Fried Chicken – with the most insanely crispy, thick craggy crust heavily seasoned with a KFC copycat “11 secret herbs and spices”! This recipe uses a Southern buttermilk marinade to make the flesh juicy all the way through, and a breading secret trick for how to make fried chicken with an ultra crunchy, nubbly crust.
Reading: how to make fried chicken batter like kfc
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Fried Chicken
I’m going to call it (obnoxious as it is) – this fried chicken is better than KFC. There’s not a trace of soggy skin anywhere (all you closet KFC lovers know exactly what I’m talking about!) and the crust is thicker and craggier.
Every inch of this crust is insanely crunchy, and there’s loads of those nubbly bits that get extra crunchy. The seasoning is satisfyingly spot on – strong but not outrageously overpowering – the buttermilk marinated flesh is tender and juicy all the way through, and the deep golden colour is sheer perfection.
Seriously, what kind of human being could resist a piping hot pile of freshly made fried chicken?? {Vegetarians are excused}
The seasoning for this fried chicken is a KFC copycat. 11 Secret Herbs & Spices!
What you need to make the best Fried Chicken
Here’s what you need.
11 Secret Herbs and Spices (lots of it). And not much else!
The Seasoning is a KFC copycat. There’s 1.5 tablespoons of pepper in it which sounds like a lot. But trust me, you need it for the KFC flavour and it doesn’t make it spicy. Also, remember that only a certain amount ends up stuck to the chicken itself!
Buttermilk – in true Southern style, the chicken is marinated in a salted buttermilk. Brilliant for tenderising the chicken and injecting it with salt;
Egg helps the flour stick better;
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Cornflour / cornstarch – makes the crust crispy but not tough. Pretty standard inclusion in fried chicken breading;
Flour – just plain white, all purpose flour; and
Oil – vegetable, canola or peanut oil, for neutral flavour and ability to heat to the temperature needed without burning the chicken or the oil smoking.
No seasoning in marinade?
I don’t put Seasoning into the buttermilk marinade. Reason being that the crust is quite heavily seasoned (it’s unsatisfying if it’s not flavoured enough) so if the chicken flesh is also seasoned, it’s just too much of the same flavour.
It’s just tastier to have that awesome contrast of juicy chicken flavour inside (salted but not flavoured) and the wickedly crunchy, seasoned crust on the outside. It’s the KFC way!
How to make Fried Chicken
And here’s how to make it (video below super helpful I think!):
Marinate chicken overnight in buttermilk brine – this salts the flesh all the way through and makes it beautifully tender and juicy (also gives you room for error in cook time);
Drizzle some brine in the seasoned flour and rub in to make lumps = extra nubbly craggy bits on crust. 🌟Secret trick that makes the crust so epic!🌟
Coat chicken in flour then fry until golden.
Reusing the oil
Typically, oil used for deep frying can be reused 3 times or so once it’s been cleaned. However, I find that for Fried Chicken, it’s usually only good for one more batch of Fried Chicken or similarly flavoured food. I think the oil just gets too tainted by the heavily flavoured breading and while the oil can be cleaned of all the bits in it, you can’t remove the flavour.
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To remove impurities, I find the best and easiest way is a Cook’s Illustrated method using a cornflour/cornstarch and water method, cooked in the oil over low heat until it solidifies and captures all the impurities. Strain the cornflour “jelly”, then store the oil for another use. (PS Using a fine strainer isn’t good enough to filter the oil after this recipe, you’d need to use a coffee filter or similar which takes ages. But for other fried recipes like Honey Chicken and Sweet & Sour Pork, straining is fine).
What to serve with fried chicken
For the full homemade KFC experience, serve it with Coleslaw*, chips, KFC copycat potato and gravy.
For a Southern meal, add a side of steamed or grilled corn, cornbread, Slaw, Potato Salad and Southern Baked Beans. A fully loaded plate – my style!
* If you or your hips are anti mayo, try the RecipeTin No Mayo Coleslaw – it’s very, very good!
Some great sides for fried chicken!
I know deep frying is an effort. Preparing, cleaning up, disposing of the oil.
And – well, you know. My hips prefer me to avoid fried foods. 😩
Therefore I don’t deep fry often. So when I do, I make sure it’s worth it.
THIS is worth it!!! – Nagi x
PS Don’t ask me for a chips recipe yet, I’m still not happy with my homemade ones! But if you want KFC style potato and gravy (as seen in the video), here is the recipe! drop a comment below and I’ll be happy to share it.
Watch how to make it
Life of Dozer
He was booted out while I was deep frying. But other than that, he was firmly planted next to the shoot table for every second while I was filming and photographing this chicken!!!
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