🍗 Southern fried chicken

Name: Southern fried chicken
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: United States · the American South
Ingredients: 1.2 kg chicken pieces (thighs, drumsticks, breasts); 500 ml buttermilk; 1 egg; 250 g plain flour; 2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp black pepper; 2 tsp salt; Oil for deep-frying

Origin: United States · the American South

700kcal

per serving · 250 g

280kcal

per 100 g

50 gProtein20 g / 100 g

40 gFat16 g / 100 g

30 gCarbs12 g / 100 g

Fried chicken is bone-in chicken pieces soaked in buttermilk, dredged in seasoned flour and deep-fried until the crust is golden and shatteringly crisp while the meat stays juicy. The buttermilk tenderises the chicken and helps the coating cling. It is eaten hot or cold, often with coleslaw, biscuits or mashed potatoes, and is a classic of picnics and Sunday dinners.

Diets

✓

No porkfor halal, the meat must be halal-slaughtered

✓

High protein20 g protein per 100 g — 29% of the calories

Not vegetarianbecause of: chicken

Not veganbecause of: chicken, egg, buttermilk

Contains glutenbecause of: flour

Contains dairybecause of: buttermilk

Not keto12 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Eggs ⚠ Milk

What it is made of

chickenfloureggbuttermilkspices

Recipe

4 servings60 min

Ingredients

1.2 kg chicken pieces (thighs, drumsticks, breasts)
500 ml buttermilk
1 egg
250 g plain flour
2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
Oil for deep-frying

Method

Season the chicken with half the salt, cover with buttermilk and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Whisk the egg into the buttermilk marinade. Mix the flour with the spices and the remaining salt.
Lift each piece from the marinade and press it firmly into the seasoned flour.
Heat the oil to 165 °C and fry the chicken in batches for 12–15 minutes, turning, until deep golden and cooked through (74 °C inside).
Drain on a rack and rest for 5 minutes before serving.

How to make it lighter

Remove the skin before coating, or choose breast over thigh, to cut a good share of the fat.
Bake the coated pieces at 220 °C on an oiled rack, or use an air fryer, for a crisp crust with far less oil.
Keep it to one or two pieces and fill the plate with coleslaw or green salad.

History

Deep-frying floured chicken is usually traced to the American South, where Scottish frying traditions and West African cooking techniques brought by enslaved cooks are both credited with shaping the dish. Fried chicken appears in Southern cookbooks from the 19th century and later became a global fast-food staple.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →