Fried Chicken (Deep fried or Shallow fried)

I make a lot of crumbed chicken in my air fryer. I’ve got recipes on here that are super quick and easy. I’ll link to them lower in this post. But this one is KFC-style deep (or shallow) fried chicken. The light craggy, crunchy batter kind. I’ve called this a Thermomix recipe because I grind my spices and finish off my marinade batter all in the same jug, but you can use freshly powdered spices if you don’t have one.

Seriously, when people say they can do this in an air fryer, I struggle to believe them. I’m not sure if they remember what KFC is actually like. I’ve tried a few times and the batter gets tough no matter what I do. I prefer to use crumbs in my air fryer rather than batter, so (for me) this recipe works better in an air fryer – Southern Crumbed Fried or Oven Baked Chicken

Ok, so we don’t do takeaway much at all. Not just because of the cost, cause wow, that adds up, doesn’t it? But because of the ingredients that are added. I’d rather cook than order takeout. I get to choose what ingredients I use, and quite frankly, I’ve never felt sick after eating my fried chicken, but I can’t say the same for takeout.

Anyway, let’s talk about it. I’ve got tips; you know I like to do most things the quick and easy way. Making fried chicken isn’t on my menu a lot, but on the odd occasion, it’s fun and extremely yummy. I think you’ll agree my method is pretty simple.

I do start the day (or morning) before I want to serve it. The first job is to make the spice blend. This makes enough spice to make 3 batches of fried chicken or you can mix it through your crumbs when doing crumbed chicken.

Then I make my batter mix, to which I add some of the fried chicken blend.

Then I marinate my chicken pieces in buttermilk (or milk with a tad of vinegar). This helps soften the chicken and make it juicy. But to this marinade, I add some of the above batter mix. I can hear you, What! Well, later we’ll be dredging these in the powdered batter mix too. Trust me, the stickier those chicken bits are the more the powder will stick. After all, that’s what we’re after isn’t it?

Sit that in a covered container in the fridge overnight or for a minimum of 6 hours. You’ll find after the chicken has marinated for a while, the batter mix becomes runnier. It’s up to you, but if you want a really thick, crunchy coating on your chicken, you can, at this stage, either add an egg or another tablespoon or two of the powder. Either way, before you go dredging it in your powder make sure it’s really well coated.

Heat the oil, coat the chicken in more of the dry batter mix, and fry.

Ta Da! KFC style fried chicken, to be served with chips and a salad. Happy family! Wanna do it?

Fried Chicken (deep or shallow fried)

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If you have a Thermomix or spice grinder, I suggest you use whole spices where ever you can; if you don't, just use fresh powdered spices. Easy peasy, but if your spices are out of date this won't be as nice.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 6 hours hrs 35 minutes mins

Difficulty Medium

Course Dinner, Dinner or Entree, Lunch, Party food

Cuisine American

Servings 4 -8

Method Deep Fryer, shallow fryer, Thermomix and Conventional

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

• 1 Thermomix (optional)
• 1 Deep fryer (optional)
• 1 Air fryer (optional)

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Spice Blend

• First make your spice blend; This makes enough for around 4 batches I make extra because I find I use it in other recipes. See my air fried chicken
• 20 g black peppercorns
• 4 g sage leaves
• 30 g salt flakes I use pink Murray
• 20 g garlic granules
• 20 g onion flakes
• 15 g sweet paprika
• 10 g parsley leaves dried
• 20 g bell pepper flakes dried capsicums
• 10 g mustard powder
• 2 g thyme
• 2 g oregano
• 5 g Turmeric

Dry Mix

• 250 g of plain flour
• 100 g of corn flour or tapioca flour
• 20 g baking powder
• 40-60 g premade spice blend You can choose how much you like here, I say minimum 40g in this flour base

Chicken Marinade and Batter

• 100 g buttermilk
• 40 g dry mix above or enough to make a very thick batter
• 1 kg cut chicken pieces

Oil for frying.

• Enough peanut or sunflower oil to fry in a wok frypan with higher sides or a deep fryer.

