Real Simple Fried Chicken - My simplest and most authentic recipe for real southern fried chicken. Quick and easy for a family dinner or special occasion.
When I get into the frame of mind to go back to my culinary roots, I always go to recipes that are representative of what I call southern farmhouse cooking. I've been cooking southern food since I was big enough to reach the stove, so it's where I feel most comfortable. And what's more southern than fried chicken?
It's a standard. It's a staple. And, most of all it's quick and easy. That's right, I said "quick and easy." Making my Real Simple Fried Chicken is not a production.
Fried Chicken Should Be Quick and Easy
Making good, simple fried chicken does not require overnight marinades or special equipment or any kind of fancy preparation whatsoever. If it did, do you think millions of southern women would have cooked it for lunch every day for years and years?
I can tell you without hesitation that they would not have. For our southern grandmothers, it was something they could whip up in a few minutes.
I've seen the recipes and the demonstrations where chefs put the chicken in milk or buttermilk or yogurt and let it stand overnight in the refrigerator. Then they coat it in all kinds of seasonings and shake it all up together in a paper bag.
Well, that's fine if you want to do that, but what you typically get from it is a big mass of fried flour with a little bit of chicken in the middle of it.
The Best Chicken for the Recipe
The very best fried chicken is made with a chicken that weighs about 3 pounds. That's pretty hard to find in today's supermarkets especially when chickens have been bred for more breast meat thereby causing them to weigh more.
Try to at least find the lightest weight bird in the case. If you have the skill to do so, buy a whole chicken and cut it up yourself. You'll save lots of money. I, unfortunately, do not have that particular skill. Wish I did. I've tried. I've tried a lot.
Real Simple Fried Chicken - My simplest and most authentic southern recipe for real southern fried chicken. Quick and easy for a family dinner or special occasion. Click To Tweet
Here's how I (and millions of southern women before me) make really simple fried chicken.
My fried chicken recipe uses very simple ingredients. Chicken, salt and pepper, flour, and oil. That's all you need. This is very simple fried chicken without eggs, without buttermilk, or any of that other stuff. This is the way all the home cooks I knew when I was growing up made fried chicken. It's quick and it's easy.
Season the chicken
Wash and thoroughly dry all the chicken pieces and place them in a single layer in a pan. Liberally salt and pepper the chicken pieces on both sides. Be very generous with the pepper. The taste of black pepper is very important to authentic southern fried chicken.
If you want to sneak in some other seasonings, this is the time to do that. It's completely not necessary, but sometimes we like to change things up, don't we? I'll occasionally sprinkle on some Lawry's seasoning salt or some Jane's Crazy Mixed-Up Salt. Whatever floats your boat. But if you're a purist, you'll stick with just salt and pepper.
Dredge in flour
Sprinkle all the flour over the chicken in the pan and toss the chicken to coat it well with flour. We're talking about "dredging" here, not lightly flouring. That's why you pour the flour over and toss the chicken in it rather than doing the shake-it-up in the bag thing. You want a good coating of flour.
Frying the chicken
Meanwhile, heat the peanut oil in a large iron skillet. You'll want enough oil to reach a depth of about ½ inch. What we're doing is pan frying, not deep frying. You need enough oil to come about halfway up the pieces of chicken, but not so much that it will spill over when you place the chicken in the pan.
Use the Right Pan
Using a well-seasoned iron skillet makes a huge difference in the taste of your chicken. There's just something about a great iron skillet that you can't get from any other piece of kitchen equipment. Also, I recommend using peanut oil because it will withstand higher temperatures for a longer time without burning than other oils.
My little trick to test whether the oil is hot enough to cook -- Place the end of a wooden spoon in the skillet. If the oil bubbles around the handle, it's hot enough.
Place the chicken pieces, skin side down in the hot oil. Cook for approximately 10 minutes or until the skin is pale golden brown.
Turn the chicken over and cook for 10 minutes on the second side.
What? You say it's burned? Hmm. Well, a couple of pieces are a little dark, I suppose. Oh, bless your heart...you thought it was going to look like Kentucky Fried Chicken, didn't you? Let me tell you a secret. Those dark pieces will be the best tasting ones of the whole chicken. Trust me on that.
Turn the chicken pieces once more, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and cook approximately 10-15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Please excuse my improvised lid in the picture. I don't happen to have a lid that fits my largest iron skillet, so I improvised with the largest one I did have. Works just fine.
Drain the Fried Chicken
Remove the hot chicken to a paper towel-lined plate and allow it to drain for about 5 minutes. Serve your fried chicken with something equally delicious and southern like potato salad, fried okra, and green beans. And don't forget the sweet tea!
If you have any leftovers, you can keep it in the refrigerator for a day or two. It can be reheated in a 250 degree oven for about 15 minutes or, even better, just let it come to room temperature and enjoy it without any heating at all.
