Southern Fried Chicken – classic Southern chicken recipe that is crunchy and crusty on the outside and juicy and flavorful on the inside; infused with spices and seasonings and soaked in buttermilk to amp its flavor. A great addition to your chicken recipe collection!
When you think of Southern food, the recipes that always come up are cornbread, gumbo, grits and, of course, this king of all kings — fried chicken.
Well, as much as I’d push myself to consistently put greens on my table, I just can’t seem to easily get away with it especially when we’re talking about chicken. It has been part of the family’s diet ever since. And as I grow older, I developed the fondness of collecting various fried or baked chicken recipes.
You don’t believe me? Check this blog and you’ll see a parade of chicken recipes that are always on top of my most searched recipes. 😉
Some folks like to soak their chicken buttermilk , hours ahead or time others , just right coat it. Soaking chicken in buttermilk leaves it tender and moist on the inside and helps the coating stick to the chicken easily. I soak mine right before frying . Just personal preference.
Double dip or not? Do the double dip y’all. Double dipping your chicken in buttermilk after dredging them with flour makes the chicken super crispy. You’ll thank yourself later.
And when it comes to the flour mixture, I don’t sell it short with seasonings. You can keep it simple with flour and salt and pepper or go the extra mile for that ultra flavorful crust right on your first bite.
This Southern Fried Chicken will be your go-to chicken recipe as it is brimming with flavors plus a lovely texture. Indeed, a total crowd-pleaser. So don’t doubt yourself when it comes to your cooking skill. You don’t need to be as good as Grandma to whip up a flavorful batch of fried chicken.
And oh, don’t forget to pair this with another Southern staple, Buttermilk Biscuits. Yes, they do make a perfect combo. Now get ready and brace your jeans….wait…what?? Never mind. Just dig in happily! 😀
And who cares about your jeans size when this is what you have on your table. Enjoy!
Tips and Notes:
- After you flour coat and dip your chicken in buttermilk, let it rest first before frying it. This will allow your chicken to form a crust and warm to room temperature which will help it cook through evenly.
- When frying, make sure that your oil is at the right preheated temperature. If it’s too hot, the outside of your chicken will get burned, if it’s cold, the chicken will get soggy and greasy.
- Do not ever use extra virgin olive oil on fried chicken as it’ll result to a bitter-tasting meat. Go for a neutral-tasting oil like canola, vegetable or, most preferably, peanut oil.
- Do not over crowd your pan with chicken as this will lower down the oil’s temperature and hasten up the cooking time. Do it in small batches instead.
- Cast iron pan is a must for a perfectly cooked fried chicken as it holds the temperature well and heat evenly which also results to a perfectly cooked chicken.
- Rather than deep frying or submerging your chicken entirely into the pan or deep fryer, only 3/4 of the chicken should be covered in hot oil. The weight of the chicken will cause it to sit just almost above the surface of the oil which will create a crispy crust without burning.
- Don’t let anything fried sit on a paper towel too long as it’ll start to steam and make it soggy. Instead, drain your chicken using a wire rack over a baking sheet. They’ll cool crisp and dry off all at once easily.
Watch How to Make It
Southern Fried Chicken – classic Southern chicken recipe that is crunchy and crusty on the outside and juicy and flavorful on the inside; infused with spices and seasonings and soaked in buttermilk to amp its flavor. A great addition to your chicken recipe collection!
- 1 whole chicken cut into 10 pieces
- 1 1/2 – 2 teaspoons salt adjust to preference
- ½ -1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 3-4 garlic crushed
- 2-3 teaspoons creole seasoning
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- 2 tablespoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 1- 1 1/2 tablespoon dried herbs Thyme, Oregano, Parsley
- 4 cups buttermilk
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Place chicken in a large bowl or Large ziploc. Then seasoned with salt followed by all the crushed garlic, hot sauce and creole seasoning.
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Pour buttermilk in the marinated chicken, transfer the chicken to a gallon-sized zipper-lock freezer bag and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, herbs and white pepper.
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Remove all the marinated chicken from the buttermilk . Then dredge in flour mixture, shaking any excess flour. You may use a Ziploc bag for this process, too.
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Double dip the chicken in the remaining buttermilk( add fresh buttermilk as needed) followed by the flour mixture - shake off any excess flour. Let the chicken rest for about 10-15 minutes while preparing oil. This will help the coating to stay on better.
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Heat oil in a deep fryer or cast iron skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Temperature will drop once you add chicken.
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Using a tong and carefully and slowly place the chicken in the hot oil. Work in batches. Do not overcrowd the skillet.
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Fry the chicken until golden brown, turning once every 10 to 20 minutes - depending on the size of the pieces. Chicken is done when it is no longer pink inside and its juices run clear. You may do a test by piercing the chicken with a fork.
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Drain the chicken on paper towels and then transfer them on a wire rack. (see notes)
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Repeat with remaining chicken pieces; let it cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
How to Make Southern Fried Chicken
Thanks a lot…your instructions helped me in making perfect fried chicken.
Great recipe, easy to make and really good with the chicken, can’t wait to try it:)). My entire family loved it, thanks for sharing.
