Real Simple Southern Fried Chicken (2024)

Making Real Simple Fried Chicken doesn’t have to be complicated. Learn how to make simple, authentic fried chicken with my quick and easy recipe. Perfect for a family dinner or special occasion!

When I get into the frame of mind to go back to my culinary roots, I always go to recipes that are representative of what I call southern farmhouse cooking. I’ve been cooking southern food since I was big enough to reach the stove, so it’s where I feel most comfortable. And what’s more southern than fried chicken?

It’s a standard. It’s a staple.And, most of all it’s quick and easy. Yes, I said “quick and easy.” Making my Real Simple Fried Chicken is not a production.

Making a good, simple southern fried chicken recipe does not require overnight marinades or special equipment, or any kind of fancy preparation whatsoever. If it did, do you think millions of southern women would have cooked it for lunch every day for years and years?

I can tell you without hesitation that they would not have. For our southern grandmothers, it was something they could whip up in a few minutes.

I’ve seen the recipes and the demonstrations where chefs put the chicken in milk or buttermilk or yogurt and let it stand overnight in the refrigerator. Then they coat it in all kinds of seasonings and shake it all up together in a paper bag.

Well, okay if you really want to do that, but what you typically get from it is a big mass of fried flour with a little bit of chicken in the middle of it.

The very best southern fried chicken recipe is made with a chicken that weighs about 3 pounds. That’s pretty hard to find in today’s supermarkets especially when chickens have been bred for more breast meat thereby causing them to weigh more.

Try to at least find the lightest weight bird in the case. If you have the skill to do so, buy a whole chicken and cut it up yourself. You’ll save lots of money. I, unfortunately, do not have that particular skill. Wish I did. I’ve tried. I’ve tried a lot.

A chicken properly cut up for frying should result in two breasts, two wings, two thighs, and two legs. Long ago, there would also be a wishbone. The wishbone is the prime piece between the top of the breasts.

Unfortunately, butchers no longer cut the wishbone leaving that portion in with the breasts. If you find a butcher today who knows what the wishbone is and can actually cut a chicken with a wishbone, you have found a gem!

My fried chicken recipe uses very simple ingredients. Chicken, salt and pepper, flour, and oil. That’s all you need.

This is a very easy southern fried chicken recipe without eggs, without buttermilk, or any of that other stuff. This is the way all the home cooks I knew when I was growing up made fried chicken. It’s quick and it’s easy.

1. Dry the chicken with paper towels.
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Dredge in flour.
4. Heat the oil.
5. Fry the chicken.

STEP 1: Thoroughly dry all the chicken pieces and place them in a single layer in a pan or large bowl.

STEP 2: Liberally salt and pepper the chicken pieces on both sides. Be very generous with the pepper. The taste of black pepper is very important to authentic southern fried chicken.

👉 PRO TIP: If you want to sneak in some other seasonings, this is the time to do that. It’s totally not necessary, but sometimes we like to change things up, don’t we? I’ll occasionally sprinkle on some Lawry’s seasoning salt, some Jane’s Crazy Mixed-Up Salt, or add some cayenne pepper. Whatever floats your boat. But if you’re a purist, you’ll stick with just salt and pepper.

STEP 3. Sprinkle all the flour over the chicken in the pan and toss the chicken to coat it well with flour.

👉 PRO TIP: We’re talking about “dredging” here, not lightly flouring. That’s why you pour the flour over and toss the chicken in it rather than doing the shake-it-up in the bag thing. You want a good coating of flour.

STEP 4: Meanwhile, heat the peanut oil over medium high heat in a large cast iron skillet. You’ll want enough oil to reach a depth of about 1/2 inch.

👉 PRO TIP: What we’re doing in this recipe is pan frying, not deep frying. You need enough oil to come about halfway up the pieces of chicken, but not so much that it will spill over when you place the chicken in the pan.

Judging the amount of oil is one of those things you learn through time and experience. Start with about an inch depth of oil in your pan and it should work out fine.

STEP 5: Place the chicken pieces, skin side down in the hot oil. Cook for approximately 10 minutes or until the skin is pale golden brown.

STEP 6: Turn the chicken over and cook for 10 minutes on the second side.

STEP 7: Turn the chicken pieces once more, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and cook approximately 10-15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

STEP 8: Remove the hot chicken to a paper towel-lined plate or to a rack set inside a baking sheet and allow it to drain for about 5 minutes.

Using a well-seasoned iron skillet makes a huge difference in the taste of your chicken. There’s just something about a great iron skillet that you can’t get from any other piece of kitchen equipment. The one I use for chicken is a 12-inch skillet that’s about 75 years old.

Also, I recommend frying chicken in peanut oil because it will withstand higher temperatures for a longer time without burning than other oils.

👉 PRO TIP: Experts will tell you that the oil should be 375 degrees before frying and to try to maintain that temperature during the cooking. I learned to cook before everyone had kitchen thermometers, so I judge it my own way. My little trick to test whether the oil is hot enough to cook — Put the end of a wooden spoon in the skillet. If the oil bubbles around the handle, it’s hot enough.

If you try this method once, I’ll bet you won’t go back to all that complicated marinating and shaking. It’ll be the crispiest, most flavorful chicken you’ve cooked in a long time or my name isn’t Nana.

I’m not making any kind of promises about what the clean up is like, however 😏.

Serve your fried chicken with something equally delicious and southern like potato salad, fried okra, sausage and rice casserole, broccoli casserole, green beans, or butter beans. Or, if you’re familiar with Chicken and Waffles, you can use my Whole Wheat Waffles recipe to create your own. And don’t forget the cornbread and sweet tea!

• If you like your chicken on the spicier side, try adding a teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the flour or sprinkle the chicken lightly with hot sauce before dredging in the flour.
• Use Jane’s Krazy Mixed-Up Salt (or another seasoning salt) in place of the plain salt in the recipe.
• Lightly sprinkle the chicken pieces with a little garlic powder before placing them in the flour.
• You can use this method to cook whole cut-up chicken, boneless chicken breasts, chicken strips, or any pieces you like. I sometimes just cook all wings because they’re my favorite.

The most likely reason that your fried chicken isn’t crispy is that your oil temperature isn’t high enough while frying. When you place the chicken into the hot oil you want to hear an audible “whoosh” and see the oil bubbling vigorously. If the oil isn’t hot enough, the chicken just kind of lies there and the flour doesn’t crisp up as it should. Admittedly, this takes some practice but I learned and so can you.

If you have any leftovers, you can keep them in the refrigerator for a day or two. You can reheat them in a 250 degree oven for about 15 minutes or, even better, just let it come to room temperature and enjoy it without any heating at all.

• Southern Butter Beans
• The Real Deal Banana Pudding
• Fried Okra
• Boiled Peanuts
• Southern Fried Quail
• Old-Fashioned Southern Teacakes
• Turnip Greens and Corn Pone
• Old Fashioned Cornbread

📖 Recipe

— This post was originally published on May 26, 2009. Updated March 2021 with new photos.