Honey, let me tell you about one of my favorite recipes — Southern Pan Fried Chicken is something I’ve been making for years and it never disappoints! This is the kind of dish that fills the whole kitchen with the most wonderful aroma and has everyone asking when dinner will be ready.
Made with simple, wholesome ingredients like chicken, water, salt, this recipe comes together without any fuss. That’s the way Gran likes it — good food that doesn’t keep you in the kitchen all day.
Whether you’re making this for a weeknight dinner or bringing it to a gathering, I promise it will disappear fast. Don’t forget to scroll down and let me know how it turned out in the comments!
Please scroll down and leave a star rating in the recipe card below — it helps other home cooks find Gran’s recipes, and it means the world to me!
Southern Pan Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 pound Chicken
- 2 quart Water
- 0.5 cup Salt
- 1 quart Buttermilk
- 1.5 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1.5 teaspoon Salt
- 0.5 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 0.25 cup Cornstarch
- 2 tablespoon Potatoes
- 1 pound Lard
- 0.25 pound Butter
- 0.25 pound Bacon
Instructions
- Rinse chicken under cold running water.
- Mix water and kosher salt in large bowl, stirring until salt dissolves.
- Cover chicken with salt mixture and refrigerate overnight (minimum 4 hours).
- Remove chicken from salt water brine and immerse in buttermilk.
- Allow to marinate overnight (minimum 4 hours).
- Remove chicken from buttermilk, holding each piece to drip excess buttermilk back into bowl.
- Lay chicken on a wire cooling rack set over a sheet pan.
- Mix flour, sea salt, pepper, cornstarch, and potato flour in a large bowl.
- Dredge chicken parts in flour mixture, shaking off excess.
- Lay chicken parts on the wire cooling rack.
- Using large cast iron, or heavy skillet, melt the lard and butter together and add the bacon or pork shoulder.
- When the mixture is hot (but not smoking), add the chicken, 1 piece at a time, in a single layer, skin side down.
- The chicken should be half covered in the butter-lard mixture.
- Cook each piece 10 to 12 minutes per side, turning once, or more often if necessary, to brown evenly.
- Dark meat cooks more slowly than white meat.
- To check for doneness, cut a thigh to the bone and check for redness.
- When evenly browned, removed the cooked chicken and place on cooling rack.
- Serve hot or allow to cool to room temperature.
