Our Favorite Fried Chicken Recipes

Whether you're craving a classic buttermilk fried chicken or want an oven-baked (or air fryer!) option, these oh-so-delicious recipes have you covered.

November 02, 2021

By: Trish Clasen Marsanico

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The Best Fried Chicken

While there are dozens of ways to cook chicken, no method can compete with frying. Roasting, baking and grilling chicken are great, but no cooking technique will give you the same crispy, juicy piece of protein that frying does. There is no "right" way to fry chicken — many chefs have their own secrets they swear by, plus you can easily experiment with the brine, coating, and cut of chicken. Need a good starting place? Try our best fried chicken, perfected in the Food Network Kitchens, which adds cornstarch to the flour dredge to help keep the crust shatteringly crisp.

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Fried Chicken

To help make the coating extra crispy, some people add cornstarch or baking powder to the flour mixture before dredging the chicken. Or, you can swap in self-rising flour, as Katie Lee Biegel does here.

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Air Fryer Fried Chicken

In case you needed another reason to love your air fryer, chicken gets a crispy crust and juicy interior without all the steps or mess of deep-frying. Be sure to cook the chicken in batches to avoid overcrowding the air fryer.

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Fried Chicken Sandwiches

Chicken thighs marinate in a mixture of pickle juice and hot sauce before getting coated with batter, fried and served up on brioche buns. Enjoy them fresh and hot at home or wrap them in foil to take on a picnic.

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Fried Chicken

Jason Severs skips the hours-long marinade and instead quickly dredges each piece of chicken in flour, dips them in buttermilk, then places them back in the flour. "Make sure that the chicken is very thoroughly coated or you will not achieve the crust and crunch you are looking for," he advises.

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Picnic Fried Chicken

The MVP of Jeff Mauro's fried chicken recipe is his Honey Giardiniera Butter. A mix of chopped Chicago-style giardiniera, butter, salt and honey, it's the ideal dip for dunking chicken into. Plus, it's perfect to take on a picnic since it won't spill everywhere and is best served at room temperature (you want the butter to be soft!).

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Classic Fried Chicken

Place flour, baking powder and spices in a resealable plastic bag instead of a bowl, so you can just add pieces of buttermilk-brined chicken to the bag and shake to coat.

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Fried Chicken Sandwiches

While these chicken sandwiches are crispy and delicious enough to eat as is, Ina adds a dollop of homemade buttermilk herb mayo. Tangy, creamy and studded with fresh herbs, this spread is worth making extras of. Who needs ketchup? Not you!

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Oven-Fried Chicken

"Traditionally there are two problems with fried chicken," Ina Garten says. "One is all that grease and the second thing is you have to do it all just before you serve it." Her recipe works to solve both those problems, as she quickly fries the chicken in a pan then pops them in the oven to finish cooking.

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Sweet Hot Fried Chicken and Waffles

We cannot talk about fried chicken without at least mentioning chicken and waffles! Amanda Freitag take on the brunch staple has a 5-star rating and for good reason: She folds shredded Cheddar into her waffle batter, then finishes the whole dish off with a Sweet Hot Maple Glaze.

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Fried Chicken

While she's frying the chicken in a cast iron skillet, Ree Drummond uses a sheet pan to cover the pan. Since she's using a whole fryer chicken, she transfers the fried chicken thighs and breasts to a sheet pan to finish cooking in the oven, because they take a bit longer to cook than other pieces of chicken. Double check that everything is fully cooked with a thermometer or by cutting into larger pieces (if any pink juice or meat is visible, it goes back in the oven!).

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Nashville Hot Chicken

Originating in Tennessee, this spicy hot chicken is now popular everywhere. In his version, Eric Greenspan dials up the heat by dipping each piece of chicken in a hot chile oil, then dusting each piece with a blend of cayenne, cinnamon, chili powder, paprika and brown sugar.

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Korean Fried Chicken

These wings are marinated for a short time in a mixture of soju, garlic and ginger — long enough to flavor the chicken, but not long enough to affect the texture. They're extra crispy thanks to the technique of double-frying.

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Chicken Fried Chicken with White Gravy

A true Southern comfort food, this dish is twice-breaded, fried and served with a peppery white gravy, just like chicken fried steak

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Southern Fried Chicken Parmesan

Instead of a thin cutlet, we're topping deep-fried juicy pieces of chicken with marinara, mozzarella and Parmesan.

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Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Molly Yeh starts her fried chicken with a straightforward brine made with buttermilk, salt, pepper, sugar, cayenne, garlic and thyme. "What the brine is doing is it's basically pulling out the moisture from the chicken and then when the moisture goes back into the chicken it's flavored with all the goodness in the brine and then it's just going to get so juicy," she says.

