Chef John's Buttermilk Fried Chicken Recipe

4
10 mins
405 mins

Ingredients

For the seasoned flour:
1 (3 1/2) pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups buttermilk
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2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
2 1/2 quarts peanut oil for frying

Preparation

Step 1

Toss together chicken pieces, black pepper, salt, paprika, rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, white pepper, and cayenne in a large bowl to coat.

Stir in buttermilk until chicken is coated. Refrigerate for 6 hours.

Combine flour, salt, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, white pepper, and onion powder in a large shallow dish.

Remove chicken from the buttermilk and dredge each piece in the seasoned flour. Shake off any excess and transfer to a plate.

Heat peanut oil in a large Dutch oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Add all the chicken to the pan and cook for 10 minutes.

Turn chicken pieces and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

Remove chicken from the oil and transfer to a cooling rack set over a paper towel lined baking sheet. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
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REVIEWS: (51)

This fried chicken receipe is absoultly fantastic,if you take your time get all your ingredients together in two groups,it is easy to make. It smells so good while it is cooking,and the taste is truly unbelievable.And so moist and juicy.I will make this receipe over and over.Thanks Chef John for sharing. The receipe looks intimidating but it isn't. Try it you will see how easy it is,and the taste is the best fried chicken ever.

This was not a difficult recipe. I did use boneless chicken and followed everything else. I worked fine. This is not the BEST fried chicken I have had, but it was tasty and nice and crispy. I did not need 2 cups of buttermilk, so just pour in as much as you need to cover the chicken good. The rest of the ingredients I used the same. I used about 2 inches of oil to fry in and let it get good and brown.

This is absolutely the best fried chicken recipe ever! The outside is crispy & the meat is moist & tender. I made it exactly as directed except used boneless, skinless breasts, cut into thirds. My husband wants me to make this again (like tomorrow) & I'm happy to obilige. Thank you for this terrific recipe!

LOVE this recipe, my whole family love it. I made little bit healthier by put this chicken in the oil for 3 minutes or until little bit brown on the outside and put the chicken in 350 F oven for 30 - 40 minutes or until the chicken all cooked.

Fabulous recipe, Chef! This is the way fried chicken should be made. I had to make acidified buttermilk (1 tablespoon of lemon juice per 1 cup of milk, allow to curdle for 10 minutes), but the preparation, to me, was effortless. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough oil for my dutch oven, so I used my skillet, turn the chicken over once after 10 minutes, cooking for 25 minutes total. Also I only had corn oil. I'll try peanut oil next time. Thanks again!

I made this last night, it was awesome!! only thing I did differant was marinate the chicken in buttermilk n spices from fri night to mon night...Great Stuff...made 2 whole chickens and homades frech fries to take advantage of the pricey Peanut oil... Yummm!

I followed the directions exactly, except I used my heavy electric skillet. Perfect! My husband said it was the best fried chicken he had ever had! It was incredibly moist and flavorfull with really crispy crust.

Incredible...and easy! We watched the video and I saw how easy it was and decided to make it. I used a deep fryer and put the chicken in for 20 minutes. I didn't have the white pepper so I skipped that one ingredient, and it was still amazing. It was so moist that you could see the liquid in the chicken as you cut it open. Thank you for sharing!

It marinates long, but is well worth the wait. So succulent and moist on the inside and crispy on the outside, my family demanded that I make it for second day running! The blend of spices is also very, very nice. Except next time I'll omit oregano.

3-1/2 stars. Can not get buttermilk in Mexico so I subbed with yogurt. Chicken was quite moist and tender. But the flavor was not what I had hoped. I did add a few more spices but was not totally happy with the flavor. Needs to be fried at a lower temp as the breading browned too much and the chicken was not cooked through.

Really great after alterations. I can say with confidence that this would not have been as good without the changes. I doubled all the spices and seasonings (except salt, which I kept the same). The end result was perfectly flavorful, which to me means that it would have been bland with the written amounts. Also, I cooked the chicken between 275 and 300 degrees, and they were perfectly brown at 19 minutes cook time. The breasts were slightly dry, they should have been taken out earlier. The dark pieces were amazing, though.

Absolutely delicious! I marinated my chicken for about 8 hours and thought maybe the heat could have been a bit lower as it browned a bit too quickly, but YUM! This is just the best, crispiest, fried chicken ever! Thanks for the great recipe.

Yummy! This was tasty. I didn't have any white pepper so I just left it out. I used legs and thighs instead of a whole cut up chicken. Thanks for the recipe!

Oh, yes! truely scumpious, wonderful herb blend. I did brown, then put on rack as directed. However, I put the chicken in a 325 degree oven with the rack over a lipped cookie sheet and baked for 1/2 hour instead of the second frying. It removed a lot of the grease. Still crispy the next day, every bit as good as Day 1. This will be a go to recipe for me.

It is worth marinating the chicken overnight, as the flavors are amazing! I used whole milk and lemon juice as a subsitute for buttermilk. It's best not to use yogurt as a marinate in this recipe. You will not get the same results. I also used a tall pot to fry the chicken, so I did not have to turn it. 20 minutes and it was done! This was really good fried chicken! Now I have to figure out how to get rid of the grease smell from my kitchen!

I'll never use any other fried chicken recipe but this one!!!

This was VERY good fried chicken - I rarely take the time to fry chicken any more, but made this as a special request for a granddarling's birthday. I omitted the cayenne because of all the children, and this was still outstanding. Everyone LOVED it and I'll be making this again!

Tastes great, I just need to work on the oil temp. I followed the directions and the breading was getting burn'at before the center of the chicken was cooked. Herbs and spices are the best.

Great recipe. Takes time but WELL worth the wait!

Just cooked this for my familys dinner and YES it was so YUMMY go by all the ingredients and you wont be disappointed No more K.F.C anymore Buttermilk Fryed Chicken is a must ... yummy yummy...

These turned out great! They were juicy and the skin was very tasty! Ill add more seasoning next time though!

This was the first time I made fried chicken and it turned out great! I'm going to make this again for sure!!! Thank you Chef John :)

Made this recipe exactly as written and it turned out fantastic! Will definitely be making this again :)

I made this according to recipe and the chicken was tender and juicy inside and crispy on the outside. However I used a thermometer the whole time and the breading still got way too dark too fast. I stopped frying it after 15 minutes because it was burning. Luckily I had only used thighs so they were cooked in that time. I think next time I would try it at a lower temperature or maybe use boneless meat to cut down the cook time.

Ok, so I didn't have buttermilk, though I did let them sit in whole milk so the seasoning worked in. And I used Mrs. Dash's cajun seasoning because I was lacking a few spices - basically the same though. Over all It had turned out amazing - thank you!

This is an awesome recipe. I have a question though? I used a metal pot for the oil and after I put in the chicken it never reached 350 again....does the material of the pan make a difference? The drumsticks were way too done at 300 for 20 minutes, however the inside flavor was GREAT!!! I will definitely make this again.

I made this tonight and followed the recipe exactly, other than using boneless skinless breasts cut into strips. The finicky family loved it. Next time I may add some hot sauce to the soak. Thanks for a great recipe!

This is the best fried chicken. We love it and I will always use this recipe now.Thank you chef for this winner of a recipe! Its a family favorite. I let it sit in the refrigerator over night in the buttermilk.

Fantastic recipe. I loved the fact that the coating actually had flavor - and it was really great! Definitely worth trying. This will now be my go to recipe for fried chicken!