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Chicken Fried Chicken

This Southern style Chicken Fried Chicken recipe is drizzled with a homemade peppered milk pan gravy. Pair it with creamy mashed potatoes, a skillet of Southern succotash and a basket filled with fresh from the oven buttermilk biscuits and it’s a feast. Don’t forget the sweet tea to wash it all down and for dessert? Why pound cake, of course.

Chicken Fried Chicken with Peppered Milk Gravy


Easy Chicken Fried Chicken Recipe

What is chicken fried chicken? Classic Southern fried chicken is made with bone-in chicken pieces from a whole bird. This chicken is made with boneless skinless chicken pieces usually chicken breasts, but occasionally thighs as well. It’s widely believed by food historians that this dish actually evolved from chicken fried steak. The story goes that German immigrants who settled in Texas, brought with them a classic Austrian dish called Wiener schnitzel made with thinly pounded pieces of veal. Settling in Texas where beef was abundant they used the same technique adapted to beef. Fast forward to this century when chicken is in abundance and country cooks began making it using boneless skinless chicken pieces, pounded and coated with breading just like chicken fried steak. Thus chicken fried chicken was born. How to make Southern Chicken Fried Chicken with Gravy: (Scroll down for full printable recipe.)

  • Prepare Chicken Breasts – Using a meat mallet, pound the chicken breasts to about 1/2-inches for uniform thickness. Season on both sides with seasoned salt and black pepper.
  • Dry Ingredients – Sift together the flour, cracker crumbs, seasoned salt, tsp onion powder, tsp garlic powder and smoked paprika. Set aside.
  • Wet Ingredients – Whisk together the buttermilk and eggs.
  • Dredge Chicken – Dip the chicken pieces into the seasoned flour, then into the egg wash, then back into the seasoned flour. Shake off any excess.
  • Refrigerate – Place onto a baking pan in a single layer. Refrigerate uncovered for 15 minutes or up to 1 hour to allow the breading to set.
  • Prepare Pan – Preheat the oven to 350°F and fit a baking rack into a rimmed baking pan.
  • Heat Oil – Heat 1/4 cup peanut or vegetable oil in a large 12-inch cast iron skillet or similar.
  • Cook – Brown the chicken about 2 minutes per side. Repeat frying in batches with all 6 pieces.
  • Place browned chicken onto the rack and into the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the juices run clear.
  • Make Gravy – Add the flour to the drippings stirring constantly over medium high heat scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. .Add the salt and black pepper.
  • Whisk in Milk – Gradually add the evaporated and regular milk whisking constantly. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
  • Simmer – Lower the heat and allow the gravy to gently simmer for 3-5 minutes. Taste and adjust the salt to your taste. Thin further with additional milk, if needed.
  • Serve – Serve the milk gravy drizzled over the chicken fried chicken.
Chicken Fried Chicken with Peppered Milk Gravy ingredients

How to Make the Best Chicken Fried Chicken Recipe

Regardless of origin, this fried chicken recipe is country cooking at it’s finest and not difficult to prepare.

  • Ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe for Chicken Fried Chicken and Gravy: Boneless skinless chicken breasts, all purpose flour, crushed saltine crackers, seasoned salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, buttermilk, eggs and peanut oil or vegetable oil for frying.
  • Ingredients needed to make the peppered milk pan gravy you’ll need: All purpose flour, pan drippings from frying the chicken, salt, evaporated milk and whole milk. To make the gravy, it’s super simple.
  • Kitchen tools you’ll need: 12 inch skillet, sheet pan, whisk, tongs, measuring cups and spoons and meat mallet.
  • Can I use bone-in chicken pieces? This recipe uses boneless chicken breasts. The advantage of using boneless chicken breasts, is that it cooks more quickly without the bone.
  • When preparing the chicken breasts for dredging, you’ll need to pound them using the smooth size of a meat tenderizer for uniform thickness and even cooking.
  • What’s in the breading? The breading for this recipe includes all purpose flour, crushed Saltine crackers, seasoned salt, smoked paprika, granulated garlic and onion powder. The crushed cracker crumbs add a light crunch to the breading.
  • What is peppered milk gravy? It’s basically an easy pan gravy using milk that’s been generously seasoned with black pepper. When making it, you will want to scrape up all of that goodness left behind on the bottom of the skillet from frying the chicken breasts. This will give a boost to the flavor overall. You can adjust the amount of black pepper to suit your taste.
  • What oil is best for frying chicken? This always depends on the preference of the cook, but this recipe will work well with vegetable or peanut oil.
fried-chicken-and-gravy-recipe