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Buttermilk Fried Chicken Drumsticks

This is a faster version of fried chicken, ready in just 45 minutes start to finish. Budget-friendly chicken drumsticks are quickly dipped in a buttermilk-egg mixture, coated in crushed cornflakes, then fried until crispy.

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Oven Fried Chicken

Ellie Krieger's healthier, oven-baked chicken recipe is all about the crispy coating: She crushes whole-grain crackers and corn cereal flakes in a food processor, then adds sesame seeds, cayenne pepper and garlic powder into the mix.

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Fried Chicken

Alton Brown marinates his chicken in buttermilk for 12 to 24 hours. He seasons the chicken then dredges the chicken in flour. "Spices like paprika burn, but stashing them under the crust will protect them."

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Honey Fried Chicken

As soon as the chicken comes out of the fryer, drizzle it with honey. This extra oomph of sweetness really helps to make the chicken finger lickin' good.

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Fried Chicken

Marcus Samuelsson seasons chicken pieces with his own spice blend made of berbere, smoked paprika, celery salt, cumin, garlic powder and ground white pepper. Some of the spice blend makes its way into the marinade, while the rest is reserved for sprinkling all over the fresh-from-the-fryer chicken right before serving.

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Oven-Fried Chicken with Green Beans

This healthy weeknight dinner takes just 35 minutes to make and most of that is hands-off time. The cornflake-covered chicken cooks and crisps up in the oven as the green beans roast.

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Fried Chicken with Dill Salt

The secret to Guy Fieri's flavor-packed fried chicken? A dash of homemade dill salt sprinkled on the chicken as soon as it gets out of the fryer.

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Crispy Un-Fried Chicken

While Valerie Bertinelli bakes her chicken, she does not skip the brining step. She says you can brine the chicken anywhere between an hour to overnight.

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Pickle Brined Fried Chicken with Hot Honey Sauce

"I love brining my chicken because it helps the chicken retain its moisture," says Kardea Brown. In this recipe, she makes her own brine by boiling water with sugar, salt, vinegar and pickling spices.

Get the Recipe: Pickle Brined Fried Chicken With Hot Honey Sauce

Classic Fried Chicken

For a sweet-and-spicy upgrade to fried chicken, take a cue from Bobby Flay and coat each piece with a mix of hot sauce and honey. He also adds a splash of hot sauce to his buttermilk brine for an extra hit of heat.

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Fried Chicken with Black Pepper Gravy

Trisha Yearwood repurposes some of the leftover flour mixture and frying oil into a decadent, creamy gravy to drizzle all over the fried chicken.

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Oven Fried Chicken

There are a couple steps you can take to ensure your oven-friend chicken comes out crispy. Baking the chicken on a rack ensures no soggy bottoms, while a combination of cornmeal and whote wheat breadcrumbs make for a crunchy coating.

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Gluten-Free Fried Chicken

Shauna James Ahern shares a gluten-free take on fried chicken that is still crispy and delicious and will make everyone happy. Her secret? She makes her own gluten-free flour mix with millet flour, sweet rice flour and potato starch.

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Ultimate Korean Fried Chicken

A splash of vodka is just one of the secrets to Judy Joo's extra-crispy fried chicken. "It prevents gluten development," she says. She also starts her fried chicken with a pre-coating of cornstarch, salt, baking powder and pepper. Then, she coats each piece with batter right before frying an hour later.

Get the Recipe: Ultimate Korean Fried Chicken

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

If you're not a fan of bone-in chicken, opt for Ina's buttermilk-brined fried chicken that's made with boneless chicken breats. The hardest part of this recipe is marinating the chicken. Because Ina uses boneless skinless chicken breasts, the chicken fries up in just around 5 minutes.

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Oven-Fried Ranch Chicken

Add a dash of paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne to the buttermilk brine to give the chicken a ranch flavor. Serve it with dressing on the side if you're craving more ranch taste.

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Chile-Lime Fried Chicken

Sunny Anderson dials up the heat with her homemade spice blend: She toasts pasilla chiles and ancho chiles in a skillet, then blends them in a food processor with salt, garlic powder and lime zest before rubbing all over the chicken. Serve with honey for dipping.

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Fried Chicken Salad Sandwich

While cold fried chicken tastes incredible on its own, Damaris Phillips has a delicious idea for reinventing leftovers: Turn it into a creamy, bright chicken salad. You can serve this on slices of bread, hamburger buns or on a bed of lettuce — but there is something just so decadent about serving it between two halves of a buttery croissant.

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Cider-Brined Fried Chicken

If you can't do dairy, here's one for you. In lieu of a buttermilk brine, Sunny Anderson marinates chicken in apple cider. The results are every bit as flavorful.

Get the Recipe: Cider-Brined Fried Chicken