Fried Chicken

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken, cut up (or 8 pieces of your favorite cuts)
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 2 cups buttermilk
  • 2 Tbsp hot sauce
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup cornstarch
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 2 tsp black pepper
  • Peanut oil, for frying
  • Flaked salt, for serving (optional)

Steps

  1. Place the chicken in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, and onion powder, then toss to coat.
  2. Add buttermilk and hot sauce, stir to combine. Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, paprika, and black pepper. Set aside.
  4. Preheat a deep fryer to 325°F (or 300°F for cast iron). Fill with peanut oil or neutral frying oil.
  5. Remove chicken one piece at a time and let excess buttermilk drip off. Coat thoroughly in the flour mixture, shake off excess, and set aside for a few minutes until the coating looks slightly pasty.
  6. Fry in batches of 3–4 pieces, turning every few minutes, until golden brown. Dark meat takes about 12–14 minutes, white meat about 8–10 minutes.
  7. Chicken is done when the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
  8. Transfer to a paper towel-lined sheet tray and immediately sprinkle with flaked salt. Repeat with remaining pieces.

Yield

4 servings

Total Time

8 hours 24 minutes (10 min prep, 14 min cook, 8 hours marinating)