Darn Tasty Fried Chicken

Fried chicken is something we rarely make.  I never knew what that odd savory taste in some fried chicken recipes is- it's the celery seed! I can't explain what a nice addition this is.  I made this recipe somewhat healthier with skinless chicken breasts, but I think adding skinless thighs would be a nice flavorful addition.  I also added a little cornmeal for more crunch since I'm skinless and a a little salt.  I really like this recipe, although I'm not sure it will ever make heavy rotation given it's health profile.  Maybe an oven fried version?

Fried Chicken
adapted from No Recipes

about 1-2 cups buttermilk

4 whole chicken breasts, boneless skinless, or thighs, or mix thereof

3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow corn meal
1 Tbs onion powder
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp celery seed ground
1/4 tsp black pepper ground

canola oil for frying

Submerge chicken in the buttermilk. Refrigerate overnight.


Combine the flour, onion powder, paprika, celery seed, salt, cornmeal, and black pepper and whisk to combine on a plate or shallow dish. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk.  Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, dip back in buttermilk, and dredge again. Shake any excess flour off as you transfer the chicken to a wire rack.

Place the chicken on the rack and let it air dry for at least 1 hour.  Or 5 minutes, in my case.

In a large heavy bottomed pot, add the oil. The oil should be at least 1-2″ deep. Heat over medium high heat until it reaches 340 degrees F, or until you lose patience for the 50 million thermometers you've bought that do not work. Carefully add the chicken to the hot oil. The temperature will fall a bit, and you want to keep the oil right around 320 degrees F for the duration of they frying, so adjust the heat source as needed. The chicken will take about 12-15 minutes to cook through and should be golden brown on the outside. You can use a meat thermometer to check and see if the chicken is cooked on the inside, but take the chicken out of the oil once before checking, or the juices coming out of the chicken will make the oil splatter.

As the chicken is done, remove them from the oil and drain on a paper towel lined wire rack. Let the fried chicken rest for a few minutes and serve.  Top with white gravy.