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.
Serve with French fries and potato with gravy for an epic homemade KFC experience at home.
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;
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.
How long does it take chicken to fry?
Thighs and drumsticks take 8 minutes, or until the internal temperature in centre of thickest part is 75°C / 167°F. Breast takes around 7 minutes (internal temperature at thickest part 65°C / 150°F).
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.
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!!!
Serve with French fries and potato with gravy for an epic homemade KFC experience at home.
– Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Fried Chicken – ultra craggy crispy crust!
Ingredients
- 1.8 kg/ 3.6lb bone in, skin on small thighs (< 200g/7oz), drumsticks, whole wings, breast (< 200g/7oz) (Note 1)
Buttermilk marinade:
- 1 cup buttermilk (Note 2 for sub)
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 egg
Fried Chicken Breading (Note 9):
- 2 1/4 cups flour , plain / all purpose
- 3/4 cup corn flour / cornstarch
KFC 11 Secret Herbs and Spices (Note 9):
- 3 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp celery salt
- 1.5 tbsp black pepper (Note 2)
- 1.5 tsp sweet paprika (ie. not hot or smoked)
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper , optional
- 1.5 tsp onion powder
- 3 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- 3/4 tsp ginger powder
- 1.5 tsp dried thyme
- 1.5 tsp dried oregano
To fry:
- 1.5 – 2 litres / quarts vegetable oil (or canola or peanut, Note 8 for re-use)
Instructions
Buttermilk Marinade Chicken:
- Mix Marinade in a bowl until salt dissolves.
- Pour over chicken in ziplock bag, massage to coat chicken. Press out excess air, seal, refrigerate 12 to 24 hours, turning once or twice.
- Pour chicken and marinade into large bowl.
Breading mixture:
- Whisk together Breading and all KFC Secret Herbs & Spices.
- Drizzle 4.5 tablespoons of Marinade into flour mixture. Use fingers to rub in so you get lots of pea sized lumpy bits all throughout (this creates extra super crunchy craggy bits).
- Spread out in a shallow dish or pan (easier to work with).
Prepare to cook (work in specified order of steps):
- Preheat oven to 80°C/175°F and place rack on tray – to keep chicken warm. (Note 3)
- Add oil to a wide, heavy based pot to a depth of 6 cm / 2.5 ” (my 26cm/10.5″ cast iron pot = 1.75L/quarts oil, Note 4)
- Heat oil over medium to medium high heat to 180°C/350°F – maintain temp as best you can (Note 5).
Breading:
- Cooking order: Start with thighs and drumsticks, wings next and cook breast last. (Note 6).
- Squidge a piece of chicken in remaining marinade, place in flour.
- Coat well, pressing very firmly to adhere. Transfer to plate.
- Coat 2 or 3 more pieces – just for one cooking batch, covering oil surface in single layer. (Note 7)
Frying:
- Carefully place chicken in oil – it will bubble energetically but it will not spit.
- Once chicken is in, oil temperature should drop to 150°C/300°C – adjust heat to target this.
- DO NOT TOUCH chicken for 2 minutes – to let the crust bond with the chicken skin. After this, you can move them around but oil should be deep enough that you do not need to flip (but you can if you want!).
- Thighs and drumsticks – cook for 8 minutes (wings for 5 minutes), or until deep golden brown and internal temperature at thickest part is 75°C / 167°F.
- Breast – fry for 6 minutes or until internal temperature at thickest part is 65°C / 150°F (time depends on size).
- Place onto rack and keep warm in oven. Repeat with remaining chicken, coating each batch just prior to cooking.
- Serve immediately!
- Classic sides: Coleslaw, KFC copycat potato and gravy, steamed or grilled corn, cornbread or soft rolls, fries, potato salad, Southern Baked Beans!
Recipe Notes:
- Might seem like a lot of pepper, but it’s key to KFC flavour and doesn’t make it spicy. Remember that not much of the seasoning actually ends up on each piece of chicken.
- Hot & Spicy version – just add 2 tsp cayenne pepper into the breading! That will give it a nice buzz (but won’t blow your head off)
- There is more breading coating flour than you need, so you’ll throw out 1 cup or so. As wasteful as it sounds, I’ve tried using less and it gets messy/hard with the last pieces. So I conceded and upped the breading quantity – because this recipe is all about the crust!
