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The Best Crispy Buttermilk Fried Chicken
Fried chicken is seriously love on a plate. I’ve loved fried chicken ever since before I even came to Canada! Hellooo KFC! You can’t go wrong with a KFC meal, and having KFC always puts a smile on my face! Where do you love to get your fried chicken? Let me know in the comments!
This Crispy Fried Chicken recipe has been such a long time in the making. This has been one of my ultimate goals in the kitchen. I’ve been trying different variations of mastering the perfect fried chicken at home for years! It’s about time I finally share one of my favourite comfort foods of all time here on the blog! I’m so proud of this fried chicken, and if I could I’d have it at least once a week!
If you’re enjoying cooking with me, I’ve got two free guides to keep the fun going: Make Cooking Fun, my mindset reset for the kitchen, and the Live to Cook field guide — a month of cook-along challenges. Grab them both free on my free resources page, and come cook along with me on YouTube!
This recipe is part of the final theme of the Live to Cook challenge, and I really think I’m ending the one-month cooking challenge with a bang! I just love everything about fried chicken! The crispy crust, the tender, juicy and HOT inside, fried chicken really is a delight that I thank the South for coming up with!
Make sure to watch the video so you get a visual representation of how to make the perfect fried chicken at home! I’ll show you how to make the marinade and how to deep fry the chicken wings so you get the perfect colour and to ensure that the chicken is fully cooked! Make sure to subscribe to me on YouTube if you’re not already so you always know when the corresponding video to all of my recipes go live! I love filming the recipes since I find watching the demonstration is a nice complement to the written recipe and you’re set up for success! Let’s get cooking!
Questions You May Have!
What chicken should I use for fried chicken?▼
I would recommend you buy a whole chicken to make Southern Fried Chicken. This will be the most economical option, and you’ll have all the pieces to enjoy the variety, perfect for a crowd!
What if I don’t want a whole chicken?▼
You’ll notice in the video that although I do recommend a whole chicken, I actually didn’t use one! Instead, I bought a pack of chicken thighs and chicken drumsticks. This is because I was only cooking for myself and my other half, and we weren’t planning on eating a whole chicken. Furthermore, because I was recording this recipe, I was a bit nervous of carving a whole chicken on camera, as I’ve honestly only ever done that once in my life before! You can get a combination of white and dark meat based on your preference. If you are going to buy your cuts of meat separate to make Buttermilk Fried Chicken, then you’ll want to choose cuts that have the bone in and the skin on. You could have without the bone, but if you’re choosing different cuts of meat, then make sure both are the same in terms of bone in and skin on. You could use boneless pieces but I wouldn’t recommend mixing with- and without bone cuts together!
They didn’t have any bone-in skin on chicken breast at the store, so that’s why I went for chicken thighs and drumsticks. I prefer the dark meat actually so I don’t mind! Get whatever you’re in the mood for! If you’re going to mix white and dark meat, then keep into account the different cooking times. I recommend using all white meat or all dark meat if you want to be entirely consistent, but you can mix and match if you’re mindful of the differences in cooking time! what if I don’t have buttermilk?
You can substitute buttermilk by adding lemon juice or white vinegar to milk. 1 tbsp vinegar/lemon juice for 1 Cup of milk. Although this would help, it will not give the same flavours as buttermilk would since the consistency between the two is quite different.
how long should the chicken marinate?▼
I’ve marinated the chicken for about 2-3 hours, and I find that this is a good minimum amount of time! It’s long enough so that the flavours are absorbed into the skin. I’d recommend you marinate your chicken for a minimum of 2-3 hours but preferably overnight.
Shallow Frying vs Deep Frying
I usually tend to prefer shallow frying over deep frying since it uses lesser oil, so in turn there is less waste from dirty oil. Also, I like to use my cast iron skillet for fried chicken since it retains heat well, and due to the height, deep frying is out of the question.
What oil should I use for shallow frying fried chicken?▼
I used peanut oil to fry the chicken. I would also recommend canola oil, grape-seed oil or vegetable oil.
How long will the chicken fry?▼
The chicken will take about 12-15 minutes to fry to develop a beautiful crust outside. We don’t want to fry for too long or else the colour won’t be nice and golden brown, and the chicken will dry out. This is why once we have achieved the desired colour, we finish the cooking process as required in the oven.
