How to Make Fried Chicken (2024)

For a remarkably simple dish, fried chicken can be controversial. There are debates over brining the meat (yes, you should). People argue over what starch is used to coat the chicken, about the fat used to fry it, about the temperature at which it cooks. But really all you want is what the great Southern chef Bill Neal called “chicken that tastes like chicken, with a crust that snaps and breaks with fragility.” We’ll show you how to get there, and we’ll give you excellent recipes that you can make your own.

1. You’ll need a heavy, wide, high-sided skillet with a lid. Cast iron is preferred for the even heat it provides and retains. Ideally, the skillet will be 11 or 12 inches across so more than a few pieces of chicken fit at a time. An enameled cast-iron pot also works.

2. A candy thermometer is helpful to gauge the heat of the oil in the pan. You want it running at 350 degrees. No candy thermometer? You can flick a little flour into your heated oil. If it sizzles furiously you’re in the right neighborhood.

3. Traditionalists like to put their seasoned flour into a big brown paper bag, so they can add the chicken to it and shake it around to coat the meat. If you don’t have one, a large bowl with high sides will do.

4. A baking sheet and wire rack will come in handy for draining the finished chicken. Some cooks make do with more brown paper bags, or even newspaper, but that can lead to soggy skin.

The Chicken

Delicious fried chicken starts with the bird. You can cut a whole chicken into parts for frying, but if you want all dark meat, or vice versa, or just to save time, you can buy the parts.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

1. Maybe you’re feeding a bunch of children who prefer drumsticks, or someone who will only eat white meat. Buying parts lets you tailor the meal to their tastes.

   For dark meat aficionados, go for a mixture of drumsticks and bone-in thighs. For those who prefer white meat, a pack of bone-in breasts will do just fine. Figure on two or three pieces per person, plus leftovers because cold fried chicken eaten the next day is fantastic.

   A whole chicken of 3 or 4 pounds can be cut into 10 parts for frying: two drumsticks, two thighs, two wings and the two breasts each cut in two, with the backbone discarded. This will feed four people nicely. (Here’s a video demonstrating how to do that.)

   Buy the freshest chicken you can at the store, organic if possible.

The Brine

To brine a chicken means to submerge it in a solution of salt and water, sometimes flavored with other ingredients, in order to add moisture and flavor to the meat. You can certainly fry chicken without brining the parts, but we recommend against that. It’s very little work, and adds tremendously to the finished flavor.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

1. Basic Brine

   For a basic chicken brine, simply dissolve 4 tablespoons kosher salt in 4 cups lukewarm water. Add the chicken to the solution, cover and place in the refrigerator for a few hours and up to overnight. (You might add a few tablespoons of sugar to the mixture, along with some fresh herbs or chopped garlic.)

2. Buttermilk Brine

   For many fried chicken aficionados, the only acceptable brine is made with buttermilk. To make one, dissolve 2 tablespoons kosher salt in 4 cups fresh buttermilk, along with a healthy grind of black pepper. Add the chicken to it, cover and place in the refrigerator for a few hours and up to overnight.

3. Pickle Brine

   Put 2 cups pickle juice into a large bowl and add the chicken to it. Cover and place in the refrigerator for a few hours and up to overnight, turning a few times along the way. The result is shockingly flavorful, juicy meat.

4. Cola Brine

   Combine 2 cups cola in a large bowl with 1 tablespoon kosher salt, 4 cloves chopped garlic, 8 sprigs fresh thyme, and a tablespoon or more of hot sauce. Add the chicken, cover and place in the refrigerator for a few hours, turning a few times along the way. The cola adds a caramel hue and distinctive sweetness to the meat, but after more than a few hours it begins to degrade it, too. Proceed with caution!

5. Cider Brine

   Cider brine: For a sweet, almost autumnal fried chicken, dissolve 4 tablespoons kosher salt in 2 cups apple cider. Add the chicken to the solution, cover and place in the refrigerator for a few hours and up to overnight.

The Coating

A shatteringly crisp crust is a hallmark of great fried chicken. You achieve that by covering the exterior of the meat and skin with starch before cooking.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

1. Basic Method

   The easiest method for dredging chicken is simply to place the parts in a big paper bag filled with flour that has been seasoned with salt, pepper and occasionally paprika or hot pepper; close the bag; shake it a few times, and then carefully remove each piece and shake off the excess flour before frying.

   You can of course use a large bowl in place of the bag. Just dredge the chicken pieces through the seasoned flour and proceed as directed.

   See Also

   Simple Chicken Brine6 tips for the ultimate fried chicken at homeBatter-Fried ChickenMastering fried chicken

   You’ll want to dredge the chicken right before frying; leaving the chicken to rest in its coating will gum up the flour, reducing its chances of crisping up in the cooking oil.



