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.
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What’s great about this Southern fried chicken recipe?
- Golden brown crust that is not only super crispy but is packed with flavors. Yes, there’s flavor in the outer crust as well!
- The chicken inside is cooked to perfection so juicy and moist, the meat falls off the bone. No more raw or rubbery fried chicken.
- 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.
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
- Don’t skip any step mentioned in the recipe. Brining, butter milking, and coating it with seasoned flour.
- Score chicken pieces to ensure flavor penetrates inside the chicken.
- Use flavorless oil like canola or vegetable oil for deep frying.
- Make sure the oil is heated to 350 F before you start frying the chicken.
- 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.
- 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.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can. Whole chicken can be used to brine. I have a separate recipe for it, check the best chicken brine recipe.
Yes, I highly recommend you do both. Brining combined with soaking it in buttermilk helps tenderizes the meat.
Yes, you can.
Follow these steps and you’ll get crispy, crunchy outer and moist, juicy chicken. Make sure the oil is heated to 325F before frying. Ensure not to overcrowd the pan while frying. Allow the oil to come back to the mentioned temperature before adding it to the next batch.
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📋Ultimate Southern Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 chicken drum sticks with skin on
- 4 chicken thighs with skin on
- 3 cups buttermilk
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
For the Brine
- 3 tablespoon pepper corns
- Couple of fresh thyme
- 4 bay leaves
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 4-5 tablespoons salt
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 cups hot water
- 3 cups room temperature water
For Flour Mix
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
For Garnish
- flaky sea salt to sprinkle
- Fresh thyme leaves
- Lemon wedges
Instructions
Brining
- Into a large stainless steel pan, add crushed garlic, black peppercorns, bay leaves, fresh thyme, brown sugar, and salt. Add boiling water and stir until salt and sugar is dissolved. (if salt does not dissolve easily, you can place the pan on the stove and heat it until salt is dissolved completely).
- Once salt is dissolved, add room temperature water. Keep it aside until it cools completely.
- Score chicken pieces. Place chicken pieces in brine. Cover the top with grease-proof paper or cling film. Place it in the fridge for 6-8 hours.
- Remove chicken from the brine, shake off liquids, and put it into a zip lock bag.
- Pour buttermilk into zip-lock bags. Coat all chicken pieces well in buttermilk. The acidity in buttermilk will help tenderize the chicken and help with the flavors. Push air out of the bag and seal the chicken inside a zip lock bag. Place the butter-milked chicken in the fridge for another 8 hours.
- Mix of plain flour, baking powder, smoked paprika, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Remove chicken from buttermilk. Shake off excess liquids and dip in directly in the flour mix. Get your fingers in to coat the chicken well in the flour mix.
- Heat oil in deep deep-bottomed pan to 350 degrees F.
- Place chicken in hot oil without overcrowding the pan. Toss and cook until golden brown on all sides just for a few minutes.
- Remove it onto a try baking tray. Arrange all fried chicken on a baking tray in one layer. Grab a few thyme leaves; dip in excess oil in the tray and sprinkle all over the chicken for one final aromatic flavor hit.
- Place the tray in preheated oven at 325 degrees F. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the baking tray onto a wire mesh. Serve immediately with cabbage slaw and mashed potatoes.
- It's best served immediately.
Video
Notes
- Don’t skip any step mentioned in the recipe. Brining, butter milking, and coating with flour – each step adds to making the BEST fried chicken with a perfectly crispy outer crust and the juiciest moist chicken inside!
- Score chicken pieces to ensure the flavor is added both inside and out.
- We recommend you use vegetable oil or other flavorless oil like canola or peanut oil for deep frying.
- Wait until oil is heated to 350 F before you start frying the chicken.
- Do not crowd the pan while deep frying the chicken.
Nutrition
Created by Jyothi Rajesh
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I’m Jyothi Rajesh (Jo for short) and i’m the founder of the food blog, Curry Trail where I share my culinary Adventures. I live in Bangalore, India. I’m a mom of two beautiful kids. My passion is creating and sharing delicious and easy recipes for the home cook. I have been blogging since 2014 and many of my recipes have appeared in both online and print publications over the years. Learn more about Jyothi Rajesh.
Comments & Reviews
Tina says
I’m not super experienced in the kitchen so this recipe was a bit laborious for my intermediate skill level, but the end result was tender, crispy and juicy chicken that my family loved. I’ll definitely make this again and I’ll add a bit more garlic powder and I’ll up the spice a bit. I’m planning to make it again very soon.
Katy H. says
I followed the recipe exactly, except for I left the chicken in the brine more like 16 to 18 hours, accidentally. I thought that might make it too salty, so to make up for this, I left it in the buttermilk soak for twice as long as the recipe called for. The result was great, by far the most tender and best tasting fried chicken I’ve ever made: But you could definitely taste the brining. It was super close to being too salty but was palatable. I wish I had omitted the sprinkle of salt over the top when it came out of the oil, but everyone loved it. The entire batch disappeared immediately and I am now brining my second batch because of the demand. I’m going to nail it this time! Thanks were the great recipe and the detailed steps, I believe that’s where the success lies.
Jyothi Rajesh says
Thank you for sharing your feedback Katy.
Cary says
This recipe is well worth the time!! Very crispy and moist inside. I only cooked chicken legs and will be making on a regular basis. I did add a little sriracha and honey in with the buttermilk. By far my favorite recipe for for chicken. Thanks for the recipe
Jyothi Rajesh says
Yay, so glad to hear you loved the recipe Cary. Thank you for sharing your feedback.
Sarah Bruciaga says
I am making this tomorrow I just did the brine for over night soaking. My question can this brine be used for bbq chicken. Brine first then use bbq sauce to cook on the grill.
Jyothi Rajesh says
If your question is – can you use the recipe for brine to make BBQ chicken? my guess would be yes. Please note I haven’t tested it though, it’s my guess.
NOTE: please do not reuse same brine again, it’s not safe. You must discard the brine after one use and for another recipe make a new batch.
Tera says
Everyone loves this recipe. My kids’ friends ask me to make it for them when they come over. I like to serve it with homemade Mac and cheese. Definitely worth the time.
Jyothi Rajesh says
Soooo glad you and the kids loved the recipe Tera. Thank you very much for sharing!
Lulu says
I am wondering if I can just go ahead and fry with out using the oven at the end. I plan to do this in an outdoor fryer and won’t have access to an oven
Jyothi Rajesh says
I haven’t tested this recipe in the oven or air fryer. I’m guessing you can go ahead and try it.