Start with a recipe

You can use your favourite mix of herbs and spices to come up with your own fried chicken recipe, or use one of our these great recipes.

Soak it overnight

If you have the time for a little pre-planning, try soaking your chicken in buttermilk either overnight or for at least 8 hours. This will give you an unbeatably moist, succulent chicken that will contrast with the crunchy coating. Half an hour before you plan to start cooking, take the chicken out of the buttermilk bath and leave it to drain on a wire rack.

Choose your frying pan

You don’t need a deep-fryer to make fried chicken, in fact, many say using a frying pan will give you a better result. Make sure you choose a heavy-based frying pan with enough room to add at least three chicken pieces without them touching. Add enough oil so that it will come roughly halfway up the thickest part of the chicken.

Get organised

While your oil is heating up, set up a ‘dredging station’ to keep everything organised and to minimise mess. Set up all your ingredients in shallow dishes and line them up in the order you’ll need them. The best place for this is on a long bench, which will allow you to work in one direction.

Fried chicken recipe: How to make it crispy and golden

Rest it

Once the chicken is coated in the seasoning, let it rest to allow the coating to dry and adhere to the chicken. Place it on a rack and leave it for 20 to 30 minutes. This will prevent the coating falling off in the hot oil, and will help it brown evenly.

Into the oil

Using tongs, carefully lower the chicken into the hot oil one piece at a time. Keep at least 5cm between each piece of chicken to prevent them from not cooking properly. Overcrowding the pan will also lower the temperature of the oil, causing more oil to be absorbed and give you very unappetising greasy chicken. When the chicken is ready to turn, use the tongs rather than a fork, to avoid piercing the skin and losing all the juices.

Rest again

Once your chicken is done, remove it from the hot oil and place it on a rack set over a paper towel-lined tray. This will allow the chicken to drain, and will keep it perfectly crisp.

Tips

Use a zip-lock bag to coat the chicken with the seasoning mixture. Simple add the chicken pieces and give them a good to shake to ensure they’re thoroughly coated.
For extra crunch, use half flour, half cornflour and a ½ teaspoon of baking powder in your favourite seasoning mix.
When you’re coating your chicken, try to have one designated ‘wet hand’ and one ‘dry hand’ to keep things as clean as possible.