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Five-Ingredient Fried Chicken

J. Kenji López-Alt · Serious Eats
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Illustration created with AIGenerated with ImagineArt (Nano Banana)

Pickle-brined thighs dipped in buttermilk and pressed into self-rising flour for a craggy crust, on soft hamburger buns. The original recipe is titled as a sandwich.

ChickenFried
The recipe

How to make it

4 servings
Makes4Time1 hr 35 min (with 1 hr brine)SourceJ. Kenji López-Alt · Serious Eats

Ingredients

Chicken

  • 1 jar sliced pickles, with brine
  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • Kosher salt and black pepper
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1½ cups self-rising flour
  • 1 quart peanut, vegetable or canola oil
  • 4 soft hamburger buns or potato rolls, toasted

Method

  1. Pour off ¾ cup pickle brine and keep the pickles. Season the chicken, seal it in a bag with the brine and refrigerate 1–12 hours.
  2. Pat the chicken dry. Put the buttermilk in one bowl and the flour plus 1 Tbsp pepper in another. Rub 3 Tbsp of the buttermilk into the flour to make shaggy bits.
  3. Dip each thigh in buttermilk, then press it firmly into the flour until a thick, craggy coat sticks.
  4. Heat the oil to 425°F, add the chicken and hold it at 300–350°F. Fry about 2 minutes, flip, and fry 2–3 minutes more until browned and cooked through.
  5. Serve on the buns with a few pickles.

Quantities come from the source. The method is written in our own words. See the original ↗

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