Crispy Skillet Chicken (2024)

FAQs

What is the trick to getting crispy chicken? ›

Start the chicken in a COLD pan and cook over medium heat. Starting it in a cold pan will allow the fat to slowly render out and the skin will be super crispy and golden. If you started in a warm / hot pan, the fat won't completely render out of the skin. Only flip once the skin is dark golden brown.

Poke the Meat

This method applies to chicken specifically. For properly cooked chicken, if you cut into it and the juices run clear, then the chicken is fully cooked. If the juices are red or have a pinkish color, your chicken may need to be cooked a bit longer.

Crispy fried chicken (simplified Chinese: 炸子鸡; traditional Chinese: 炸子雞) is a standard dish in the Cantonese cuisine of southern China and Hong Kong. The chicken is fried in such a way that the skin is extremely crunchy, but the white meat is relatively soft.

“People put butter on the chicken skin with the idea that it's going to help it become crispy — it doesn't,” he laments. “It helps the skin to go brown because the solids in the butter brown, but it doesn't make it crispier.” Instead, he recommends using vegetable oil after thoroughly drying your bird.

Ingredient Tips

My not-so-secret tip to the best fried chicken is a combination of FLOUR, CORNSTARCH, and BAKING POWDER. When mixed with the flour, the cornstarch makes the flour coating crispier and gives it that golden brown color! (It has to do with prevention of gluten development.)

The breading on your chicken is probably absorbing oil. There are three possible problems: either the oil isn't hot enough when you start frying, you're putting too much chicken into the pot at one time, or you aren't allowing the oil's temperature to recover between batches.

That's where a coating of baking powder and salt comes in. The baking powder and salt help break down the proteins in the skin, draw moisture to the surface, and also aid in browning.

To reap those benefits, simply combine one part baking powder with three to four parts kosher salt (about a teaspoon of baking powder per tablespoon of kosher salt will work), add some black pepper to taste, then sprinkle it evenly over the surface of the skin.

This usually equates to around 10 minutes for wings and 12 minutes for breasts, thighs and legs. For the best tasting fried chicken with a beautifully even golden crumb, turn your chicken pieces with tongs (being careful not to splash yourself with hot oil) every 1 – 2 minutes.

What is the best oil to fry chicken in a pan? ›

Canola Oil

Benefits: With a high smoke point and neutral flavor, canola oil is excellent for frying chicken. As an added bonus, it has high levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which makes it healthier than other options.

In most fried chicken recipes, chicken should be fried for about seven to eight minutes per side. However, keep in mind that pieces can vary in size and thickness. The chicken is fully cooked when the thickest part of the meat registers at 165°. For visual indicators, look for crispy, golden-brown skin.

Kenji López-Alt similarly uses “crispy” for thin, shattery things, like “eggshell-thin” Korean fried chicken batter, potato chips, and the papery crust around a fresh bagel or Neapolitan pizza. “'Crunchy' is for things that have thickness and are more firm all the way through,” he says.

Those two adjectives “crispy” and “crunchy” in terms of chicken, are interchangeable. Example: One recipe or restaurant may choose one over another for their regional marketing reasons. It means the chicken should have a crispy/crunchy skin (or coating if no skin).

Crispy and Crunchy are Not Interchangeable: "Crispy" often refers to a lighter, more delicate texture that shatters easily upon biting, commonly found in foods like fried chicken or thin cookies. In contrast, "crunchy" signifies a harder, more substantial texture, as seen in foods like raw carrots and hard-baked bread.

The chicken is then air-dried for 10 to 12 hours before being flash-fried, then oil-poached. The skin gets its signature crispiness from 10 to 12 minutes of basting with scalding hot oil right before serving.

It may sounds unappealing, but coating chicken wings in seasoned baking powder is what makes the skin super crispy. You won't taste it in the end results, so long as you use aluminium-free. To be clear, make sure you use baking powder, NOT baking soda, because there is a big difference!

The breading on your chicken is probably absorbing oil. There are three possible problems: either the oil isn't hot enough when you start frying, you're putting too much chicken into the pot at one time, or you aren't allowing the oil's temperature to recover between batches.

The baking powder raises the pH of the surface, allowing it to crisp better*), and tossing in plain cornstarch to absorb some surface moisture and create a rougher texture for the batter to adhere to. *See more on the science of baking powder and chicken wings in this article on oven-fried buffalo wings.