Fried chicken – is this not the ultimate comfort food for most people? Who does not love the juiciness, the crunch and the smell of smoked spices – it is a delicious treat, a staple piece in everyone’s cookbook!
Keep on reading, and we will show you 4 simple recipes for fried chicken – all have their own twist, something unique that makes them stand out. Before you continue, better grab a snack, because we will get you hungry in no time!
Here they are – master the fried chicken with our 4 recipes!
Classic – Everyday Deep-Fried Chicken
Ingredients:
- 10 drumsticks
For the rub:
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
For coating:
- 2 or 3 eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
For the frying:
- 4-6 cups of canola or peanut oil
Instructions:
Tip: If you are new to deep-frying, we recommend you to start with drumsticks. They are not too big, nor too small, meaning that cooking them will be much easier and you will not be worried about over or under cooking them.
Step 1 – Preparing the Meat
Wash all drumsticks under the tap and pat them dry with some paper towels. Set them aside while preparing the rub.
Step 2 – The Rub
In a bowl combine the salt, pepper, garlic powder (or onion powder, if you are not too fond of garlic) and finally, the smoked paprika. Make sure to whisk until all of those are well combined.
Grab the chicken again and rub the spices in – coat them evenly and let them rest for about 15-20 minutes so all the flavors infuse together.
Step 3 – Coating
You will need a bowl and a flat dish or a metal tray. In the bowl, beat the eggs (2 or 3, depending on the size of your drumsticks); in the dish or tray you mix the flour with the cornstarch (the starch we add for extra crispiness).
Tip: If you have any of the rub mixture left – put it in the flour and whisk until combined.
Step 4 – Heat Up The Oil And Coat The Drumsticks
Before you coat your chicken, heat up the oil to 360°F or 180-185°C.
Tip: We cannot start frying if the oil is not hot enough. For deep-frying canola oil and peanut oil are the best two options, because of their high smoking point.
Olive oil for example is not suitable for this type of cooking, as it has very low smoking or burning point, meaning that instead of having a nice rich, olive flavor, our chicken will taste like burnt food and smoke – not very appetizing, is it?
Once the oil is hot enough, one by one coat the drumsticks – first in egg and then in the flour mixture. Gently place no more than 3 drumsticks at a time in the oil, otherwise you risk bringing down the temperature.
Step 5 – Final Touches
When they reach 165°F or 75°C internal temperature, they are ready and you can get them out. Place them on some paper towels to drain the extra fat.
Serve with some cilantro as garnish!
If you have mastered the classic recipe and want to try something more exciting – our next recipe is just for you! Do not get intimidated by the fact that it has more ingredients – it is easy to do, super tasty, requires the same skills, just a little more time to prepare.
Deep-Fried Chicken Thighs with Lemon Zest
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs
For the brine:
- 3 cups of veggie or chicken stock (or water if you do not have any stock)
- the juice of ½ lemon
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp hot sauce
- 2 tbsp white sugar
For the drench:
- 2 cups of buttermilk
For coating:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cornmeal
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
For frying:
- 5-6 cups of canola oil
For serving:
- sea salt
- the zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
Step 1- Preparing the Meat
Wash the thighs and dry them with some paper towels.
Tip: Chicken thighs are one of the largest pieces on the chicken and it will require more cooking time – this easy recipe will tell you all you need to know on how to prepare the most delicious chicken thighs!
Step 2 – Preparing the Brine
In a pot put the stock or water, add the lemon juice; garlic and onion powder; salt, pepper, cumin and finally – the sugar and the hot sauce. Mix everything together and let the thighs rest in the marinara for 4 hours.
If you do not have so much time – leave them there for about 40 minutes to an hour, although as there is no rub in the recipe, in order to get all the aromatics infused, the chicken must stay in the brine for at least couple of hours.
Leave them in the fridge.
Step 3 – Drenching
In a larger bowl or another pot, pour the butter milk. Get the thighs from the fridge and remove them from the brine – now place them in the milk and let them tenderize for about 15 minutes.
Step 4 – The Coating
While the chicken is in the buttermilk, get a flat metal tray and combine the flour, cornmeal and cornstarch there. Lightly season with salt and pepper.
