When it comes to chicken there just isn’t anything more delicious than a juicy, crusty piece of finger-licking good fried chicken. It might seem intimidating to fry your own chicken, but it’s actually pretty straightforward and it puts grocery store and fast food fried chicken to shame.  If you have a thermometer for the oil and a timer, you can produce fail-proof fried chicken.  If you’ve ever wanted to make your own fried chicken, now is the time to try!

Why Our Recipe

  • We’ve got a flavorful buttermilk brine that not only keeps your chicken juicy but also flavors the meat itself.
  • Our ultimate blend of herbs and spices puts the colonel’s to shame.
  • A full walk-through video demonstration is included to make sure you have everything you need to replicate this recipe at home.
crispy fried chicken thighs and drumsticks

Cornstarch Secret

Cornstarch is one of our recommended ingredients for the crispiest fried chicken. Cornstarch is often used in Asian fried chicken recipes. The combination of the flour with cornstarch produces the crispiest result. You can replace all of the flour with cornstarch, or you can try using a similar non-gluten-based flour or flour blend in place of traditional all-purpose flour.

Troubleshooting: Keep the breading from falling off

One of the challenges that people face when making fried chicken is that their crunchy coating falls off. There’s usually a few reasons for this to happen. Here are some tips for making sure your breading doesn’t fall off.

  • When coating and breading your chicken, be sure to tap off the excess buttermilk as well as the excess flour.
  • Give your chicken a gentle pat after coating with the flour mixture to make sure that the flour sticks to the buttermilk.
  • Make sure that you don’t overcrowd your pan. You want to make sure that the chicken isn’t bumping against other pieces of chicken which can knock off the breading.
  • Only flip your chicken once while frying. The more you fuss with your chicken, the more likely you are to knock off or disturb some of the crunchy coating.

Some people recommend allowing your chicken to dry on a wire rack after dipping and dredging. This is not only useful, it’s also convenient when making large batches.

Frying Oils

There are lots of options when it comes to oil used for deep frying. Common options include peanut oil, vegetable oil, canola oil, safflower oil, and corn oil. Vegetable oil is the oil we recommend using for deep frying.

To reuse your oil, simply let the oil cool down completely, strain it, and return it to a storage container for later use. 

Fried Chicken Cooking Time

The average piece of chicken will need to be fried for 14 minutes. Each piece of chicken will be different though so make sure you cook each one to a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. White meat will have its peak juiciness at 165 degrees F. Dark meat can be cooked to 170-175F for the best texture.

Bird's eye view Crispy Fried Chicken on a paper towel on a wood plate.

Storage and Reheating Instructions

Fried chicken is best when it is fresh and the skin is still crispy. Leftovers though will be good in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. The skin will not be as crispy when reheated.

For best results, reheat leftover fried chicken in a 350-degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

Looking for what to serve with Fried Chicken? You may enjoy these delicious classic American side dishes:

Watch the video below where we will walk you through every step of the recipe with a video demonstration.