Karsten Moran for The New York Times

2. Other Coatings

   Not all cooks use all-purpose flour to coat their chicken. Alternative starches include gluten-free flours, bread crumbs, the larger Japanese bread crumbs known as panko, cracker crumbs and potato starch. (Other coatings include — really! — crumbled Cheetos and Doritos.)

   Whatever starch you use, the precepts remain the same: dredge the chicken in it, then shake off the excess, then fry.

Cooking

Once your chicken pieces are coated, you’ll gently place them in hot oil and fry them until golden brown and gloriously crunchy. A few tips: Use tongs to turn the chicken a few times while it cooks. And, crucially, do not crowd the pan. You want plenty of oil surrounding each piece of chicken, but not so much that it spatters everywhere. (In warmer months, if you don’t want to mess up your kitchen, cook outside, using a gas grill and a pan set on the grate above the burner.)

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

1. The Fat

   Time was, people fried chicken in shortening. Some fry in lard, others in oil, or in a combination of the two. What you want is an oil that has a high smoke point, which means that it can be heated to a high temperature without burning. Olive oil and butter have low smoke points. Do not use them for fried chicken. Instead, try peanut, canola or vegetable oil.

   You can deep fry the chicken in a lot of oil, or you can shallow fry it in a little less, but if you go the less-oil route, the fat should rise to at least halfway up the pieces to ensure even frying.

   As the oil heats on the stove, you might slide a single slice of bacon into it to perfume the fat, but this is hardly a requirement. If you do that, remove the bacon before frying the chicken.



Karsten Moran for The New York Times

2. The Temperature

   The ideal temperature at which to fry chicken is a steady 350 degrees. Monitor that temperature by using a candy thermometer. And, especially if you’re new to the chicken-frying game, use a meat thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the chicken. It’s done when it reaches 165 degrees. Make sure that you’ve brought the oil back up to 350 degrees before you add the next batch of chicken.



Karsten Moran for The New York Times

3. The Resting

   After you remove your chicken from the skillet, you should let it rest before serving. Some people do so by placing the hot chicken on a paper bag, or on paper towel. This method, however, can lead to soggy skin, particularly on the side that’s in contact with the paper. A better technique is to rest the chicken on a wire rack set on top of a baking sheet, sprinkling a little salt on it when it’s hot for extra flavor.

Varying the Flavors

Once you’ve mastered our basic recipe, explore these fried chicken styles. Adobo fried chicken will take you to the Philippines, while Nashville-style hot chicken will simply set your mouth on fire. (Worth it.)

Adobo

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  Karsten Moran for The New York Times

  This adobo fried chicken takes its vinegary cue from the braised national dish of the Philippines.

  It starts with a cooked broth of 2 1/2 cups white vinegar, 3 minced garlic cloves, 4 bay leaves, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons black peppercorns, in which you’ll simmer the chicken pieces for 15 minutes. Dredge the chicken pieces in a mix of 2 cups buttermilk, 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon paprika and some black pepper, then fry. Serve with a dipping sauce of 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 2 sliced Thai bird chilies.

Korean

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  Karsten Moran for The New York Times

  Korean fried chicken, or yangnyeom dak, takes its deep flavor and rich heat from an oniony marinade and a coating made with gochujang, the Korean chile paste, and other spices. It’s dredged in a mixture of flour and cornstarch coating, which gives the crust an extra dose of crunch.

  To make Korean fried chicken, smear the pieces with a mixture of 1 grated onion, 2 chopped garlic cloves, salt and pepper, and let sit for about an hour. Dredge the pieces in a flour-cornstarch mix, then fry. Mix together 3 tablespoons gochujang, 3 tablespoons ketchup, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds and the juice of half a lemon. Brush the chile sauce liberally on the fried pieces while the chicken is still hot, and serve.

Nashville

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  Evan Sung for The New York Times

  Nashville-style fried chicken is hot — so hot that watery eyes and a burning mouth are commonly accepted side effects of eating it. The searing heat comes ghost-chile powder and a generous amount of cayenne pepper.

  To make it, add 2 tablespoons hot sauce to your buttermilk brine. Then, before you dredge the chicken pieces in flour, dust them in a coating of 3 tablespoons cayenne, 1 tablespoon ghost-chile powder and 1 tablespoon sugar. After frying, dust the pieces once more with cayenne. Serve with sliced white bread and a cold beer.

Persian

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  Craig Lee for The New York Times

  This Persian fried chicken is redolent of saffron and paprika, and is best made with boneless chicken thighs, which speeds up the cooking time.

  First, make a marinade by combining 1/2 teaspoon saffron with 1 tablespoon water and let soak 10 minutes; purée in a food processor with 2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt and 1 tablespoon chopped garlic. Marinate the chicken pieces in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight. When it’s time to fry, dredge the chicken in a mixture of 2 1/4 cups flour, 2 1/2 teaspoons paprika, 1 1/2 tablespoons dried mint and 1 tablespoon salt. Serve with lemon wedges and chopped walnuts.