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.
Jump to:
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.
Don’t forget to Subscribe to CurryTrail Recipes below to get our newest recipes delivered straight to your inbox.
If you love this recipe, keep in touch and don’t miss out on any of currytrail recipes. Follow me on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram.
Have you tried any one of my recipes? I’d love to see what you’ve made. Take a picture and use the hashtag #currytrail and share it on Instagram so I can see and share it on my feed.
If you make this Southern fried chicken recipe, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this recipe in the comment box below. Your review will help other readers!
📋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
Thank you for stopping by.
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 2007 and many of my recipes have appeared in both online and print publications over the years. Learn more about Jyothi Rajesh.
Comments & Reviews
Melissa says
Would you be able to tell me approximately how many pounds of chicken you used? I want to try it with wings
Jyothi Rajesh says
I used 4 chicken drumsticks and 4 chicken thighs. It measured approximately 2 pounds. Hope this helps
John says
Has anybody tried this with chicken wings? I was wondering by how much the time needs to be adjusted. Thanks
Jessica says
If the chicken is large, can you brine longer than 6-8 hours?
Jyothi Rajesh says
Not necessary. You can still brine for the same time. Just make sure chicken is immersed properly in the brine
John says
Has anybody tried this with chicken wings? I was wondering by how much the time needs to be adjusted. Thanks.
DTran says
Hi, thank you for your recipe! I attempted it following step by step but the chicken is not cooked after 20 minutes in the oven.
Do you have any suggestions as to why or how I can adjust?
Jyothi Rajesh says
You will deep fry brined and flour coated chicken first and then bake it for 17 to 20 minutes!
Did you fry the chicken first?
Susan says
Loved this recipe. The brining is the key. Great flavor, crispy and delicous. Worth all of the steps.
Jyothi Rajesh says
I’m so glad to know you loved the recipe. Thank you very much for sharing
Heather says
My family and I loved this fried chicken it was sooooo flavorful Mx yes it did take some planning but that was ok the brining took no time at all.to put together. I will say that I had pretty big chicken legs and I had to cook them 350 for 45 minutes.
I made homemade biscuits with it and it was MORE than enough food! So yummy
Jyothi Rajesh says
I’m so glad you and your family loved the recipe. Thank you so much for sharing it here!
Cheryll says
So worth all the time. This was absolutely delicious! Thank you.
Jyothi Rajesh says
So glad to hear you loved this recipe.
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
Your chicken looks terrific. Silly me, I brine turkey…why did I not think to brine chicken. Thanks for the inspiration.
jyothirajesh says
Happy to hear you loved this recipe. Do try it, it’s super delicious!
Baguio Restaurants by Mae says
A lot of work should be done in this recipe but I bet it is all worth it. I never thought that Brining would play an important role in making this southern fried chicken. Thank you for sharing this recipe and the tips. Will definitely make some of these on weekends.
jyothirajesh says
A little planning makes this dish easy to make over the weekend.
Leanne | Crumb Top Baking says
I don’t often eat fried chicken, but this is the crispiest chicken I’ve ever seen! I’m totally craving it right now! Lots of great photos for such a tasty looking recipe!
jyothirajesh says
Thank you Leanne
Natalie says
Oh wow. This chicken looks really delicious. Look at that crust!!! It’s so crunchy and looks flavorful. I must make this for my boys. They are such a huge fan of fried chicken.
jyothirajesh says
My kids loved it too Natalie. I’m sure your boys would love it, do give it a try
Pat Malnar says
I remember my mother making fried chicken this way when i was a little girl. The only thing different was the cookinh oil she would save the bacon grease and when dhe had enough of the bacon grease she woulf fry the chicken in it the white part of the chicken would be juicy. When we had family get together she was assigned to cook the chicken. Try it it is really good. I would give it 8 stars, if it was possible.
jyothirajesh says
Oh wow, I agree, frying in bacon oil would only make fried chicken so much more flavorful and deeee-licious! Love the idea and thank you so much for sharing your mom’s secret to making fried chicken. I cannot wait to try it.
Priya Srinivasan says
Wow jyothi, so well explained, though we dont eat meat,but knowing these steps, we can incorporate those flavors while cooking veggies too. Love how you have writted the reason behind each step in the recipe!
I bet these must be the ultimate fried chicken recipe, a treat for meat lovers!!!
jyothirajesh says
It was THE BEST fried chicken I ever made, trust me! So glad you liked the post.
Mahy Elamin says
This chicken looks amazing! I will definitely have to try it this way; i need a good fried chicken recipe in my life ?
jyothirajesh says
We all do isn’t is?! Haha thanks Mahy. Hope you try it
Michelle Cannon says
Being raised in the south, I’m quite picky about fried chicken. This recipe is spot on! I’ll have to make it this summer.
jyothirajesh says
Glad you liked it
Danielle Wolter says
I bet this is incredible. it may be long and drawn out, but I’m guessing totally worth it. def want to give this a try!
jyothirajesh says
It definitely is totally worth it. Trust it