Making traditional Southern Fried Chicken doesn’t have to be complicated. Learn how to make simple, authentic fried chicken with my quick and easy recipe. Perfect 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. Yes, I did say “quick and easy.” Making my Real Simple Fried Chicken is not a production.
— This post was originally published on May 26, 2009. It has been updated with new photos and additional information.
Recipe Snapshot
Cuisine: Southern, Vintage
Cooking Method: Stovetop
Total Time: 45 Minutes
Servings: 4
Primary Ingredient(s): Chicken, peanut oil, flour
Skill Level: Easy
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING …
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“This was the best fried chicken I’ve ever tasted and I’m 74 years old!! I was finally able to cook fried chicken that tasted like my mom’s, so many years ago. I had lost her original recipe and just was never able to duplicate it.“
— Diane Dannelley
Fried Chicken Should Be Quick and Easy
Making a good, simple fried chicken recipe 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, okay, if you really want to do that, be my guest. But what you typically get with that method is a big mass of fried flour with a little bit of chicken in the middle of it.
You’ll also find this recipe in my cookbook!
You can see this recipe on pages 218-219 of my cookbook, My Southern Table! Get your signed copy today.
The Best Chicken for the Recipe
The very best Southern fried chicken recipe 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.
A chicken properly cut up for frying should result in two breasts, two wings, two thighs, and two legs. Long ago, there would also be a wishbone. The wishbone is the prime piece between the top of the breasts.
Unfortunately, butchers no longer cut the wishbone, leaving that portion in with the breasts. If you find a butcher today who knows what the wishbone is and can actually cut a chicken with a wishbone, you have found a gem!
Now, let me show you how to make fried chicken the way we do it in the South.
Here’s how I (and millions of southern women before me) make really simple fried chicken.
Ingredient Notes
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My easy fried chicken recipe uses very simple ingredients. Chicken, salt and pepper, flour, and oil. That’s all you need.
This is a very easy Southern fried chicken recipe 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.
The Process
In the most simple terms, the process has five steps:
- Dry the chicken with paper towels.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Dredge in flour.
- Heat the oil.
- Fry the chicken.
Here’s those steps broken down in detail:
- Thoroughly dry all the chicken pieces and place them in a single layer in a pan or large bowl.
- 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.
Pro Tip
If you want to sneak in some other seasonings, this is the time to do that. It’s totally not necessary, but sometimes we like to change things up, don’t we? I’ll occasionally sprinkle on some Lawry’s seasoning salt, some Jane’s Crazy Mixed-Up Salt, or add some cayenne pepper. Whatever floats your boat. But if you’re a purist, you’ll stick with just salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle all the flour over the chicken in the pan and toss the chicken to coat it well with flour.
Pro Tip
What we’re doing here is “dredging” the chicken, 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.
- Meanwhile, heat the peanut oil over medium-high heat in a large cast-iron skillet. You’ll want enough oil to reach a depth of about 1/2 inch.
Pro Tip
The technique we use is pan frying (also called shallow frying), not deep frying. You’ll 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.
Judging the amount of oil needed for frying is one of those things you learn through time and experience. Start with about a one-inch depth of oil in your pan, and things should work out fine.
- Place the chicken pieces with the skin side down into the hot oil. Cook for approximately 10 minutes or until the skin is pale golden brown.
- Turn the chicken over and cook for about 10 minutes on the second side.
- Turn the chicken pieces once more, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pan, and cook for approximately 10-15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Remove the hot chicken to a paper towel-lined plate or to a rack set inside a baking sheet and allow it to drain for about 5 minutes.
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Use the Right Pan and Oil
Using a well-seasoned iron skillet makes a huge difference in the taste of fried chicken. There’s just something about a great iron skillet that you can’t get from any other piece of kitchen equipment. The one I use for chicken is a 12-inch skillet that’s about 75 years old.
Also, I recommend frying chicken in peanut oil because it will withstand higher temperatures for a longer time without burning than other oils.
Pro Tip
Experts will tell you that the oil should be 375 degrees before frying and to try to maintain that temperature during the cooking. I learned to cook before everyone had kitchen thermometers, so I judge it my own way. My little trick to test whether the oil is hot enough to cook: Put the end of a wooden spoon in the skillet. If the oil bubbles around the handle, it’s hot enough.
If you try this fried chicken 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 cleanup is like, however 😏.
Serving Suggestions
Serve your beautifully golden, crispy fried chicken with something equally delicious and southern, like potato salad, fried okra, sausage and rice casserole, broccoli casserole, green beans, or butter beans. Or, if you’re familiar with Chicken and Waffles, you can use my Whole Wheat Waffles recipe to create your own. And don’t forget the cornbread and sweet tea!
Recipe Variations
- If you like your chicken on the spicier side, try adding a teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the flour or sprinkle the chicken lightly with hot sauce before dredging it in the flour.
- Use Jane’s Krazy Mixed-Up Salt (or another seasoning salt) in place of the plain salt in the recipe.
