Today, on the 4th of July, I want you to experience freedom! Freedom from the fear of cooking fried chicken at home, and this is just the recipe to do it! It’s absolutely perfect, not only for your Independence Day picnic or celebration, but next Tuesday is National Fried Chicken Day, so you have a legitimate excuse to make a double (or triple!) batch and enjoy it all week! I came across this fried chicken recipe in Cook’s Country Magazine. I was looking for a method that would yield an extra crispy on the outside, super moist on the inside version, and I found it in this recipe! First let’s talk about what makes this chicken moist. It gets soaked in buttermilk and salt brine which helps the chicken retain moisture and also gives it a wonderful flavor. What makes the outside crispy is the combination of flour and spices that the chicken is dredged in, and then refrigerated for several hours or overnight. When you get ready to fry the chicken, that coating has pretty much glued itself to the chicken making it the perfect crispy crust I was hoping for! If your turns out the way I think it will, it’s going to be winner, winner chicken dinner!
Watch my How To Video for Best Fried Chicken here!
| Servings |
- 3 pounds bone in chicken legs and thighs
- 1 quart vegetable oil
- 2 cups plus 6 tablespoons buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3 tablespoons white pepper
- 1 tablespoon celery salt
- 1 tablespoon Italian spice blend
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Ingredients
For the Brine:
For the Coating:
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- In a bowl, combine buttermilk and salt, whisking to dissolve the salt. Wash and pat dry chicken. Place chicken pieces in buttermilk brine, stirring to completely coat. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. When ready to cook, prepare coating. In a bowl, add flour, baking powder, white pepper, celery salt, Italian spices, garlic powder, ginger, black pepper and salt. Whisk to combine. Add 6 tablespoons of buttermilk to the spice mixture and with your fingers, crumble to form craggy bits. Prepare a rack inside a baking sheet. Remove pieces of chicken from buttermilk brine and dredge each piece in the flour/spice mixture turning pieces and pressing into the chicken to thoroughly coat. Place chicken on rack and refrigerate uncovered for at least one hour. When ready to cook, heat oil in pan to 350 degrees. Fry the chicken, turning often, until deep golden brown and internal temperature of chicken is 165 degrees. Place fried chicken on a rack inside a paper towel-line baking sheet to drain. Serve immediately.