Nutrition Information:
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!!!
All I can say is wow – this was amazing!! So crispy, so juicy, so tasty! Definitely better than KFC and leftovers reheat nicely in the oven 🙂
This fried chicken is out of this world, it taste like kfc, but way better. I made this along with you’re gravy and I will be making this more. Thank you so much. Its yummy!
Thanks so much for the great feedback Sheri! (So much better than KFC – and you know it hasn’t been sitting around for hours too 😂)
What about the egg??
Hi Mani, which came first, the chicken or the egg? The egg in this recipe is added to the buttermilk marinade 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi,
Can you bake this in oven using chicken breast but same marinade and seasoning?? Thanks
Hi Rachael, no sorry, this one is all about frying to get that crisp batter! N x
Hi Nagi, what can i substitute for Celery Salt? I can’t seem to find it anywhere locally
If you can find celery SEED, use 1 part seed to 2 parts salt. So in Nagi’s recipe use 1/4 t celery seed and 1/2 t salt
Hi SK, just leave it out if you can’t find it. N x
Just made these. Came out perfect 🤩
Perfection!
I’m hoping to adapt this recipe to make fried chicken burgers. How much chicken breast do I use for this recipe please? Thanks!
Hi Zarina, I talk about breasts in the recipe notes – this recipe uses 1.8kg of chicken. N x
Amazing!! We loved it so much! Do you have recommendations for reheating leftovers?
Hi Leah, I would reheat in the microwave and then blast for 5 minutes or so in a hot oven to re-crisp the outside 🙂 N x
Another amazing recipe. Seriously perfection, and I have never been able to cook fried chicken right. Thank you Nagi!
Nagi – this was sooo fabulous!! Everyone loved it! I used lactose free milk & lemon juice for the butter milk, GF flour and upped the spicy level. Delicious! Thank you for all your notes and precise steps! Next time will experiment in the air fryer 🙂
Made it for a second time tonight. Using your very clear directions and having watched your video, I’m definitely getting the hang of frying. Came out even better the second time around. Made it exactly like described. The chicken was succulent (bolded / underlined)!!! Dipped in the suggested gravy, it was to die for!!
Thank you Nagi for yet another awesome recipe. My hubby loves kfc but it always makes me feel sick because it is so greasy. This was delicious and far less oily. My hubby is pretty picky but even he said his KFC craving was satisfied! Served it with oven baked chips and coleslaw 😋
I’m so going to make this on weekend! Will it still work if you use skinless pieces? I can’t seem to get skin on thigh fillets?! Not a fan of drumsticks😏!
Yes definitely Deb. Enjoy! N x
Delicious!!! I don’t have an oil thermometer so my chicken needed a little more cooking and I’d forgotten to defrost the chicken the night before so they only got 8hours in the brine instead of 12+ but still so delicious, crispy and super tender and juicy inside. Loved it!! Next time I’ll add more cayenne for the spicy version. Another awesome recipe!! Thank you Nagi.
Hi Nagi, this may be a silly question, but when you say ground ginger, do you mean powdered ginger? Is it the same thing?
Thanks!
Hi Mary! That’s not a silly question at all 🙂 And yes, ground ginger is powdered ginger! N x
Delicious no more to say really 😊👏 I cook a lot of your recipes although this wasn’t the healthiest….it’s still lockdown in Scotland so needs must 😌
This was delicious! We had a post COVID restrictions dinner with friends and we cooked this together. It is so much better than KFC, much crispier and less oily tasting! The butter milk made the chicken so moist and tender, definitely do not skip this step. We served it with homemade coleslaw, corn on the cob, mash and gravy, It was a hit!
It was even still crunchy when we ate the leftovers cold the next day.
Dear Nagi, this recepie looks amazing thank you! What can I put instead of buttermilk, for someone that does not eat dairy products?
Hi Sherry, sorry I haven’t tried with any substitutes here, the buttermilk is the key for juicy chicken unfortunately! N x
I can’t wait to try this, just want to know about the buttermilk sub, how much milk to the one tsp of vinegar?
Hi Roxy – 1 tsp into 1 cup of milk. N x