I do not do milk and is looking for a substitute for the buttermilk….any suggestions
Pickle brine! I usually make a small batch and combine it with whatever liquid is leftover from the jar of pickles in my refrigerator. The vinegars and salt denature the proteins pretty efficiently so ideal brining time would be 3-5 hours otherwise it may be broken down too much (. I first tried it this way after learning Chik-Fil-A uses the same process haha, it is pretty good in my opinion. Hope that helped!
Hello, I found your site this morning, and was wondering about the pickle brine method. You brine the chicken in pickle juice 3-5 hours, and when brine is done, do you double dip back into the pickle brine? Please explain, thank you. My daughter has a milk allergy, so this sounds like a great twist.
Thank you for such a great recipe. Fried chicken has been one of my favorites since I was little but I have never been brave enough to try to make it myself. Tried it last night, toned down the spice for the kids, and everyone loved it. First time I’ve ever seen them lick their fingers. The skin was darker than my wife prefers so I’ll try with a lower temp next time. Thank you so much for helping me realize a life long dream of making amazing fried chicken.
Hello, I’m going to try your recipe this weekend. It looks good. I have one question. Could I just get the legs and thighs chicken pack or does it have to be a whole chicken?
Yes, you can get the packaged meat parts. That’d be fine.
OK, yes, this is probably the best fried chicken recipe you will find. The taste is incomparable and the texture of the meat is moist, flavorful and utterly addictive. There is only one issue with the recipe as written: The oil should be at 375° when the chicken pieces are immersed in the hot oil, however once the oil cools to around 325° it needs to be kept there so that the coating won’t darken while the meat cooks. I use an electronically-controlled deep fat fryer that I kept at the higher temp so my first batch was dark. While I didn’t care for coating of the darker batch, subsequent batches were perfect. This is my go-to recipe for chicken and I will love having it 2-3x/year with a toast to you, ImmactulateBites…cheers madam, and thank you for sharing this.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Darren. Glad you love this recipe. It’s one of my fave, too. Happy weekend! 🙂
The real question is, do you have a husband?
Yes, I do Lewi. Happy New year!!!
Hi,
I made this tonight for our evening meal. It was absolutely delicious. Thank you. We’ll definitely be having it again.
Delicious! The fried chicken turned out perfectly crispy and very tasty. Thank You for sharing this.
You’re welcome, Samara. Thank you for taking the time to let me know.
Oh my gosh, just amazing recipe, Im from Italy and some ingredients are difficult to find, but the result was really awasome. Thank YOU very much
Amazing! Thank you for trying it out and going all in. I appreciate it. =)
Made this for dinner. Oh my. So darn delicious. This is best fried chicken recipe.
Virtual high five, Ann!! Glad you like it.
I tried it it’s very good tasty and amazing
Thanks
Thank you,Matka!
SORRY! I meant to say Baking POWDER. Totally my fault. Why is baking POWDER used? Thanks!
Beth
Baking powder reacts with the skin, and slightly crisp the skin by drawing out moisture .
Imma Do you have a page I can follow? This recipe looks so delicious I am making it for dinner tonight. I dont have time to marinade as it is already 4:30pm. But I will be prepared to do so next time.
Thanks, Mark
Hi Mark, do you mean Instagram ? And how did your fried chicken turn out ?
What an amazing recipe. The fried chicken was so delicious and flavorful. I loved the spices. It reminded me of my Georgia-raised Mom’s cooking. The only issue I encountered was keeping the chicken batter from crossing from golden brown to burnt brown with the oil temp at 375 degrees F. I used a high-end meat thermometer to measure the oil temp in my cast iron skillet and had it dialed in at the recipe’s recommended temp. However, it started to get really dark, dark brown and hardened after no more than 5 minutes. I dumped out the oil, and started fresh, lowering the temp on the gas burner to medium low, and keeping the temp around 325-330. The chicken remained golden brown, and was able to thoroughly cook for 20 minutes. Has anyone else encountered this problem?
Hey Richard 375 is never a good temp to fry chicken ever!!it’s always best to fry chicken at between 325-350ish…..unless what happened was you were frying a tester chicken to see how it would fry…my suggestion is to pre heat to 350 and when you start adding chicken pieces your temp should drop but stay between 325-350…hope this helps
Its never a good idea to fried chicken at 375….pre heat at the highest 350…when you start the frying process the oil temp unusually drops to to between 325-335 …you don’t want you temp going above 350 or lower than 325 while frying.
Is this chicken spicy?
Not really.
I loves southern fried chicken and I am going to try this recipe and I would love to get the chicken alfredo recipe too
Awesome! Here is the chicken Alfredo recipe https://www.africanbites.com/chicken-alfredo/. Do let me know how it works out for you.
We just made this tonight and it was incredible – THANK YOU!
I can’t believe the best fried chicken I’ve ever eaten was made in my own kitchen! Seriously, so happy to have found your recipe!!
You should see my happy dance now. 😀 Thank you for taking the time to let me know, Lori. I appreciate it.
What oil do you recommend?
I used vegetable oil.