Instructions

 

Spice blend

• This makes enough blend for 3 – 4 batches of chicken so adjust if you don't want to make as much
• Add all the ingredients to the TM bowl MC in place and set for 30 seconds/speed 10. Let the spices settle for a couple of minutes before removing the lid.
• Remove from the bowl and set aside in a large spice mix jar. (I use a 300 – 500g jar)

Make the Batter Mix

• Without cleaning the TM bowl weigh in the plain flour corn flour, baking powder and spice blend. Mix well to combine for 5 seconds/speed 6
• Remove from the bowl and set aside in another large jar. (I use a 500g – 1 litre jar)

Make the Marinade

• Without cleaning the TM bowl, weigh in the 100g buttermilk and 50g of the dry mix (NOT the spice blend)
• Set the TM to mix for 5 seconds/speed 3-4 to combine. It should look like a thick pasty batter.
• Add your 1 kg of chicken pieces to a storage container (one suitable to go in the fridge), pour over the batter and using your hands make sure you've got the batter all over your chicken pieces. Rest (the chicken, not you silly) in the fridge all day or overnight.

Assembly and Frying

• First, choose what you'll be frying in. I have a dedicated fryer but I've got images to show you how you can use a frying pan if you like. It saves on oil too. You need to make sure your oil comes up 1/2 way up the sides of a frying pan like mine in the image. The ideal temperature to cook your chicken pieces is 180°C although without a probe it's a little hard to tell. I drop a pinch of the dry mix in the oil and if it fizzes like crazy it's ready.
• Take a plate (I like to use one with sides so it doesn't make too much mess) and pile a quantity of the dry mix on the centre of the plate. You shouldnt need to use all of the dry mix at once, as you should get another batch (at least) from this.
• When you remove the chicken from the fridge you will notice that the batter is a bit thinner than it was; using your hands make sure you recoat the chicken. Take one piece of chicken at a time and place it on the dry mix. Coat liberally in the dry mix as you want to get lots of crunchy craggy bits.
• When your oil is ready, gently place your chicken in the oil and cook. Don't over crowd your pan. Allow the chicken to become golden then remove it and sit it on paper towel or a cooling rack with paper towel underneath. I then place it in my air fryer or oven. See notes,

Please read my notes below to make this job easy.

Notes

When deep frying food, there’s an optimal temperature you need to reach to make sure you cook without too much oil.  If the temperature is too low, the food will soak up the oil and go greasy.  Get the oil temperature right and it will fry and crust up the outside coating without taking up too much oil.  I like the idea of frying at a high temerature to partially cook, then finishing off in an air fryer or oven.  This will reduce the amount of oil that gets absorbed.

When frying chicken, you can quickly cook the outside, having it nice and brown and not have your chicken cooked all the way through.  Especially if you have chicken with the bones in and took them straight out of the fridge before you started. 

Turn your oven or air fryer on; I set my air fryer to 150°C and place my chicken pieces in there for around 10 – 15 minutes (depending on size) before serving.  If I’m doing a large batch, I set my oven to 160°C and give them 20 – 25 minutes (depending on size).  To see if your chicken is cooked, use a knife, and make a slit right next to the bone; the juices should run clear if it’s cooked through.

I use my oil up to 3 times, straining it through a very fine sieve.  Just make sure you haven’t had the oil too hot for too long.  Mind you if I’ve cooked chicken in it, I only use it for cooking savoury things in it next time.  I’m not going to use that oil to make, say, doughnuts. 😉

Of course, you can double this recipe, triple it, or whatever you like.  Just cook your chicken off in batches, you don’t want to over crowd the pan and have the oil cool too much.  Doing that will make your chicken greasy.

Can you freeze your cooked chicken pieces?  Yep; 1 kg is too much chicken for my hubby and I to eat in one sitting, so I freeze the portions after I’ve fried them.  When we want to eat them, all I do is defrost them and then pop them in my air fryer or oven until they’re cooked through.  When freezing chicken, you should never refreeze a second time.  Purchase fresh chicken pieces, batter, rest, dredge, fry, drain, cool and then freeze it. 

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