Ultimate Southern Fried Chicken Recipe (2024)

Southern fried chicken has a golden brown super crispy outer crust and juicy-moist chicken inside. Get ready to indulge, this is simply the best-fried chicken you’ll ever make! Plan and make a great treat for weekend indulgence.

If you want a quick version of fried chicken try Korean fried chicken. It’s sticky, sweet, spicy, and comes together in a jiffy.

What’s great about this Southern fried chicken recipe?

1. Golden brown crust that is not only super crispy but is packed with flavors. Yes, there’s flavor in the outer crust as well!
2. The chicken inside is cooked to perfection so juicy and moist, the meat falls off the bone. No more raw or rubbery fried chicken.
3. Though the recipe is lengthy, I guarantee this will be the best Southern fried chicken you’ll make. It involves three mandatory steps – brining, soaking brined chicken in buttermilk, and deep frying.

How is southern fried chicken different?

The main difference between regular fried chicken and Southern fried chicken is the seasoning. In traditional southern fried chicken flour mix is seasoned with a blend of spices and herbs that include salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.

What is a brine?

Brine is a heavily concentrated solution of salt in water. An age-old process of preserving food uses soaking food – meat and vegetables in salt brine.

Though brine can consist of only salt added to water, you can add other ingredients sugar, whole pepper corn, and herbs like bay leaf and thyme for added flavors.

Why should you brine meat?

Brining method tenderizes meat and adds more flavors to it. Chicken, pork, turkey can be brined, so it turns moist and juicy when cooked.

When meat is cooked it dries out the liquids from it. When you brine the meat, it stores liquids of the brine in it. So when you cook meat, it loses its liquids but since there are more liquids from the brine, it doesn’t turn dry at all. Result – juicy, moist chicken!

If you want your poultry to be moist and juicy even after deep frying,and have loads of flavors packed in it you should brine it.

Brining also helps in reducing the cooking time. Lean meat like poultry does not need to be brined for longer hours. Denser meat will need 24 hours or more for brining. Brining also depends on the size of the meat. Whole turkey might take up to 24 hours or more than smaller whole chicken which needs 12 hours.

Why is it crucial to buttermilk brined chicken?

Buttermilk is a sour liquid that is left over after butter is churned and removed. Homemade buttermilk is easily made using just 2 ingredients. The acidity in buttermilk will help tenderize the chicken and help with the flavors too.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Into a large stainless steel pan, add crushed garlic, black pepper corns, bay leaves, fresh thyme, brown sugar, kosher salt.

Step 2: Add hot water into the pan and stir until salt and sugar is dissolved. Pour the remaining water into the brine. Allow the brine to cool.

Step 3: Score chicken with skin on all sides. Place chicken pieces in brine.

Step 4: Cover the top with grease-proof paper or cling film.Place it in the fridge for 6-8 hours.

Step 5: Remove chicken from the brine and put it into a zip lock bag.Pour buttermilk into zip-lock bags. Push air out of the bag and seal the chicken inside a zip lock bag. Place the butter-milked chicken in the fridge for 3-8 hours.

Step 6: Mix plain flour, baking powder, smoked paprika, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Step 7: Mix.

Step 8: Remove chicken from buttermilk. Shake off excess liquids and add them to the flour mix.

Step 9: Get your fingers in and coat the chicken in flour. Rub flour through the slits.

Step 10: Place chicken in hot oil (350 F)without overcrowding the pan.

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Step 11: Toss and cook until golden brown on all sides just for a few minutes.

Step 12: Remove it onto a try baking tray. Arrange all fried chicken on a baking tray in one layer.

Step 13: Dip a small bunch of fresh thyme with stems on in the excess oil left in the tray (dripped from fried chicken), sprinkle all over the chicken for one final aromatic flavor hit.Place the tray in a preheated oven at 325 degrees F. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes.

Remove fried chicken onto wire mesh. It’s fried goodness that is rich and fatty. What you get is super-moist-fall-off-the-bones-chicken-meat with crispy outer skin. It’s so good!

Serve immediately with slaw or braised red cabbage and mashed potatoes if you like. Do not let the fried chicken sit longer, it will turn soggy and lose its crispiness. These are best served immediately.

Useful tips

1. Don’t skip any step mentioned in the recipe. Brining, butter milking, and coating it with seasoned flour.
2. Score chicken pieces to ensure flavor penetrates inside the chicken.
3. Use flavorless oil like canola or vegetable oil for deep frying.
4. Make sure the oil is heated to 350 F before you start frying the chicken.
5. Do not crowd the pan while deep frying the chicken. Before adding the next batch of chicken to the pan for frying, bring it back to its perfect frying temperature.
6. It’s all about planning. If you’re planning to make southern fried chicken for a weekend treat, brine chicken on Friday night, and buttermilk it for a few hours in the morning. And you are good to go for the weekend.

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