Crispy Fried Chicken Tenders (Southern-Style!)
This homemade Southern-fried chicken recipe will soothe your soul with its crispy coating and juicy, succulent meat. It's easy to make for home cooks, using everyday ingredients and a few simple steps, and perfect for game day or a tasty lunch.
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 424kcal
Ingredients
For The Brine
- 2 Chicken breasts boneless, skinless
- 1 cup Buttermilk
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Pepper
- 2 tablespoons Hot sauce such as Crystal
For Frying The Chicken:
- 1¼ cups Flour
- ½ cup Cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon Smoked paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon Cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black pepper
- 1 cup Buttermilk
- canola or peanut oil for frying
Instructions
Preparations
- To make the brine for the crispy chicken, place a layer of plastic wrap on a cutting board and a chicken breast on top. Fold the plastic wrap over the chicken to cover it and bash it with a meat mallet or rolling pin to make it thin to about ½ inch thickness.
- Repeat this step with the other chicken breasts.
- Mix the buttermilk, hot sauce, and seasoning in a bowl, then pour the mixture into a zip-lock bag and place the chicken inside. Massage the brine into the chicken and place it bag in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight.
- After the chicken has marinated in the fridge, remove it 1 hour before you plan to fry it.
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit (130 degrees Celsius).
Cooking instructions
- To fry the chicken, start by heating a heavy-bottomed skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat with around 1 inch of oil.
- Place 2 shallow bowls or plates on the work surface and make the seasoned flour for the chicken by mixing the flour, cornmeal, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper in one of the bowls. Add the buttermilk to the other bowl.
- Remove the chicken from the brine, pat the flattened breasts dry with paper towels, and cut the chicken into 1-inch strips.
- Check the hot oil with a thermometer so that the oil is between 350-375 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the perfect temperature for frying foods.
- Now, dredge the strips into the seasoned flour, then into the buttermilk, and back into the flour. Shake off any excess buttermilk and place them into the hot oil 4 to 5 pieces at a time.
- Fry the fried chicken for 6 to 8 minutes until golden brown, then remove them with tongs to a paper towel-lined baking sheet to remove excess grease and place the baking sheet in the preheated oven to keep the heavenly-good fried chicken warm.
- Continue to fry the remaining chicken.
Recipe Notes
Use a thermometer.
To make sure your oil is at the perfect temperature to fry chicken, use a meat thermometer.
Remove the chicken from the fridge.
You need to allow the chicken to come to room temperature before dredging and frying it so that the oil temperature doesn't decrease when placing the chicken in the hot oil and also absorbing it. The room-temperature chicken will instantly become crispy and cook faster.
Keep it warm.
We recommend keeping the cooked chicken warm in the oven until you are ready to serve it with the waffles. This will ensure the chicken stays crispy!