Classic fried chicken fritter from the South. Serve with mashed potatoes and top with chicken or country gravy, or spice it up however you like. This is something I’ve been making for years and never grow bored of.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 5 mins |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs |
| Total Time: | 8 hrs 35 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- 1 quart buttermilk
- 3 shallots, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 ¼ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground black pepper
- 2 cups vegetable oil for frying, or as needed
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 8 large eggs, beaten
Instructions
- Place chicken breasts between two sheets of heavy plastic and pound chicken with the smooth side of a meat mallet to a thickness of 3/4 inch.
- Whisk buttermilk, shallots, garlic, 2 tablespoons salt, sugar, cumin, and pepper in a bowl; transfer mixture to a resealable plastic bag. Add chicken breasts, coat with the marinade, squeeze out excess air, and seal the bag. Marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
- Fill a large skillet with about 2 inches of vegetable oil and heat over medium heat.
- Remove chicken from the marinade and shake off excess. Pat chicken dry with a paper towel. Discard the remaining marinade.
- Sift flour, baking powder, and 2 teaspoons salt together in a shallow bowl. Press chicken breasts one at a time into flour mixture until lightly coated. Dip coated chicken into beaten eggs, then press into flour mixture again to coat; shake off excess flour.
- Fry chicken breasts in batches in preheated oil until chicken is golden brown and no longer pink in the center, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Drain on a paper towel-lined platter and repeat with remaining chicken.
- When the breading gets lumpy, use a sifter to sift out the chunks. You can make more flour mixture and use more eggs if you need more for thicker coats.
- The nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of the marinade and breading ingredients. The actual amount of the marinade and breading consumed will vary. We have determined the nutritional value of oil for frying based on a retention value of 10% after cooking. The exact amount will vary depending on cooking time and temperature, ingredient density, and the specific type of oil used.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 635 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 69 g |
| Cholesterol | 258 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 37 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Sodium | 3112 mg |
| Sugars | 10 g |
| Fat | 23 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Made it just as the recipe instructed. I did have a lot of the flour mixture left over! My family loved it! It’s now a weekly dish in my home!
This was really good. Added some dried sage too.
I used 2 half breasts and one full cut in half. I pounded them flat and then soaked for about 8 hours in the buttermilk mixture, except I used soured milk. Then I followed the breading directions using 2 eggs and 1 cup flour with the seasonings. I added red pepper flakes because I like it with a touch of heat. Letting them rest on a cooling rack while the fat heated helps the coating stick. (I added some butter to the fat for flavor.) Frying for 2-3 minutes per side was perfect. I kept them on the rack while I cooked the rest. I served these with milk gravy made with 1.5 cups of milk. The amount came out perfectly, Three adults and two small children ate every bite. The kids asked for seconds. I think this is just the way Mom and Grandma made this old fashioned dish. It was yummy.
Followed the recipe as is and this was so good! I only had 4 hours to let the chicken marinate too, I imagine this taste even better after marinating over night.
This recipe was really good and definitely a keeper! Next time, I will probably add some seasoning into the flour mixture as well for some extra favor. The buttermilk marinade made the chicken turn out really moist and flavorful. Someone mentioned having a hard time with getting the breading to stick. If you let the chicken sit the first 2 minutes on each side while frying without touching it, the breading will stay on just fine.
We enjoyed this chicken, I did make additional gravy.
It may seem like too much flour or egg, but you need it to cover all the pieces thoroughly. I use shortening instead of oil as I hate the greasy smell left by vegetable or corn oil.
This was just lovely. My first time making country fried chicken so a lot of it was new to me. I was not prepared for how big smashed chicken would get.
I made these with chicken strips….. Delicious! and Moist! Served potatoes on the side.
Family loved this chicken! I used chicken tenders, and they came out really great. Some people may have issue with the batter staying on, but I’ve found that if you let the chicken rest for a few minutes with the batter on, it will stick much better. I didn’t use a whole quart of buttermilk, I just eyeballed how much I would need to cover the tenders in a freezer bag, and then just put all the ingredients right into the bag, no need to dirty a bowl! After letting the chicken marinade (I so far have only done it for a few hours), I just ran my fingers down the tender to get most of the buttermilk off, and then it was straight into the flour, which I seasoned with garlic salt, onion salt, pepper, and some chili powder. Then dipped into the egg, and into the seasoned flour where i really pressed the bread crumbs into the chicken. I flipped the chicken, really pressed it again, and then set it aside to rest for a few. Everyone loved them! I served them with the Country Sausage Gravy recipe and people went nuts!
My whole family loved them and kids asked why I had never made them before! I made sweet potato biscuits as well and drizzled honey over the chicken and biscuits. I prepared flour mixture as written, but ended up using half of the flour mixture called for. I dredged in egg mixture once, and it was plenty of batter. I only used 5 eggs and still had egg mixture left. Definitely will make this again, but will prepare less flour and egg. I would make more often, except that frying is just so messy!
Sooo much flavor!!! We couldn’t get enough. Going to use chicken tenders next time so I don’t have to beat the chicken and can make more pieces at once.
I cut this recipe in half and there was more than enough marinade and egg mixture for more chicken. The flavor was very nice although I did have some trouble with the batter / coating coming off while frying. I used some chicken strips I had on hand and did not pound them flat. Served with mashed potatoes, chicken gravy and steamed carrots.