- Lightly sprinkle the chicken pieces with a little garlic powder before placing them in the flour.
- You can use this method to cook whole cut-up chicken, boneless chicken breasts, chicken strips, or any pieces you like. I sometimes just cook all wings because they’re my favorite.
Why Isn’t My Fried Chicken Crispy?
The most likely reason your fried chicken isn’t crispy is that your oil temperature isn’t high enough while frying. When you place the chicken into the hot oil, you want to hear an audible “whoosh” and see the oil bubbling vigorously. If the oil isn’t hot enough, the chicken just kind of lies there, and the flour doesn’t crisp up as it should. Admittedly, this takes some practice, but I learned, and so can you.
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
If you have any leftover fried chicken, you can keep it in the refrigerator for a day or two. It can be reheated in a 250-degree F oven for about 15 minutes or, even better, just let it come to room temperature and enjoy it without any heating at all.
More Southern Recipes You’ll Like
Southern Fried Okra
Boiled Peanuts
Old Fashioned Southern Tea Cakes
Southern Turnip Greens Recipe
Have a question or thought to share?
If you have a question about the recipe or if you’ve made it and want to share how it turned out, I would truly enjoy hearing from you. Just scroll down to leave a comment or add your star rating.
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Recipe
Traditional Southern Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 frying chicken cut up
- salt
- pepper
- 1 ½ cups self-rising flour
- Peanut oil
Instructions
- Place the chicken pieces in a single layer in a shallow pan.1 frying chicken
- Liberally salt and pepper the chicken on both sides.salt, pepper
- Sprinkle flour over the chicken in the pan. Toss the chicken until well coated with flour.1 ½ cups self-rising flour
- Meanwhile, heat the peanut oil in a large iron skillet.Peanut oil
- 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.
- Turn chicken pieces once more and reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and cook for approximately 10-15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Remove cooked chicken to a paper towel lined plate or a rack set in a baking pan and allow it to drain for about 5 minutes.
Notes
- Use additional seasonings if you like (i.e., cayenne, hot pepper sauces, seasoned salt), but for the most authentic taste, stick with just salt and pepper.
- I recommend using peanut oil because it will withstand higher temperatures for a longer time without burning than other oils.
- Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for a day or two. You can reheat them in a 250 degree oven for about 15 minutes.
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 healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
Super simple and fast. I only made 2 pieces just for me. So it didn’t take the whole 45 minutes! It was good. Who knew you didn’t need to do all the extra extra to get great chicken
Yes, quick and easy. No muss, no fuss. Glad you enjoyed it!
Can you use vegetable oil to fry the chicken or is peanut oil required?
You can use vegetable oil if you like. I use peanut oil because it has a higher smoke point and won’t burn as quickly as other oils.
Lana you are right. 3 of us agree! Used my new huge cast iron. Will be making this again. I can honestly say we,all loved it. Thank you.
I’m so glad you all liked it!
This turned out great, and it was insanely easy. I fried thighs in two batches of four in a 12-in cast iron pan. I watched the oil temperature pretty carefully and the first batch needed only a couple of minutes covered, and the second batch was done after 10 minutes on each side. I was looking for a temperature of 165.
Everyone raved, and they especially liked your thought that Southern women wouldn’t have made fried chicken every day if it took as much effort as the modern recipes require.
For us, fried chicken is a once-in-a-blue-moon treat, but whenever I make it, it’ll certainly be from this recipe.
It always makes me happy when a recipe turns out great for someone! Especially the older recipes like this one :-)
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!
Good fried chicken doesn’t have to be complicated! The simplest recipes are sometimes the best :-)
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.
Yes, that’s a great way to finish it off especially if you’re cooking for a large family or a crowd of people.
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.
It’s my favorite way to make fried chicken! Nice and simple :-)
It’s a little burnt but would still be good. Maybe a lower temp or check more often.
Yes, I addressed that in the text of the post.
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.
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……).
I do hope it works out well for you! Let me know!
It is better to drain on a paper bag.
This recipe and method is just like grandma taught momma and momma taught me. Momma always wanted to start with a whole chicken also and said that it is the bones and skin that flavor the oil and of course we used to use lard. Then pour off most of the oil, add a little more flour and milk. Got to have that chicken gravy.
This is exactly the way Mama cooked Fried Chicken and the way I cook it. No hard crust and you get the taste of the chicken. Delicious
I like this better than the shake and bake
It was my father-in-law who taught me how to fry chicken when I was newly married. He used the very same method and you’re right… it’s the easiest way to make it. Only one other step. We always placed the cooked pieces on a cookie sheet with a rack in the oven. The grease drained off in the oven. If you were cooking a large batch it kept everything warm as well as draining the excess grease off. The end result is still juicy and tender.
I have found a way to eliminate the messy cleanup, but it’s a bit pricey. I recently bought an Induction Top stove. You can put tea towels or paper towels all over the top of the stove and since there is no direct heat, they don’t burn. When you’re done cooking, toss the paper towels and the stove is shiny clean. Works every time.