While re-reading a Cook’s Country Magazine from last summer, I came across a recipe for battered fried chicken. Now, I know what you are thinking…how is that healthy? Well, it’s not! About once every other month I will deep fry something, and that frying happens to be my home made tenders. I am still weary about cooking chicken with the bones in it, so I followed their exact recipe, except, I cut boneless chicken breasts into strips and went from there.
The result? Spectacular!! The one thing I love about Cook’s Country, is the person who is creating the recipe already does the trial and error, so you can be assured that it will turn out perfect.
One thing I haven’t done before is brine chicken. The recipe called for adding the chicken to a mixture of water/sugar/salt about an hour before preparing.
***UPDATE*** I omitted a few steps, so this is a correction*****
Best Batter-Fried Chicken
1. A crisp crust starts by whisking together a thin batter made from water, flour, baking powder, spices, and cornstarch.
2. After you’ve dipped the chicken in the batter, let the excess drip off (back into the bowl) to avoid a doughy coating.
3. To prevent the chicken pieces from sticking together in the oil, don’t crowd the pot. Fry the chicken in two batches.
Batter-Fried Chicken
Serves 4 to 6
Halve breasts crosswise and separate leg quarters into thighs and drumsticks.
BRINE
1 quart cold water
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup sugar
4 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces (see note)
BATTER
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cornstarch
5 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups cold water
3 quarts peanut or vegetable oil
1. MAKE BRINE Whisk water, salt, and sugar in large bowl until sugar and salt dissolve. Add chicken and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.
2. MAKE BATTER Whisk flour, cornstarch, pepper, paprika, cayenne, baking powder, salt, and water in large bowl until smooth. Refrigerate batter while chicken is brining.
3. FRY CHICKEN Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat to 350 degrees. Remove chicken from refrigerator, pour off brine, and pat dry with paper towels. Rewhisk batter. Transfer half of chicken to batter. One piece at a time, remove chicken from batter (allowing excess to drip back into bowl) and transfer to oil. Fry chicken, adjusting burner as necessary to maintain oil temperature between 300 and 325 degrees, until deep golden brown and white meat registers 160 degrees (175 degrees for dark meat), 12 to 15 minutes. Drain chicken on wire rack set inside rimmed baking sheet. Bring oil back to 350 degrees and repeat with remaining chicken. Serve.
Stir that together in a big bowl and refrigerate the same amount of time as you do the chicken. It should look like this:
After the chicken has brined. Strain the water and pat dry the chicken. Add the chicken to the batter making sure to coat all the chicken. I used about 1 3/4 pounds of chicken breasts and still had a lot of batter leftover.
I use a skillet, and add enough Canola Oil so it covers about 2 inches all the way around. Heat the oil for a good few minutes before adding the chicken.
You know the oil is ready, if you drop a little water in the oil and it starts to spatter.
Now, here is the important part:. Cook each side for 3 minutes only. This will ensure the middle is cooked, but the outside doesn’t burn. I’ve used that method tons of times and it turns out great each time.
As soon as I tasted one, I thought it tasted like Kentucky Fried Chicken. Great spice and peppery. I told that to my kids and realized they haven’t ever had KFC before! Which is kind of good I guess! So I said they had to take my word for it.
I HIGHLY recommend trying this. You can do the same thing using chicken parts except the cooking time is 12 to 15 minutes or until the white meat reaches 160 degrees and the dark meat reaches 175 degrees.
Looks & sounds absolutely delicious! Would make the boys really happy… π
Have a great week!
brining chicken makes a huge difference… I still make the same fried chicken my mother made (and she is a terrible cook), so I need to give this a try
The chicken must be so flavorful with the brine, and sound just terrific!
I love KFC π The brine sounds like a great idea. I will have to get up the courage to fry at home…we don’t have an exhaust fan …
Mmm the finished product looks sooo good w/ all that black pepper flecking the batter! Yummy!
What a good mom you are, that your kids have never had KFC!! That chicken looks delicious, btw!
Wow this looks great! I will have to add it to list for our annual superbowl party!
Thanks for visiting our blog! We also make unhealthy dishes for our ‘healthy’ site sometimes. You can’t always eat well! Looks tasty!
Looks yummy!
I’ve never brined (past tense for brine? yes?) chicken either! I’ll have to try this!! I saw your pic and was like YES Slim Shoppin found a way to do healthy fried chicken… hahaha… but hey, we all need a splurge every once and a while. and maybe we’ll just have lots of green beans with it π
the recipe looks great,but you didn’t include the
liquid you use to make the batter.is it buttermilk
or milk? thanks!
you forgot the 2 t of baking powder and 1 and 3/4 c water for the batter
You Guys forgot the 2tsp. of Baking Powder. Was that intentional? If it was then my bad. Great recipe though!
What is (are) the liquid(s) used in the batter? The recipe lists the solids, but no liquids. How about the baking powder amount? Would love to try it!
Hey fix the recipe! Sounds great but I’m glad I noticed the comments about missing ingredients before I tried it. I have never made batter fried chicken………..
***So sorry for the omission of a few steps, here is the WHOLE recipe for the batter fried chicken:****
Best Batter-Fried Chicken
1. A crisp crust starts by whisking together a thin batter made from water, flour, baking powder, spices, and cornstarch.
2. After you’ve dipped the chicken in the batter, let the excess drip off (back into the bowl) to avoid a doughy coating.
3. To prevent the chicken pieces from sticking together in the oil, don’t crowd the pot. Fry the chicken in two batches.
Batter-Fried Chicken
Serves 4 to 6
Halve breasts crosswise and separate leg quarters into thighs and drumsticks.
BRINE
1 quart cold water
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup sugar
4 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces (see note)
BATTER
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cornstarch
5 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups cold water
3 quarts peanut or vegetable oil
1. MAKE BRINE Whisk water, salt, and sugar in large bowl until sugar and salt dissolve. Add chicken and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.
2. MAKE BATTER Whisk flour, cornstarch, pepper, paprika, cayenne, baking powder, salt, and water in large bowl until smooth. Refrigerate batter while chicken is brining.
3. FRY CHICKEN Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat to 350 degrees. Remove chicken from refrigerator, pour off brine, and pat dry with paper towels. Rewhisk batter. Transfer half of chicken to batter. One piece at a time, remove chicken from batter (allowing excess to drip back into bowl) and transfer to oil. Fry chicken, adjusting burner as necessary to maintain oil temperature between 300 and 325 degrees, until deep golden brown and white meat registers 160 degrees (175 degrees for dark meat), 12 to 15 minutes. Drain chicken on wire rack set inside rimmed baking sheet. Bring oil back to 350 degrees and repeat with remaining chicken. Serve.
This was awesome! Thank you, I was looking for a recipe for fried chicken without the doughy batter so I could make some chicken cordon bleu sandwiches. This was perfect!