Do you know how to properly batter chicken for frying?
Did you know the order that you dip effects your batter quality?
My mama’s recipe was simple. She used a breading mix of flour, salt, and pepper into a bread bag and shook the chicken around inside. Her chicken was perfect.
I have NEVER been able to get away with battering anything without using egg, not even Fried Green Tomatoes with House of Autrey Seafood Breading Mix. I really don’t know how she got hers so pretty, it really baffles me. If I were to ask her there would be no secret. It just worked.
There is actually an order to how you dunk your chicken into the flour ingredients. Here’s a tip to get crispy batter, battered chicken for frying:
How To Batter Chicken
First, mix the dry ingredients.
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons Old Bay Seafood Seasoning
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, Old Bay Seafood Seasoning, black pepper, and salt.
Next mix the wet ingredients.
Wet Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- ½ cup whole milk
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
In another medium bowl whisk together the egg, milk, paprika, and teaspoon cayenne pepper.
Batter the chicken:
The trick to getting the batter to stick to the chicken pieces properly is to dip the chicken into the seasoned flour, before dipping into the egg mixture. The flour helps the egg mixture adhere to the chicken.
Then dip the chicken back into the flour mixture. Allow the battered chicken to sit for about 10 minutes before dropping into the hot grease to fry.
This should be a standard when battering anything to fry. Seasoned flour first, then wet mixture, then seasoned mixture (don’t forget to shake off the excess flour between dips).
I never realized this until I saw this on some cooking show. I tried it the next time I attempted to fry chicken and it made for a better batter.
We hope this tip helps you as much as it did me.
Rodger says
Thanks for posting this-I have been looking for this information for a long time!
The Mountain Kitchen says
Great, Rodger. You’re so welcome. Enjoy!
lindapopivich0808@gmail.com says
Wet better for chicken
Tom Fitzgerald says
I omit the Old Bay. Gives a strong celery taste and is salty. Otherwise a great recipe!
The Mountain Kitchen says
Thanks, Tom!
Jim says
This is a great homemade version of the “original recipe”
If you want to make the extra crispy version, leave out the old bay and after the second breading, shake in a mesh basket that has approximately 1″ square holes so that it puts slight tears in the breading. When it fries the oil will pull it away further creating that crunch!
The Mountain Kitchen says
That’s a great tip, Jim. Thank you!
David Dery says
Thank you very much for all your help making good foods . With all the food we buy in the stores they’re all SOOOOO full of GMOs and forever chemicals. I really appreciate you for the great work 🙏 ❤️
Mike Nolan says
How much chicken is this intended to bread?
The Mountain Kitchen says
This recipe should bread 6-8 pieces of chicken, depending on the size of the bird. I’m actually working on updating this post soon. Thanks for the heads up!