My mom was a Southern lady, and she passed on a lot of wonderful things to me. One of them was the love of Southern food. It’s glorious, and but my favorite thing ever will always be Mom’s fried chicken. Man, I miss her fried chicken! But today I’m going to try something along those lines with this Chicken Fried Chicken recipe. And yes, it’s complete with gravy, as any chicken fried meat should be. Let’s find out how this recipe fares.
Easy and delicious this Chicken Fried Chicken is a quick and flavorful dinnertime recipe that brings the whole family to the table, with minimal ingredients it’s a simple and comforting meal.
The Ingredients
I’ve made chicken fried steak before, but never chicken fried chicken. The process looks to be the same, though. They don’t make cubed chicken, so this recipe uses thinly sliced chicken breasts.
I immediately thought that meant chicken cutlets, but these seemed a bit thinner. Some were as thick as a cutlet, but some were even thinner than that. Like translucent thin, as if a cutlet had been filleted.
I had most everything else in my pantry and freezer, but I did have to buy a couple of things. I topped off my vegetable oil and picked up some milk. That was it. A short shopping list—my favorite kind.
The Process
Making chicken fried chicken was similar to chicken fried steak. It doesn’t take too long, and it’s fairly easy to do. Here’s how my time was spent:
- 10 minutes to prep
- 15 minutes to fry the chicken
- 6 minutes to make the gravy
- 31 minutes total
That’s right in line with the recipe, which lists 10 minutes to prep, 20 minutes to cook, 30 minutes total.
Making the Chicken
I started by heating my oil in a large cast-iron pan. The exact amount isn’t listed in the recipe, so I guesstimated. It wasn’t deep enough to cover the chicken, but they were able to float. I popped the meat thermometer in and set it to beep at 325℉ per the recipe. BTW, I use an electric stove and set it on 4/10. It was the perfect temperature.
After that, it was time to prep. Next up was the prep work. I began with the breading, and it was very simple to do. Just mix up the dry ingredients for the breading in one bowl, and the liquid with egg for a wash/dip in another. Then dip each piece of chicken in the flour mixture, then the wash, then back into the flour. Done!
The oil took a few more minutes to come to temperature, then it was time to get cooking. I was able to fry 3 pieces of chicken at a time. I fried the thin ones for 3 minutes per side and the thicker pieces closer to 5 minutes per side. It’s can be hard to tell when fried foods are done, so I let the color of the breading guide me.
Tip: A pair of tongs will come in really handy for this recipe. I used while breading to keep my fingers clean and to turn the chicken in the oil.
Making the Gravy
Once the chicken was fried and set aside on paper towels to absorb the extra grease, I got started on the gravy. The cast-iron pan full of oil was hot, hot, hot! So I carefully pushed it to the back of the stove and used a saucepan for the gravy.
First up was carefully spooning the hot oil into a metal measuring cup and adding it to the saucepan. I can’t overstate that this needs to be done very, very carefully! From there, the process is mostly whisking in the flour and milk. After that, season to your liking, and you’re ready to serve!
