, Jul 07, 2009, 10:08 am PDT

I haven't tried it with the cereal but i oven fry lots of things my fave yo mix to make a crispy crust is crushed french fried onions, Ritz crackers and either a little flour or bread crumbs depending whats on hand and i season it for whatever i'm cooking. it comes out crunchy and full of flavor
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28. Posted by bradsollenberger on Tue, Jul 07, 2009, 3:16 pm PDT

I thought for chicken strips with BBQ sauce to dip it in, it was delicious! I can see how it might not work for chicken parm though (corn flakes might be better for that). The people who use this kind of recipe are people who can't just cut back servings and use "natural" ingredients, not everyone can be as disciplined as you I guess. Thats why these recipes exist. If you're like me and want to eat a lot, but cut back on fat and calories, then I suggest you at least try it. Chicken strips are great!!! But I wasn't crazy about the onion rings. Not bad, but not great.
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29. Posted by lalavash on Tue, Jul 07, 2009, 10:15 am PDT

I tried the faux fried onion rings, too - dreadful! She doesn't tell you that Fiber One has a sickly sweet undertone even as cereal, so when you bread anything in it, the result will also be sweet-tasting. Hungry Girl uses Fiber One crumbs a lot, but they do not stick to the food and taste unpleasant. You're better off with real breadcrumbs, or better yet, corn flake crumbs.
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30. Posted by Rachael C on Tue, Jul 07, 2009, 3:43 pm PDT

Um... Shake 'n' Bake is not a new concept...
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