Crispy Southern Fried Chicken Recipes

CLASSIC SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 200 F and place a rack in a large baking pan.
• In a medium bowl, combine the milk and eggs. Whisk to blend well.
• In a large heavy-duty resealable plastic food storage bag, combine the flour, 2 tablespoons salt, and pepper. Seal and shake to combine.
• Dip the chicken pieces in the milk and egg mixture and let excess drip off into the bowl. Set already dipped pieces aside on a plate until you have three or four.
• Add the dipped chicken pieces to the bag of seasoned flour.
• Seal the bag and shake well to coat the chicken pieces thoroughly.
• Remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.
• Heat the oil in a deep, heavy skillet to 350 F. While it's heating up, set aside a large serving plate lined with paper towels.
• Fry the chicken, a few pieces at a time, for about 10 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and thoroughly cooked. Be careful not to put too many chicken pieces in at once-even if they can comfortably fit-since this will dramatically drop the temperature of the oil, affecting the crispness of the final product. Note that chicken breasts will take a little less time than dark meat pieces.
• With a slotted spoon, move the done chicken pieces onto the paper towel-lined platter to drain. Sprinkle immediately with salt.
• Transfer the drained and seasoned chicken to the prepared pan with a rack. Keep warm in the preheated oven while frying subsequent batches. Depending on the size of your pan, this recipe will require about 3 to 4 batches.

EXTRA CRISPY SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Rinse the chicken pieces with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. In a shallow bowl, beat the eggs with the milk, and stir in the salt, pepper and garlic powder. Soak the chicken in the milk mixture for 5 to 10 minutes. Combine the flour and seasoned salt (if using) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add the chicken pieces, a few at a time, and shake to coat completely in the flour. Shake off any excess and set the chicken aside on a rack to dry. Pour the oil into a deep skillet or deep fryer and heat it to 350 degrees F. Add chicken thighs and legs and cook for several minutes. Add other chicken pieces being careful not to overcrowd skillet. Continue cooking, turning once, until chicken pieces are golden brown and cooked through. Drain the fried chicken on paper towels and serve warm or at room temperature.

CRISPY SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• In a large bowl beat the eggs and add the chicken to coat.
• In another large bowl with a lid, mix together the flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, salt, pepper and accent seasoning.
• Preheat oil to 375°F I would recommend using a thermometer to monitor the temperature - temperature is important. A clip-on candy/deep-fry thermometer should be kept in the pot at all times, so that you can monitor the temperature accurately.
• Add the chicken to the flour mixture and place the lid on the bowl. Shake the bowl vigorously to coat the chicken.
• Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before frying. You can preheat your oil at this time.
• When the oil has reached 375° F carefully add the chicken to the oil. Try not to overcrowd, the temperature of the oil will drop but you don't want it to drop below 300°F Keep it at 300° F to 325° F while the chicken fries.
• Fry chicken for 8-12 minutes each side, turning the chicken over half way through (ensure chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 165° F when using an instant read thermometer).
• Drain the chicken on paper towels. You can place in a 170° F oven to keep the chicken warm if you have more chicken to fry.
• When frying more chicken let the oil get back up to 375° F again.

SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• In a large bowl, blend the eggs, buttermilk and Cajun spice. Mix well, and then pour over the chicken pieces, mixing and coating well. After coating the chicken, cover and refrigerate overnight, or for a minimum of 4 hours.
• Preheat the oil to 300 degrees F in a deep-fryer. Remove the chicken from the marinade and allow to sit on a baking screen for 5 minutes. This will allow any excess marinade to drip off.
• Next, in a large bowl, blend the flour, salt and pepper, mixing well. Dredge the marinated chicken in the flour. Coat the chicken well with flour, and then tap off any excess. Add to the heated oil. Fry the chicken in batches until it reaches 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, 13 to 15 minutes. Then remove from the oil and allow any excess to drip off before serving. This will allow the meat to rest before serving. Repeat the cooking process with the remaining chicken. (Hold the cooked chicken in the oven on low temperature if doing in batches.)

CLASSIC SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Combine chicken, buttermilk, hot sauce, 1 tablespoon salt, and 2 teaspoons pepper in a large, non-reactive bowl. Stir until chicken is well coated. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight.
• Combine flour, 2 teaspoons salt, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, remaining 1 teaspoon pepper, and cayenne in a large bowl; whisk until well combined.
• Remove chicken from the refrigerator. Working with one piece at a time, remove from the marinade and allow excess to drip off. Coat evenly in the flour mixture, and set on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet.
• Pour oil into a large Dutch oven to a depth of 1 inch. Heat over medium-high heat until it reaches 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Add a few chicken pieces to the hot oil and cook, turning once or twice, until golden brown on the outside, no longer pink at the bone, and the juices run clear, 10 to 15 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Maintain the oil temperature around 320 degrees F (160 degrees C) during cooking. Remove chicken to a clean wire rack set over a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Return oil to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and repeat to fry remaining chicken.
• Serve immediately.

REAL SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• In a shallow bowl, whisk 2 cups buttermilk, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken; turn to coat. Refrigerate, covered, overnight., In an electric skillet or deep fryer, heat oil to 375°. Meanwhile, place remaining buttermilk in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, whisk flour, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika and remaining salt and pepper. Place half of flour mixture in another shallow bowl (for a second coat of breading). Drain chicken, discarding marinade; pat chicken dry. Dip in flour mixture to coat both sides; shake off excess. Dip in buttermilk, allowing excess to drain off. For the second coat of breading, dip chicken in remaining flour mixture, patting to help coating adhere., Fry chicken, a few pieces at a time, 4-5 minutes on each side or until browned and juices run clear. Drain on paper towels.

SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Heat peanut oil in a large deep pot to 350°F (do not fill more than half full--you don't want a hot-oil spill-over accident!).
• For sauce mixture: in a medium-sized bowl, beat the eggs with the water.
• Add hot sauce and whisk together well.
• Pour this mixture into a large plastic zip-top bag.
• For seasoning mixture: In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder.
• For dredging mixture: In a another bowl, mix flour, baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
• Rinse and pat dry chicken pieces with a paper towel.
• Cut breast pieces in half across ribs.
• Sprinkle chicken generously on both sides with seasoning blend.
• Drop a few chicken pieces of chicken into bag of sauce mixture and squish around to coat thoroughly.
• One piece at a time, roll chicken in flour mixture and drop into hot oil.
• Don't crowd chicken pieces--I cook about half the chicken at a time.
• Fry chicken until brown and crisp.
• Drain on paper toweling.
• Dark meat will take about 14 minutes, white meat about 10 minutes.
• Remember smaller pieces cook faster than the larger ones.
• You can check for doneness by piercing to the bone in the thickest part with a fork.
• If the juices run clear, it is done.