I am making this tonight. I’ve had my chicken marinating for 24 hours now. Only problem I’m having, is I can’t find my thermometer to make sure the oil is proper temp.. any secrets or suggestions on how to achieve the proper temp without the thermometer?
Hi, Larissa. There are couple ways to check proper oil temp without using a thermometer. you can read it more HERE >>> https://www.thespruceeats.com/cooking-oil-heat-2356059
This recipe is fantastic! Tried it for the first time last night, very much a success, thanks!
Glad it turned out well for you, Sophia! Thanks for stopping by.
Question about this:
1- 1 1/2 tablespoon dried herbs Thyme, Oregano, Parsley
1/2 tablespoon each herb or
1 1/2 each herb?
That 1-1 1/2 tbsp is a combination of those dried herbs.
Could I use sage in this recipe?
You sure can.
Hi, quick question. Is the buttermilk you used to dip before frying the same buttermilk you marinated with? Or should we make a fresh batch?
Hi Jysika, it’s the same. You may add more, if desired
chicken
I’m going to make this to take camping. How can I store it overnight so it will stay crispy
Fried chicken looses it’s crispness the next day. You will have to bake it in order to gain it back .Cover a baking sheet with foil and arrange chicken on it. Then place another sheet of foil on top to insulate the chicken. Bake for 20- 25 minutes. Do not overtake. Hope this helps
Hi,
Thanks for posting this Fried Chicken recipe.
I plan to make this tonight. I will check back for your other recipe.
I can tell you cook with Love.
Best Wishes,
Charles
Hope it turned out great for you, Charles! And yes, I do cook with all the LOVE! 😉 Enjoy!
Thanks for the recipe! My kids and hubby loved it. We live in Ecuador so made my own buttermilk and substituted cilantro for parsley.
Yaaay! Glad your family loved it. Hope to visit Ecuador someday!
Made this today for Fathers Day, I think I heard weeping it was so good!
Thank you for dropping by, Loanne! This sure is a keeper.
Thank you for a brilliant Southern fried chicken recipe. Tried it tonight, It was lovely. Thank you so much.
Glad you love it, Sarah! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Hi, your recipes are awesome! I always love trying them out.Thanks so much for this.
You’re welcome. Thanks for stopping by!
Can you do thus recipe with boneless/skinless breasts? How would the cooking time in oil vary?
Yes, you can use this recipe for boneless/skinless chicken breast. I’d say adjust the cooking time to 8-12 minutes (that’d vary depending on the size and thickness) and turn it occasionally so it browns evenly.
Just did it with boneless skinless breasts. I sliced them in half to make fingers, and cooking time was right around 10 minutes. Very tender and the herb/spice mix is delicious!
Thank you for sharing some insights for this recipe, Dwight. Have a good one!
Hi Imma,
Made this yesterday and it was SOOOOOOOO good! The best part was that the chicken was so succulent and tasteful even if eaten without the coating, guess the marination time was super worth it!
Love all your recipes, have already tried the Caribbean Banana Nuts Cake and this chicken, and next on list is fluffy pancakes. Your measurments and recipes are jus PERFECT! Thank you for sharing your talent with the world, much love!
Is there a buttermilk substitute you can recommend?
A good buttermilk substitute is to mix 1 cup milk and 1 tablespoon vinegar lemon juice- let it rest for 5 minutes or more , until it thickens.
What kind of buttermilk?
Any works fine . I used 2% milk fat buttermilk .
Did it last night for dinner and it tasted amazing. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Wonderful! Thanks for taking the time out to let me know kimmoni.
Hi. For the dried herbs – is it 1/2 tbls of each or 1 1/2 tbls of each. Confused if total amount is suppose to be just 1 1/2 tbls.
Hi Margie ! The total amount of all the spices should be 1 1/2 Tablespoons.
Because of the paprika and cayenne pepper, would you categorize this recipe as a spicy chicken recipe? The recipe looks great and maybe I can modify it by removing or lessening the amounts of these spices because I can not take a lot of spicy food
Yes, the cayenne pepper makes it spicy. You may leave it out and/or reduce the quantity of spices to make it less spicy.
Quick question: How much white pepper?
1 teaspoon white pepper .
This recipe is so amazingly delicious. It has the perfect amount of seasoning and is so tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. The only thing I differently was marinade the chicken in the buttermilk. I also added a little buttermilk to the flour for crispier chicken instead of double-dipping (I got that from your Jamaican fried chicken recipe). I plan on cooking this for Thanksgiving…I’m sure it’ll be a hit!
Thank you for sharing your talents! I can’t wait to get your cookbook.
OH WOW!!! Thank you so much Keshia! So kind of you to take the time and share this with me. Wishing you and your family all the best!! Happy Holidays!!!
Wow! I am finding it très difficile to wait 4 hours for marinating, let alone overnight!
Merci beaucoup for this recipe, Imma!!!
Par de quoi Gerry! I hear you. Patience my friend. And your tastebuds would thank you.
wow, this is good, i love all your recipe, this is what i was looking for. thank you Imma
Your most welcome Esther!
Girrllll, this.looks so goood. I just love all your recipes
Aww, Thanks C.arol