Crispy Fried Chicken Recipe
Cracker Barrel isn’t a fancy restaurant, but they sure do home-style southern cooking the right way. On the menu, you’ll find all the classics like chicken and dumplings and country fried steak, but it is the southern fried chicken platter that keeps the folks coming back.
The combination of the dish’s tangy buttermilk breading and the sweetness of the warm honey is so addicting that it’s hard to get enough. Now you can make it any time you want at home with this Cracker Barrel Southern Fried Chicken recipe.
Don’t Get Beaten by the Breading
It’s the traditional buttermilk double breading that gives this chicken the perfect amount of flavor and crunch while still letting the taste of the meat shine through. But getting the breading process right isn’t easy, and if things go wrong, you’ll end up with patchy chicken and a messy kitchen.
Make things easier by organizing everything you need before you start breading. For convenience and to cut down on drips, try dividing the seasoned flour into two separate bowls, and do the same with the buttermilk mixture. Your chicken breading assembly line should be chicken, seasoned flour, buttermilk mixture, seasoned flour, buttermilk mixture, and finally, a wire rack on top of a pan.
The best way to bread chicken is by using the wet-hand/dry-hand method. That means using one hand for flouring and the other for dipping the chicken into the buttermilk mixture. If you follow this method, you won’t wind up with a battered hand along with your battered chicken.
The Secret of Frying Chicken Correctly
Making really amazing fried chicken requires getting three things right. These are the fat, the temperature, and the time. Master all of them, and you can churn out perfectly cooked chicken every time.
Lard is the classic fat for frying chicken. It’s hard to beat the taste of chicken fried in lard, but these days health often trumps flavor, so most cooks use other types of oils. The key is to select an oil that has a neutral taste and can handle the heat. Peanut or canola oil are good choices.
Maintaining a constant temperature is the key to delicious and safe fried chicken, so always use a thermometer. Heavy cast-iron cookware is excellent at holding steady heat, so use it if you can. To prevent the oil from cooling down too much, never fry cold chicken straight from the fridge or overcrowd the pot.
No one wants to eat undercooked chicken, and getting the cooking time right is essential. Depending on the size of the chicken part, it should take between 12 – 18 minutes to cook. Never serve fried chicken without checking the temperature with a meat thermometer. You are looking for a temperature of at least 165°F.
Fried Chicken Recipe Ingredients
Here’s a list of what you need:
- Whole chicken – cut up
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- Buttermilk
- Water
- Vegetable oil or peanut oil for frying
How to Make Cracker Barrel Southern Fried Chicken
- Pour enough oil into a deep fryer or large pot like a Dutch oven to be 3 to 4 inches deep. Heat the oil over medium-high heat to 350°F.
- Combine flour, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
- Combine buttermilk and water in a separate bowl using a whisk or spoon.
- Pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
- Dip the chicken pieces into the flour mixture and shake off excess.
- Dip flour-coated chicken pieces into buttermilk and shake off excess.
- Dip the piece of chicken again in the flour.
- Place the breaded chicken on a wire rack over a baking sheet.
- Let the breaded chicken set for at least 5 minutes.
- Deep fry the chicken in two or three batches. About 15 to 18 minutes for white meat chicken breast and chicken thighs. About 12 to 13 minutes for dark meat (wings, drumsticks, and legs). The chicken should have a nice golden brown color and the juices run clear.
- Drain the fried chicken on a clean wire rack over a baking sheet.
Recipe Variations
Add spices for additional flavor:
- Cayenne pepper for heat.
- Garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika for an extra savory touch.
- Oregano and thyme for a touch of herbs.
What to serve with Southern Fried Chicken
You aren’t going to serve chicken alone, here are some side dishes that will help you round out your meal. Some sides that we love to serve with Southern fried chicken are green beans, mashed potatoes, buttermilk biscuits, and buttered corn.
Serving and Storing Cracker Barrel Southern Fried Chicken
- Don’t forget the honey. Fried chicken is great on its own, but add a drizzle of honey on top and turn it into something extraordinary. If you never tried honey on your fried chicken, you don’t know what you are missing.
- Serve with hot sauce on the side for those who enjoy their fried chicken with a kick of heat.
- Serve plenty of homemade biscuits. Great southern fried chicken needs amazingly flaky biscuits on the side. So, you’ll definitely want to bake a batch or two of Cracker Barrel Biscuits.
- Store any chicken leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to five days. Reheat by wrapping the chicken loosely in aluminum foil and cooking for 20 minutes in a 400-degree oven.