Step 5 – Prepare The Oil And Coat The Chicken
Heat up the oil to 375°F or 190°C, once that is done, go back to the drenched thighs and coat them one by one in the flour.
Tip: Put no more than 2 thighs in the oil at a time so you can keep the temperature to 375°F.
Each thigh will take approximately 12-15 minutes to get evenly cooked, depending on the size. Do not forget to turn them around every 1-2 minutes.
Step 6 – Final Touches
Right after they are done, you can leave them on some paper towels to rest. Season them with some sea salt or Himalayan salt and add the zest on one lemon on top. You are ready to go!
Wasn’t that hard now, was it?
Are you ready for some around-the world adventures? Try out this next spicy, Indian fried chicken recipe and feel how your palette explodes from all the different tastes!
Curry Deep-Fried Chicken
Instructions
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 thighs
- 2 drumsticks
For the drench:
- 2 cups of coconut milk
- 1 tbsp thyme
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp ginger powder
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1-2 tbsp mustard
- the juice of 1 lime
- the zest of 1 lime
- for coating:
- 2 cups of all-purpose or corn flour
Instructions
You know how this goes – before we do anything, we must prepare our meat!
Step 1 – Preparing the Meat
Wash all pieces of the chicken with water and dry them down with paper towels. Set them aside for now.
Step 2 – The Drench
In a pot combine the coconut milk, thyme, paprika and black pepper; garlic, cayenne, curry and ginger powders; salt, mustard and finally the juice and zest of one lime.
Make sure to mix everything together and put all pieces of chicken inside; let them marinate for 4 hours in the fridge.
Tip: Same instruction applies for this recipe – if you do not want to wait 4 hours, or if you are in a hurry, try to leave the meat in the drench for at least an hour. Or what you can do is put it in the milk for 40 minutes and then create a rub with the spices.
Tip: Have in mind that if you go with this option, you will have to coat the meat in beaten eggs and then in flour, otherwise it will not stick.
Step 3 – Preparing the Coating and Heating Up the Oil
Lay out the flour on a tray and heat up the oil to 375°F or 190°C.
Step 4 – Coat and Fry
Get the chicken pieces out of the marinara and coat them one by one in the flour. Having in mind that the breasts and thighs will take more time to cook, we must fry them first. Start with the two breasts, then move to the thighs and finally, the drumsticks – before you fry them, drop the heat by 10°.
Tip: Fry everything in pairs of two, so they cook evenly. Do not mix up the pieces when you fry them.
Every pair will take around 12-15 minutes to get fried, however this depends on the size of your chicken pieces.
Step 5 – Final Touch Ups
Serve hot with parsley and cucumber salad on the side!
For our final recipe, we have prepared for you something fun and different! Deep-frying is not always so convenient, and we know that some people find it easier to just get their trusted pan and fry everything there.
Fair enough! We are ready to present you with a pan-fried recipe, and we hope you will enjoy it as much as we do!
Crispy Pan-Fried Chicken Strips
Ingredients
- 4 boneless chicken breasts
For the marinara:
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp brown sugar or maple syrup
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp plain yogurt or heavy cream
For coating:
- 2 cups corn flour
- 1 tsp cornstarch
For frying
- 4-6 cups canola oil
Instructions
Step 1 – Prepare The Meat
Wash the breasts under the tap and pat them down dry. With a meat mallet gently tenderize them, them cut them into strips (½ an inch or 1 cm wide).
Step 2 – The Marinara
In a large bowl combine the marinara ingredients – salt, paprika, pepper, garlic powder, soy sauce, sugar or maple syrup – mix them well, then add one whole egg and the yogurt or cream.
Whisk until everything is well incorporated. Add the strips to the marinara and leave them in the fridge for a 2-4 hours.
Tip: If you do not have time – follow our advice from recipe number 3, creating a rub instead of marinara.
Step 3 – Heating up The Oil And Coating The Chicken
Once the chicken is well marinated, heat up the oil to 375°F or 190°C.
On a tray lay down the flour and cornstarch – mix them and start coating the strips one by one. When frying make sure to have no more than 4-5 strips in the oil at a time.
Step 4 – Final Touch Ups
You can eat them on their own, or with coleslaw salad!
We hope you loved our 4 recipes and if you did, stay tuned, because more awesome stuff will be coming out soon!
