Crispy Fried Chicken is one of those Southern home-cooked meals you can never get enough of, and with this easy recipe needing only a handful of simple ingredients to create the best juicy chicken, you cannot go wrong!
Pair this ultimate comfort food recipe with all of your favorite side dishes like baked mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, or potato wedges for the best southern meal around.
You can keep this recipe simple by using drumsticks, or use this delicious fried chicken recipe on a whole chicken or chicken breasts to switch it up for more delicious dinner recipes.
Recipe Ingredients:
- Protein: We love using chicken drumsticks in the chicken recipe
- Seasonings: You will need a combination of kosher salt, ground black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and flaky salt for serving
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour to create the best breading for the frying process
- Cornstarch: Adding cornstarch to the flour mixture will help give the juicy meat a light, flaky, golden brown, and crispy shell
- Milk: To get the best flavor, use buttermilk with the pieces of chicken
How To Make Fried Chicken:
Season the chicken:
- Start by seasoning the chicken: season the chicken with salt and pepper to taste.
Prepare the coating:
- Make flour coating: add paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, flour, and cornstarch to a large zip-lock bag and shake well to combine the ingredients.
Coat the chicken:
- Buttermilk marinade: Add the buttermilk to a large bowl, and add the seasoned chicken drumsticks. Cover the chicken and let it marinate in the fridge for 2 hours.
- After two hours, remove the chicken from the buttermilk and allow the excess buttermilk to drip off.
- Add the chicken into the ziplock bag with the flour. Discard the buttermilk.
- Close the zip-lock bag with the chicken inside and shake well to coat every piece of chicken with the flour. Place the chicken onto the wire rack for about 30 minutes.
Fry the chicken:
- Fry the chicken: heat a deep fryer or around 2 cups of oil in a medium saucepan to 325℉. Fry the chicken in hot oil in batches for 10-12 minutes or until deep golden brown. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
Serve chicken:
- Drain the fried chicken onto a plate lined with paper towels. Allow them to rest for 5 minutes and serve.
- Sprinkle the cooked chicken with some extra salt flakes before serving.
Variations:
- Make the chicken spicy by either adding some cayenne pepper to the seasoned flour or dipping the chicken in hot sauce after the buttermilk.
- Which out the buttermilk for an egg mixture if you prefer.
Frequently Asked Questions for Making Perfect Fried Chicken:
Using either refined avocado oil, peanut oil, or canola oil is the best option for frying. With deep frying at a high temperature, these oils are great to use because they have a high smoke point.
Yes! If you want to use boneless chicken wings or chicken thighs in this recipe, you are more than welcome to. Just watch the cook time, as it will be less than chicken with bones in it.
You definitely can. In this recipe, we only use a dry rub before breading the chicken, and you will still get the best Southern fried chicken recipe. However, we do find letting the chicken steep in the buttermilk will lead to the best fried chicken.
If you want to try making this in the air fryer, be sure to preheat the air fryer in advance, so make the chicken goes into a hot air fryer basket.
You may also have to adjust the cooking time for the chicken, as every air fryer cooks differently and not always within the same timeframe you might expect from a deep fryer.
Expert Tips:
- You can use other chicken pieces for this recipe, like dark meat pieces like chicken thighs, or even a whole cut-up chicken.
- You can make buttermilk marinade more flavorful by adding some lemon zest to it.
- The chicken pairs well with spices like cumin and coriander, so consider adding these to your flour mixture.
- Allow your coated chicken to rest before frying. This is an important step. Let the chicken rest until the flour has a paste-like consistency. Check it by gently touching it. This will give you the best and crispiest crust.
- Check the oil temperature by using an instant-read thermometer to get a read on the temperature.
Storing and Reheating Instructions:
Fridge: Using an airtight container to store the leftover fried chicken and placing a piece of bread in the container is essential. This will lock out the excess moisture, and the bread will soak up and remaining moisture to keep the breading on the chicken crunchy for later. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheat: Place the chicken in a preheated air fryer for 4-5 minutes at 350℉, and you’ll be good to go!
Side dishes to serve with this recipe:
- Slow Cooker Creamed Corn
- Au Gratin Cheesy Potato Bake Recipe
- Slow Cooker Cheesy Cauliflower
- Best Cheesy Hashbrown Potato Casserole {Funeral Potatoes} Recipe
Fried Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 chicken drumsticks
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 ½ cup flour
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 1 ½ cup buttermilk
- Flaky salt, for serving
Instructions
Season the chicken:
- Start by seasoning the chicken: season the chicken with salt and pepper to taste.
- Prepare the coating:
- Make flour coating: add paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, flour, and cornstarch to a large zip-lock bag and shake well to combine the ingredients.
Coat the chicken:
- Buttermilk marinade: Add the buttermilk to a large bowl, and add the seasoned chicken drumsticks. Cover the chicken and let it marinate in the fridge for 2 hours.
- After two hours, remove the chicken from the buttermilk and allow the excess buttermilk to drip off.
- Add the chicken into the zip lock bag with the flour. Discard the buttermilk.
- Close the zip-lock bag with the chicken inside and shake well to coat it with the flour. Place the chicken onto the wire rack for about 30 minutes.
Fry the chicken:
- Fry the chicken: heat a deep fryer or around 2 cups of oil in a medium saucepan to 325℉. Fry the chicken in batches for 10-12 minutes or until deep golden brown. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
Serve chicken:
- Drain the fried chicken onto a plate lined with paper towels. Allow them to rest for 5 minutes and serve.
- Sprinkle the fried chicken with some extra salt flakes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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Questions & Reviews