Main Dishes
Homemade Fried Chicken
| Level: Intermediate |
Total Time: 1 hour |
Yield: 8 servings |
Almost everyone loves deep-fried chicken! This is the best ever — moist and tender chicken and that great crispy flavorful skin. This will become one of your family’s favorites!
Homemade Fried Chicken
Print RecipeServings: 8 people
This recipe makes the best chicken ever -- moist and tender with that crispy flavorful skin. It takes a bit to make but will become one of your favorites!
Equipment
- cast iron enameled dutch oven
- cooling rack
- sheet tray
- High temperature thermometer suitable for testing oil temperature
Ingredients
- Marinade
- 2 cups Buttermilk
- 1/4 cup Dill Pickle juice
- 2.5 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon MSG
- 2 teaspoons Paprika
- 1 Tablespoon Garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning of choice
- 2 teaspoons Hot sauce
- Chicken
- 4 Chicken thighs
- 4 Drumsticks
- Breading-dredge:
- 3 cups All-purpose flour
- 1.5 teaspoons MSG
- 1/2 teaspoon Onion powder
- 2.5 teaspoons Garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground white pepper
- 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
- 1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
Instructions
- To marinate Chicken: In a large bowl, add buttermilk, pickle juice, salt, MSG, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, creole seasoning, and hot sauce; whisk together until combined. Next, add all your chicken to the marinade, and mix until well-coated. You don't need to wait for the chicken to marinate, you can start to cook right away.
- For the Breading: In a medium bowl, add all the ingredients and whisk together until well combined.
- Remove one of the pieces of chicken from the marinade and dredge; aggressively press it, making sure it’s all coated. Remove, shake the excess flour, and place on a wire rack. Repeat with all of the chicken pieces.
- Fill the heavy bottom pot halfway, (at least 2” inches) of vegetable oil, and heat to 350F. In batches, fry your chicken and cook for 3 – 5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and temp to make sure the internal temperature is at least 165F. Try to hold the temperature of the oil to at least 325F while frying your chicken; don't add too many pieces to the pot at one time they will cool down the oil too much.
- Remove, and drain on a wire rack. When all pieces are done, serve.
Notes
- For this recipe, we used chicken thighs and drumsticks, but you can use cut up chicken pieces. Depending on the piece of chicken you are frying, it could take more or less time.
- This recipe is very similar to Popeye's Fried Chicken, but you can adjust the spice level according to your taste by changing the amount of hot sauce or Creole Seasoning.
- This recipe was adapted from the video below.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lGWTKZp2Ps&t=412s