Baked AIN'T Fried: Chicken Recipes

There’s something about fried chicken that comforts the soul. A few staples out there can feel like a warm hug on your worst days: tuna casserole, french onion soup, spaghetti & meatballs, meatloaf with mashed potatoes, and of course, fried chicken. Is there really anything better than crispy fried chicken recipes from your childhood on the days you’ve been just dragged through the proverbial mud? I don’t think so…. well, maybe a fried chicken sandwich, but you get where I’m going with this – it’s gotta be sinful to be good, and baked ain’t fried when it comes to chicken.

Crispy Fried Chicken Recipes to Comfort Your Soul

One of my biggest pet peeves about fried chicken recipes: when they say they’re baked but “you’d never know it” with this recipe. I call bullshit. Baked ain’t fried, and fried is where the healing power comes from. And seriously, when we’re craving comfort food, baked chicken isn’t going to cut it. It’s never as crispy. So with that in mind, please know the following fried chicken recipes will not have any baked versions. It’s fried ALL THE WAY!

Fried Craggily Bits Chicken Recipes

I think I fell in love with CJ Eats Recipes Easy Fried Chicken recipe when I saw him provide specific instructions to make the “craggily bits” out of the leftover brine and seasoning mix. I mean, how can you not use a fun recipe that references the craggily bits?

Southern Style Extra Crispy Fried Chicken

When your kids have drawn on the walls with permanent marker, and also decided to draw on each other, your fried chicken needs to be extra crispy. You need to hear the crunch and crackle so it drowns out your self-doubt about your mothering skills. It also needs to drown out the yelling your kids are doing after you’ve managed to find something to clean up that artwork they were so proud of doing all over your living room walls. Here’s what I love the most about this extra crispy Grandbaby Cakes recipe for fried chicken? She uses Worcestershire Sauce. It’s kind of a favorite of mine – I add it to recipes that don’t ask for it. Much like garlic. LOL!

Chicken Fried in Peanut Oil

I’m not sure what other people use to fry up their birds, but I like using peanut oil – which is why I like This Silly Girls Kitchen’s Southern Fried Chicken recipe. Most recipes don’t state what kind of oil, people generally lean towards canola oil for deep frying and if you’re like me, you use olive oil for pan frying. It’s really a personal preference, but if you’re frying your chicken tonight, give peanut oil a try if no one is allergic!

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

So, Brown Eyed Baker also suggests using peanut oil to fry her Buttermilk recipe. However, this is not why I love this one. I’m a fan of her brine technique. Making the brine in the morning, then soaking it in the fridge all day so it’s ready to batter and fry up for dinner makes some juicy bird, I can tell you that much.

Whenever you’re jonesing for some fried bird, you can’t go wrong with any of these recipes. If you’re lucky enough to have a kid who cooks, comfort food tastes a whole lot better after a supremely crappy day! Not that lucky? No worries, most of these recipes are fairly simple to pull off and sometimes the process of making your own comfort food is cathartic! Trust the process and dig in.