Southern Side Dishes to Make

You can really go wrong but there are some favorite Southern side dishes that pair particularly well with fried chicken. A few from the recipe index that you may like to try:

best-recipe-for-fried-chicken

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Chicken Fried Chicken

Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Southern
Keyword: chicken-fried-chicken-with-peppered-milk-gravy, fried-chicken-recipes, southern-chicken-gravy-recipe
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 419kcal
Author: Melissa Sperka

Ingredients

  • 6 8 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • cup all purpose flour
  • ½ cup crushed saltine crackers crumbs or panko breadcrumbs
  • tsp seasoned salt
  • tsp onion powder
  • tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 large eggs
  • Peanut or vegetable oil for frying
  • Gravy:
  • cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 Tbsp pan drippings
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper divided (Adjust to your taste)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 14 oz can evaporated milk
  • 1 cup whole milk plus additional as needed to thin

Instructions

  • Using a meat mallet, pound the chicken breasts to about 1/2-inches for uniform thickness. Season on both sides with seasoned salt and black pepper.
  • Set Up Dredging Station:
    1st – Sift together the flour, cracker crumbs, 1½ tsp seasoned salt, 1½ tsp onion powder, 1½ tsp garlic powder and smoked paprika. Set aside.
    2nd – Whisk together the buttermilk and eggs.
  • Dip the chicken pieces into the seasoned flour, then into the egg wash, then back into the seasoned flour. Shake off any excess.
  • Place onto a baking pan in a single layer. Refrigerate uncovered for 15 minutes or up to 1 hour to allow the breading to set.
  • To prepare: Preheat the oven to 350°F and fit a baking rack into a rimmed baking pan.
  • Heat 1/4 cup peanut or vegetable oil in a large 12-inch cast iron skillet or similar.
  • Brown the chicken about 2 minutes per side. Repeat frying in batches with all 6 pieces.
  • Place browned chicken onto the rack and into the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the juices run clear.
  • Make Gravy: Discard all but 4 Tbsp of the drippings.
  • Add the flour to the drippings stirring constantly over medium high heat scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. .Add the salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper.
  • Gradually add the evaporated and regular milk whisking constantly. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
  • Lower the heat and allow the gravy to gently simmer for 3-5 minutes. Taste and adjust the salt to your taste. Thin further with additional milk, if needed.
  • Serve the milk gravy drizzled over the chicken fried chicken and garnish with remaining black pepper.(Adjust the amount to your taste)

Nutrition

Serving: 1piece | Calories: 419kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 64mg | Sodium: 859mg | Potassium: 214mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 375IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 110mg | Iron: 3.2mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @melissassk or tag #melissassk!

13 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I really like your recipe. It is very similiar to the one I use. I like to use chicken tenders instead of breasts. I put each one in a zip lock bag and use a meat mallet to pound them out to 1/4 inch thickness. When I make the gravy I add chicken granules to the skillet drippings plus 1 or 2 Tbl.of butter with the flour. I also use a combination of chicken btoth and milk to make the gravy.

  2. 5 stars
    I tried the fried chicken recipe! A little piece of heaven. Thank you for sharing. This recipe was a hit w my hubby and I will be making again… didn’t try the gravy… maybe next time . The seasoning was so good love love love

  3. 4 stars
    So I made this tonight for my family. I didn’t read it through before making it. Wish I had given myself some more time to keep it cool in the fridge. I only let it rest for 15 minutes. I wonder what difference that would had made.
    My family enjoyed it too.
    I did add spicy salt and soy sauce to the gravy because it didn’t have much flavor. Definitely make sure you have extra milk on hand, it makes it pretty thick. I only had 2% milk.
    The “buttermilk” that I made I made with sour cream, milk and lemon juice.
    This is a keeper. Will make this again in the future.

  4. 5 stars
    I saw your recipe for chicken fried steak, it looks like it might be one that is the same as the one from my favorite diner in Kenbridge, VA.. I retired from the Navy and moved home to CA, so it’s a hard go to Mildred’s Meal’s for it. As I wandered around your website I Kept seeing recipes I loved when I lived up and down the east coast from Va. Beach, Va. to Charlestown SC., then I discovered your Book, ordered two from Amazon my son and step-son, they both like to cook and love Southern food. My son lives nearby, with his wife and daughter, my stepson lives with me.

    1. Hi Jim, thanks so much for introducing yourself. I’m delighted you’re finding some recipes to enjoy and thank you for picking up my book. Consider yourself invited to stop by and visit often. I hope you continue to find dishes to share with friends and family.

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