I’ve been making this fried chicken recipe for 20 years and it hasn’t failed me yet!

Few dishes hit the spot like fried chicken. The ultimate comfort food, there are thousands of fried chicken recipes floating around the internet, each claiming to be the best. But no fried chicken is quite as good as Southern fried chicken, and this recipe is a cut above the rest. You’ll be thinking about it for days after eating it!

Table of Contents

Equipment Needed To Make Fried Chicken Recipe

Cooking fried chicken recipe requires lots of equipment, and you want to be prepared before you begin. Here’s what you’ll need:

Small bowl – Any small bowl will do.
9×13 pan – You can use a pan from your cabinets or a disposable pan. Just make sure it’s big enough to house all of your chicken without any crowding. 9×13 usually works best.
Medium bowl – You need a medium bowl to combine the ingredients for your flour coating, then to dip the chicken. If you use too small a bowl, you’ll make a big mess.
Skillet – I like to use this skillet.

Ingredients Needed For Fried Chicken Recipe

Chicken
Salt
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Black pepper
White pepper
Thyme
White onions
Flour
MSG (Accent brand)
Butter
Oil for frying

How to Make Fried Chicken Recipe

When making fried chicken recipe, ingredients are important, but it’s also important to follow the right steps. Here’s what you need to do:

Combine your seasonings in a small bowl.
Line your pieces of chicken in a 9×13 pan.
Cover the chicken with the seasoning, and use your hands to thoroughly coat each piece (you can wear latex or plastic gloves for this part if you’d like).
Top the chicken with sliced onions.
Cover with plastic wrap, tin foil, or a lid, and refrigerate overnight.
Combine flour and MSG in your medium bowl.
Add a few tablespoons of water to the flour mixture and combine to create texture.
Heat your skillet over medium-high heat, then add butter and oil.
Put your chicken pieces in the flour mixture, pressing the mixture into the chicken. Shake off excess.
Once the butter and oil reach 350 degrees F, add your chicken to the hot oil.
Cook chicken on both sides until the crust is golden brown and its internal temperature is at least 165 degrees F.
Place chicken on a wire rack to cool.
Serve and enjoy!

Top Tips For Fried Chicken Recipe

Do not overcrowd the pan: Chicken needs space to cook. If it’s too close to other pieces, you risk unevenly cooking your meat. You’ll also end up with an undesirable texture. Fried chicken is so fantastic because of its crispy crust, and in order to achieve that, you need space in your skillet.

This recipe is for 4lbs of chicken: If you need to scale the recipe up or down, then I highly suggest that you use a recipe scale conversion calculator. This will ensure that you get the same result and that you’re able to meet your changing needs.

Refrigerate the chicken overnight: For best results, refrigerate your chicken overnight. This will allow the meat to absorb all of the flavors. If you can’t wait that long, then at least refrigerate for 1 hour. Bring the chicken to room temperature prior to frying. Bringing the chicken to room temperature will allow the meat to cook more evenly, it’ll be more juicy and it will reduce the need to regulate the oil temperature.

Mix water into the flour: This will give the chicken texture without having to double dredge! I use 3 tablespoons of water to 2 cups of flour and then mix it with a fork. Press the flour into the chicken with your hands – this will help the breading to stick giving your a crunchy fried chicken.

What to Serve with Your Southern Fried Chicken

Southern fried chicken is best served with other Southern recipes. Check out some of my favorite sides:

FAQs

What pieces of chicken should I use?

You can use any pieces of chicken you want for this recipe. If you use different sized pieces, pay close attention to each one as they will all cook at different rates. It’s crucial that you take the internal temperature of your chicken so you’re certain it’s safe to eat.

How should I reheat my chicken?

Reheat your chicken so it maintains its crispy texture. I suggest using the oven, air fryer, or warming drawer, not the microwave.

Best Fried Chicken Recipe (Better than KFC)

Print Recipe

Author: cookwithleo
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 25
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

Scale

4lbs chicken pieces

4 tsp salt

4 tsp garlic powder

4 tsp onion powder

2 tsp ground black pepper

2 tsp ground white pepper

1 tsp ground thyme

2 sliced white onions

2 cups flour

1 tbs MSG (Accent)

4 tbs butter

Oil for frying

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Pour seasoning over chicken and mix with hands to thoroughly coat the chicken.
Add sliced onions to top of chicken.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.
In a medium sized bowl, add flour and MSG. Combine with fork.
Add a few tablespoons of water to flour and mix with fork to give texture to breading.
Heat skillet over medium high heat.
Add butter and oil.
Allow to heat up for at least 5 minutes before adding chicken. Temperature should be around 350 degrees.
Add same seasonings including MSG to flour and combine.
Place chicken pieces into flour mixture and press mixture into chicken with hands to ensure that it sticks. Shake off any excess.
Add chicken to hot oil. Do not overcrowd pan.
Cook on both sides until chicken is golden brown and internal temperature is at least 165 degrees.
Transfer to a baking sheet with a wire rack to cool.

Keywords: fried chicken recipe

The Best Fried Chicken Recipe in the WORLD (Better than KFC)