Fried Chicken
Difficulty 3/5 Ingredients 6 Steps 15
Fried chicken has a dual origin in the rural American South. The Scots had a tradition of deep-frying chicken in fat with seasonings, unlike their English counterparts who roast chicken. Later, as African slaves were introduced to households they brought different seasonings along with pan frying the chicken. Since slaves were often allowed to keep only chickens, frying chicken as a special occasion spread through…
Ingredients
- Dry ground seasonings as desired (e.g. pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, etc.)
- 1 fryer chicken, cut up (see notes below)
- 1 quart buttermilk
- ½ cup salt
- Flour
- A quantity of oil suitable for the desired cooking method (see notes below)
Steps
Brining
- Combine seasonings to make spice rub.
- Pour buttermilk into bowl. Dissolve in salt.
- Roll chicken pieces in spice rub.
- Submerge each piece in buttermilk.
- Cover and refrigerate. Minimum 2 hours; flavor suffers. Overnight possible; reduce salt to ⅓ cup.
- Remove chicken from buttermilk shortly before cooking. Drain. Coat well in flour. Shake off excess.
Deep frying
- Immerse chicken in 360°F oil. Cook breasts 10 minutes, drumsticks 12 minutes, thighs 13–14 minutes, wings 10 minutes.
- Drain on wire rack over sheet pan.
Pan frying
- Heat oil or shortening, 3–4 mm deep in pan, to 325°F.
- Place chicken skin side down. Cook until brown, 10–12 minutes. Turn and cook other side.
- Place slow-cooking pieces (thighs) to cook more intensely than fast-cooking pieces (wings, breasts).
- Drain on wire rack over sheet pan.
Pressure frying
- Put chicken in hot oil, larger pieces first. Fry about 3 minutes until very light brown. Lock on lid.
- Cook at 5–6 pounds pressure, about 7 minutes.
- Drain on wire rack over sheet pan.
Notes from the original
- The key to this recipe is the buttermilk brine, which seasons the chicken with a salty tanginess inside. Combined with a suitably zingy spice rub, this works out beautifully.
- This recipe is death to oil, so it's one you might want to save until you're thinking about changing your fryer oil anyway.
- As with all respectable fried chicken recipes, this recipe may be even better 24 hours after you cook it, when the chicken has been refrigerated.
- If you can get a pre-cut chicken, this is ultimately easier. Alternatively, if you have a real preference for drumsticks, thighs, breasts, or some other part, feel free to buy just those. The quantities in the ingredient list, however, reflect two breasts, two thighs, and two drumsticks. Don't waste the other parts on fried chicken; save them for chicken soup! But if you like fried chicken wings, increase the quantities a bit.
- If you are kosher, lactose intolerant, not fond of buttermilk, or feeling experimental, feel free to play around with other possible brines here. If you use a less viscous liquid than buttermilk, however, you may need to use an egg wash to make sure that the flour sticks to the chicken in sufficient quantity.
- Wings can also be saved, along with other leftover bits of carcass, to make chicken soup.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Fried Chicken” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2026-04-28, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.