How do I know the chicken is cooked?▼
The chicken is fully cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 Fahrenheit or 75 degrees Celsius. Without using a meat thermometer, the batter will be golden brown and the meat will be white with no visible pink. The juices from the chicken will run clear.
What Equipment will I need for Buttermilk Fried Chicken?▼
Here are the tools I recommend you have to make the best Southern Fried Chicken!
Additional Tips for the Best Southern Fried Chicken
- Make sure the oil is not too hot (375F and up). This will cause the crust to develop too quickly and not give the chicken skin the time it needs to render out and become crispy.
- Once the chicken has been added, adjust the heat as necessary to maintain a temperature of 300F.
- Some pieces such as the drumstick may cook faster than breast or thigh. Make sure you check each piece of chicken and finish in the oven as necessary before serving.
- For boneless fried chicken, chicken fingers or popcorn chicken, you can use the same process with your desired cuts of meat.
Ingredients for Crispy Buttermilk Southern Fried Chicken
Here’s what we’ll need for the ultimate Southern Fried Chicken recipe! These ingredients will consist of the marinade, the breading mixture, and to fry the chicken.
Remember, the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD for all ingredient quantities and step by step instructions. You can save the recipe for later, and it’s so easy to scale the ingredient quantities based on how many pieces of fried chicken you want to make!
- Chicken
- Flour
- Buttermilk
- Paprika
- Dried sage
- Dried oregano
- Dried basil
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Cayenne Pepper
- Salt
- Pepper
- Baking powder
- Oil
How to Make Buttermilk Fried Chicken
Preparing the Spice Mix
- Combine all the spices for the spice mix together and store in an airtight container.
Marinating the Chicken
- In a large bowl, add the chicken pieces and 2 Tbsp of the spice mix from earlier. Mix well to coat the spices all over the chicken.
- Pour buttermilk over the chicken and add enough to completely submerge the chicken.
- Add salt and then toss the chicken well in the buttermilk.
- Marinate for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight.
Breading the Chicken
- In a large casserole or bowl add flour, salt, pepper and baking powder. Mix well.
- Add 2-3 Tbsp of the buttermilk marinade on the breading mix and mix to combine.
- Add the chicken pieces one at a time and toss well with the flour. Press lightly to ensure you get crusting and layers of flours over the marinated chicken. There is no need to drip any excess marinade while breading the chicken.
- Repeat step 3 for the remaining chicken pieces.
Frying the Chicken
Pour oil in a cast iron skillet or dutch oven until it fills around 2 inches of the height of your skillet/dutch oven.
Preheat the oil to around 350F.
Preheat your oven to 350 F as well.
Carefully, transfer each breaded chicken to the oil and fry until crispy golden brown outside, make sure to turn the chicken every 2-3 minutes to ensure even colour on each side.
Once the chicken is added, the oil temperature should drop to 300F, adjust heat as required to ensure the oil maintains this temperature.
After 12-14 minutes, or when you are happy with the colour of the chicken, transfer each chicken piece to a baking sheet lined with a wire rack. Check some of the chicken pieces to check if the internal temperature at the thickest part of the chicken is 165F.
For any pieces that are under-cooked, transfer those pieces on the middle rack of the oven and cook for 5-10 minutes or until they are cooked through.
Serve right away and enjoy the crunch.
What to Serve with Crispy Fried Chicken
To be honest with you I didn’t serve with anything other than a variation of my Spicy Aioli - I followed this recipe with a combination of mayonnaise and sour cream. That dipping sauce was super good! I made a lot of chicken, and I just wanted to enjoy the chicken on its own! Trust me, the chicken is so good alone that I kept forgetting about the dipping sauce! However, the sauce is an excellent complement to the piping hot chicken!
If you’re making fried chicken for a crowd or just plan on having less than what I had and want a side with your chicken, then you can’t go wrong with French fries! I have three French fries options:
- Oven Baked Homemade Crispy French Fries
- Air Fryer French Fries
- Restaurant-Style Deep Fried French Fries
Choose whatever you’re in the mood for! For a lighter side, you could make my Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad. If you want another dipping sauce idea, then my Homemade Yogurt Caesar Dressing would go really well, and it’s lighter than the spicy mayonnaise!
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