Buttermilk Fried Chicken is down home comfort food at its best! This pan fried chicken recipe produces perfectly golden brown crispy chicken with a light herb-seasoned breading. If you’re looking for the perfect fried chicken recipe to add to your rotation, this one is a must-try!
No one can resist buttermilk fried chicken. Learn how to make restaurant quality fried chicken with this flavorful recipe.
Reasons You’ll Love This Buttermilk Fried Chicken
Crispy chicken breading – The light batter on this chicken gets brown and crispy as it fries without becoming greasy or heavy.
Juicy flavor – A buttermilk marinate locks all the juicy flavor into this chicken, so the inside is just as tasty as the outside.
Pan fried chicken recipe – You can make this fried chicken in any pan with a high enough rim. No deep fryer necessary!
Tips and tricks for frying – This recipe includes pro tips and techniques for fried chicken success every time.
Delicious with all your favorite sides – Add a basket of buttermilk biscuits, corn on the cob and a side of KFC coleslaw to your buttermilk fried chicken for a complete southern-style chicken dinner.
Buttermilk Fried Chicken Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients you will need to make this delicious Buttermilk Fried Chicken recipe. Important notes and substitutions for certain ingredients are discussed. The full printable recipe, with amounts and specific details, can be found at the bottom of the page.
Buttermilk Fried Chicken Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Chicken – Ideally you’ll want to get skin on chicken, but skinless will work as well, it’s just not as crispy. Thighs and drumsticks are fantastic, but you can also use chicken breasts.
- Buttermilk – Buttermilk not only lends that irresistible flavor, it does an amazing job at tenderizing the chicken. If you don’t have any buttermilk, you can use my homemade buttermilk recipe to quickly make your own.
- All-Purpose Flour – I’ve only made this recipe using all purpose flour, so I can’t speak to how other types of flours might perform.
- Vegetable Oil – I prefer using a neutral flavored oil, such as canola oil, for frying.
- Spice and Seasonings – This recipe has a fantastic blend of spices for both the marinade and the coating. That said if there is one you don’t have on hand, or one you don’t like, you can feel free to get creative with the seasoning and add or subtract as desired.
- Baking Powder – This helps with crisping up the chicken. If you do not have it, leave it out. You do not want to replace this with baking soda. It will not work the same and it will affect the flavor.
How To Make Buttermilk Fried Chicken
Let’s discuss the steps you’ll take to make homemade fried chicken. If you want to skip my discussion, tips, information and answers to frequently asked questions, just scroll to the bottom of this post for the printable recipe.
Make The Marinade
- Place chicken pieces in a large bowl then add salt, pepper, garlic, dried mustard, paprika and sage.
- Stir to evenly coat chicken.
- Pour the buttermilk over the seasoned chicken and stir well. Refrigerate chicken with marinade for at least 1 hour and up to overnight. The longer you marinate the chicken, the more tender and flavorful it will be.
Make The Chicken
- In a shallow dish that is large enough to place chicken in, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, garlic powder, paprika, basil, thyme, onion powder, and cayenne pepper.
- Working one piece at a time, remove each piece of chicken from the marinade, and place it into the shallow dish with the flour mixture.
- Toss to cover. Make sure the entire surface of each piece of chicken is coated well.
- In a large, heavy bottom pan, heat oil to about 340 degrees. You want to be able to fry the outside to a crisp golden brown without burning while, still cooking the chicken thoroughly. Place the chicken into the preheated oil.
- Cook 4 or 5 pieces at a time, but don’t crowd the pan. Turn as necessary and fry until golden brown. It will take about 15 minutes for each piece to cook. Make sure each piece is fully cooked, reaching an internal temperature of 170 degrees F*.
- Place chicken on a wire rack to drain. This helps it to remain crispy and not get soggy.
Buttermilk Fried Chicken Recipe Tips and Advice
Temperature
I highly recommend using a thermometer, to both check the oil temperature and the temperature of your oil. When you add chicken to the oil, the cold chicken will drop it’s temperature, so it’s helpful to know what the temperature is at and adjust.
If you do not have a thermometer, here’s a helpful way to check the oil temp. When you stand a wooden spoon in the oil, the oil should bubble around the handle at the bottom of the pot and float up. If the oil is too hot, the oil will bubble vigorously. If the oil is not hot enough, there will just be a few bubbles coming up.