If you try this method once, I'll bet you won't go back to all that complicated marinating and shaking. It'll be the crispiest, most flavorful chicken you've cooked in a long time or my name isn't Nana.
I'm not making any kind of promises about what the clean up is like, however.
Enjoy!
More Good Southern Recipes on Never Enough Thyme:
- Southern Butter Beans
- The Real Deal Banana Pudding
- Fried Okra
- Boiled Peanuts
- Southern Fried Quail
- Old-Fashioned Southern Teacakes
- Turnip Greens and Corn Pone
- Old Fashioned Cornbread
Fried Chicken Recipes from Other Bloggers:
- Fried Chicken from Recipe Girl
- Chicken Fried Chicken with Homemade Gravy from Fav Family Recipes
- French Fried Chicken from David Lebovitz
- Cajun Fried Chicken from Leite's Culinaria
- Thai Fried Chicken from RasaMalaysia
- Korean Fried Chicken from Eat the Love
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Real Simple Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 frying chicken cut up
- salt
- pepper
- 1 ½ cups self-rising flour
- Peanut oil
Instructions
- Wash and thoroughly dry chicken pieces and place in single layer in pan.
- Liberally salt and pepper chicken pieces on both sides. Sprinkle flour over chicken in pan. Toss chicken to coat well in flour.
- Meanwhile, heat peanut oil in a large iron skillet.
- Place chicken pieces, skin side down in hot oil. Cook for approximately 10 minutes or until skin is pale golden brown.
- Turn chicken over and cook for 10 minutes on second side.
- Turn chicken pieces once more, reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook approximately 10-15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Remove chicken to paper towel lined plate and allow to drain for about 5 minutes.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your health care provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
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Lana Stuart is the cook and occasional traveler here at Never Enough Thyme. Lana has been cooking since she was tall enough to reach the stove and started this blog in 2009 to share her delicious home cooking recipes. You'll find about 700 recipes here so there's sure to be something your family will like!
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Kim
Just what I was looking for—like my Daddy made it! When my kids were growing up, I made fried chicken once a year—outdoors on my patio and in an electric skillet to eliminate the smell in the house! Even though I owned a catering biz and cafe/bakery, fried chicken was not my best skill. So I would call daddy and he talked me through it. But he’s been gone since 1997, so I haven’t made it in a long time. This was very good but mine cooked too fast, I think. I checked oil temp with my thermapen and tried to keep it under 360 but I think this chicken was a tad overdone with about 6-7 minutes per side and same amount with lid on. I was lucky to have a small 3 lb chicken that I cut myself because I wanted a wishbone (I didn’t a great job, lol), and I used my cast iron skillet. It’s still delicious though. I don’t like fried chicken with egg and buttermilk and all that mess. Just salt and pepper and flour is what I grew up in in Tennessee. I’m on a mission to perfect this! Thanks for the recipe!
Lana Stuart
Good fried chicken doesn't have to be complicated! The simplest recipes are sometimes the best :-)
Toni-Sue Lua
This is how my mother made fried chicken but as we had a large family she would put the chicken on a baking rack and do the last 10-15 minutes in the oven. Still crispy but requires only one skillet of oil and you finish faster.
Lana Stuart
Yes, that's a great way to finish it off especially if you're cooking for a large family or a crowd of people.
Nancy
This seems so much like my mom used to make, and it was soooo good. She would buy a whole chicken, hold it over a sink with burning newspaper in it to singe off the 'pin feathers'. (This was a long time ago!) Then she would cut it up just like you describe, dry and flour it, seasoned with just salt and pepper. Oh, man.....that was soooo good! Thanks so much.
Lana Stuart
It's my favorite way to make fried chicken! Nice and simple :-)
Leanna
It's a little burnt but would still be good. Maybe a lower temp or check more often.
Lana Stuart
Yes, I addressed that in the text of the post.
Barb
Add a little cayenne pepper to that flour and I'm in heaven....it won't make the chicken spicy but it does bump up the flavor just as it does in cheese sauces.
Rainah
Well, Lana, my northern mama used to make (southern) fried chicken *until* my father had a ruptured ulcer, and that was way back when I was just a babe. She stopped making all fried or spicy foods, and moved towards canned soup based meals more and more through her busy years.... (I've had a lot to overcome in my cooking life.....). I've read about frying chicken, but I've never wanted to go through 'all the trouble' of it. But now!? - With your lovely description of easy fried chicken, you've done it again! It's time for my to teach my daughter something else I've never mastered! =] But this time, I'm all for the joy of it (not the laugh of the pastry crust falling apart again --- probably... haven't quite got there yet......).
Lana Stuart
I do hope it works out well for you! Let me know!