Fried Chicken Breast (Printable)
Juicy marinated chicken coated in crispy seasoned breadcrumbs, fried until golden and delicious.
# What You'll Need:
→ Chicken
01 - 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 5 oz each, pounded to even ½-inch thickness
→ Marinade
02 - ½ cup buttermilk
03 - 1 large egg
04 - 1 teaspoon kosher salt
05 - ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
06 - 1 teaspoon garlic powder
07 - 1 teaspoon paprika
→ Breading
08 - 1 cup all-purpose flour
09 - ¾ cup panko breadcrumbs
10 - ½ teaspoon kosher salt
11 - ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
12 - ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
→ Frying
13 - 2 cups vegetable oil for shallow or deep frying
# Directions:
01 - If the chicken breasts are thick, place them between sheets of plastic wrap and gently pound to an even ½-inch thickness using a meat mallet.
02 - In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and paprika until well combined.
03 - Submerge the chicken breasts in the marinade, cover the bowl, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours for deeper flavor penetration.
04 - In a shallow dish, combine the flour, panko breadcrumbs, salt, smoked paprika, and cayenne pepper. Mix thoroughly. Remove the chicken from the marinade, letting excess drip off.
05 - Dredge each marinated chicken breast in the flour-breadcrumb mixture, pressing firmly on all sides to ensure an even, adherent coating.
06 - Pour vegetable oil into a large skillet or frying pan to a depth of about ½ inch. Heat over medium-high until the oil shimmers and reaches 350°F.
07 - Carefully lower the coated chicken breasts into the hot oil. Fry for 5 to 7 minutes per side until deeply golden and crispy, and the internal temperature registers 165°F.
08 - Transfer the fried chicken to a paper towel-lined plate to drain excess oil. Let rest for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.
# Expert Hints:
01 -
- The buttermilk marinade does most of the heavy lifting, keeping every bite ridiculously juicy even if you overcook it by a minute.
- You probably already have every single ingredient sitting in your pantry right now, which means dinner is thirty minutes away with zero grocery runs.
02 -
- If the oil is not hot enough when you add the chicken, the coating will soak up grease like a sponge and you will end up with something soggy and sad instead of shatteringly crisp.
- Mixing grated Parmesan into the breadcrumb blend was an accidental discovery that came from knocking a cheese shaker into my coating tray, and it has been nonnegotiable ever since.
03 -
- Let your coated chicken rest on a wire rack for five minutes before frying, because this gives the breading time to bind to the meat and stops it from falling off in the pan.
- Keeping a candy thermometer clipped to your skillet takes all the guesswork out of oil temperature and saves you from the heartbreak of inconsistently cooked chicken.