If you find the chicken looking burnt on the outside, but not cooked on the inside, you need to reduce your heat, the oil is too hot.
Storage
Buttermilk fried chicken will keep for 3-5 days in the fridge. It may be frozen for up to 3 months.
Reheating
It is best reheated in the oven at 325 for 10 minutes or until heated through. It can also be reheated in the air fryer for about 5 minutes. To reheat from frozen, bake for about 15 minutes at 450 degrees.
Buttermilk Fried Chicken FAQs
Buttermilk helps tenderize the chicken, due to it’s acidity level. This helps create not only flavorful, but also tender chicken.
Chicken should marinate in buttermilk for at least an hour, and up to 24 hours. Ideally chicken can be placed in the marinade the night before you will be making it.
It usually takes about 7-8 minutes per side, about 15 minutes total.
Milk is not acidic like buttermilk, therefore it doesn’t have the same results. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own by combining 1 cup of milk with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice.
More Chicken Recipes You’ll Love
What To Serve With Fried Chicken
There are so many delicious side dishes to serve with fried chicken. Here are some of my favorites.
- Mashed Potatoes
- Easy Mac and Cheese
- Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
- Macaroni Salad
- Corn On The Cob
- Air Fryer Potato Wedges
- Old Fashioned Potato Salad
- Air Fryer Baked Potatoes
- Green Beans Almondine
- Broccoli Casserole
- The Best Jiffy Cornbread
- Crockpot Baked Beans
- Crack Potatoes
- Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese
- Cane’s Sauce (For Dipping)
Buttermilk Fried Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken
- 3 pounds chicken, skin on approximately 8 pieces, thighs and drumsticks are best
Marinade
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
- 2 cups buttermilk
Seasoning and Coating
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 1/2 teaspsoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- vegetable oil for frying oil should be 1-2 inches deep in frying pan
Instructions
Preparing and marinating chicken.
- Place chicken pieces in a large bowl then add salt, pepper, garlic, dried mustard, paprika and sage. Stir to evenly coat chicken. Pour the buttermilk over the seasoned chicken and stir well.
- Refrigerate chicken with marinade for at least 1 hour and up to overnight. The longer you marinate the chicken, the more tender and flavorful it will be.
Seasoning and frying chicken.
- In a shallow dish that is large enough to place chicken in, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, garlic powder, paprika, basil, thyme, onion powder, and cayenne pepper.
- In a large, heavy bottom pan, heat oil to about 340 degrees. You want to be able to fry the outside to a crisp golden brown without burning while, still cooking the chicken thoroughly.
- Working one piece at a time, remove each piece of chicken from the marinade, and place it into the shallow dish with the flour mixture. Toss to cover. Make sure the entire surface of each piece of chicken is coated well.
- Place the chicken into the preheated oil. Cook 4 or 5 pieces at a time, but don’t crowd the pan. Turn as necessary and fry until golden brown. It will take about 15 minutes for each piece to cook. Make sure each piece is fully cooked, reaching an internal temperature of 170 degrees F*.
- Place chicken on a wire rack to drain.
Notes
- It is best reheated in the oven at 325 for 10 minutes or until heated through, or in the air fryer for about 5 minutes.
- It may be frozen for up to 3 months. Then, to reheat, bake from frozen for about 15 minutes at 450 degrees.
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Linda Johnson says
Coat the chicken lightly with the flour then into the buttermilk and back into the flour for a heavier coating. My mother cooked chicken like this and was pretty well known for her fried chicken.
Sean says
No matter what I do, the batter burns before the chicken is done.
Dalton says
Great recipe only recommendation is to add 1/4 cups of buttermilk to flour mixture to create some lumps that will stick to the chicken and give it that really breaded taste and look.
Alexis says
Usually pressing the flower, really firm to the chicken with the buttermilk on. It helps the batter stick to the chicken.
Joanne Alcorn says
My other half says this is the best tasting chicken he has ever had. I have fried it and even cooked it in my air fryer. But no matter how I cook it, and even though the coating gets crispy, the coating does not stick to the chicken. Any ideas on how to fix that?
Blacky says
I love it