I was asked by Carusele to participate in the #CookWithCrisco campaign, sponsored by Crisco. Although I have been compensated, all opinions are my own.
Follow this recipe step-by-step to learn how to make some of the best Homemade Fried Chicken, flavorful throughout and crispy and crunchy on the outside.
Fried Chicken was a regular dinner entree in our family. We typically had Fried Chicken on Sundays. Yea, “Sunday Dinners” was a recurring event in our family household. For those of you who are not familiar with the concept of “Sunday Dinners,” let me explain. “Sunday Dinner” is a tradition that African Americans adapted from southern families. This dinner is typically a bit more wholesome than your typical weekday dinner. In our family, we would typically eat this dinner early, after church, and there would be a lot more sides than your usual two.
“Sunday Dinner” was almost like Thanksgiving. The most common main dishes we would have were pot roast, fried pork chops, and fried chicken. When it comes to cooking fried chicken, we will fry chicken in nothing other than Crisco®.
It is almost as if I can see the can of Crisco all-vegetable Shortening sitting next to the stove in my grandmother’s kitchen filled with what would turn some raw chicken into a household delicacy. I have tried for years, and I do mean for years, to try to top my grandmother’s Southern Fried Chicken recipe. Finally, I think I’ve got it! It requires a lot of patience, but you will love the outcome.
Steps to making Fried Chicken
Step 1: Brine the chicken.
If you want to take a good recipe to make fried chicken to a great recipe to make fried chicken, then you will want to start with a brine. My brine is pretty simple. It consists of water, kosher salt, seasoned salt, rosemary, garlic cloves, and sugar. Pretty basic, huh? Brining the chicken overnight is going to ensure that the meat of the chicken doesn’t lack flavor.
Step 2: Base the chicken in buttermilk.
Once I had allowed my chicken to soak in the brine overnight, I poured the brine out and rinsed the chicken to remove the excess salt. You will not want to skip this step as your chicken will taste like a lot of salt. Rinsing the chicken will not remove the flavor from the chicken.
Step 3: Dredging through the flour.
I know it may seem like this fried chicken recipe has a ton of salt, and it does have a lot of seasoning, but you also are going to want to add some flavor to the flour. This is to ensure that the coating of the fried chicken isn’t bland.
Step 4: Fry in Crisco Pure Canola Oil.
Finally, you want to heat a deep fryer to 350 degrees and add Crisco Pure Canola Oil to the fryer. Once the oil is heated, you will add your chicken to the fryer and allow the chicken to a golden brown. That’s it!
This recipe would make my grandmother proud. Crisco has been a part of my family for years. Not only was it used when fried chicken was cooked, but the All-Vegetable Shortening was used when making Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits and Fried Potatoes and Onions (a personal favorite). My only hope is that I can pass this perfect recipe down to my kids. So, make Crisco a part of your family’s favorite dishes!
When frying this chicken, you can also use Crisco Pure Vegetable Oil or melt the All-Vegetable Shortening.
Recipes that will make for the perfect summer Fried Chicken Dinner:
Commonly Asked Questions
I only keep fried chicken for an extra day or so, no more than two days. This is because I have found that after a while, the chicken loses its flavor.
I wouldn’t. Growing up, this was not uncommon for chicken fried in grease to go through one more round of frying. But what I have learned is the flour that has come off of the previous batch of chicken is still in there and will burn in the oil, leaving a not-so-good taste. Now, if you are desperate, I suppose you can strain the oil to get rid of excess crumbs and flour. I have not done this, but if you do and it works, let me know.
No. But it will make the chicken taste a ton better. But you can omit this step and go straight to the buttermilk coating and frying portion of the recipe.
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How to Make Homemade Fried Chicken
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Yield: 8–10 1x
Description
If you have never made Homemade Fried Chicken before, then you are going to start making it all the time after you try this recipe. This is the best fried chicken recipe you will ever make!
Ingredients
- BRINE
- 8 c. water
- 2 tbsp. Kosher salt
- 2 tbsp. Seasoned salt
- 1 tbsp. Spice Islands Black pepper
- 1 tbsp. Sugar
- 1/ 2 tbsp. Spice Islands Thyme
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 5 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 4 lb. Fryer Chicken
- 1/2 gallon buttermilk
- 2 tbsp. hot sauce
- 3 c. flour
- 2 tsp. Spice Islands Onion Powder
- 2 tsp. Spice Islands Garlic Powder
- 1 tbsp. Seasoned salt
- 1 tbsp. Ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp. Spice Islands Cayenne Pepper
- 1/2 tsp. Spice Islands Smoked Paprika
- 3 qt. Crisco Pure Canola Oil
Instructions
- Place the chicken in a large, storage container. Using a large pitcher or bowl, add the salt, seasoned salt, pepper, sugar, and dried thyme and whisk together. Pour the water solution over the chicken.
- Add the garlic cloves, sliced lemon, and sprig of rosemary to the brine. Cover in the lid and refrigerate overnight.
- Before frying, pour out the brine and rinse the chicken thoroughly, removing excess salt. Rinse out the container you used to soak the chicken overnight because you’re going to place the chicken back in there and pour the buttermilk on top. Add the hot sauce and mix with a wooden spoon.
- In a shallow bowl, add the flour, onion and garlic powder, seasoned salt, ground pepper, smoked paprika, and cayenne pepper. Whisk the flour and seasonings together.
- Begin to heat the Crisco Canola oil in a deep fryer on 350 Degrees. If you do not have a deep fryer, heat the oil in a large pot on the stove to 350 Degrees using a thermometer to check the temperature.
- Shake the excess buttermilk off of the chicken, dredge in the flour and coat well, shake off the excess flour, and place in the deep fryer and cook for 10 minutes until golden brown. Cook the largest chicken together first (i.e., chicken breast and thighs).
- As soon as the chicken is done, use tongs and turn to a sheet with a cooling rack. As soon as the chicken is transferred, sprinkle it with a small amount of more seasoned salt or lemon pepper seasoning (optional). Repeat the process until all chicken is cooked.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Deep Dry
- Cuisine: American
Last weakly holiday I practice your Fried Chicken Recipe. Wow! it’s a delicious test. My family members are like these recipes. Thanks.
★★★★
Hey!
Amazing work. Can you plz tell is “1tb sugar” necessary in this recipe?
My mother is diabetic, how much it cost to the taste?
Thanks
★★★★★
Hi! No you don’t have to have this in your brine. It’s just there to balance the salt but it doesn’t make the chicken sweet or anything.
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Thank you!