BEST Homemade Fried Chicken with Ranch Sauce
Incredibley crispy golden brown fried chicken with super juicy flesh inside. The BEST homemade fried chicken you'll taste all made with fresh herbs and spices. A gorgeous bright and fresh brine that will tenderize your chicken for that super moist and juicy texture. All matched with an amazing ranch sauce that will get your guests dipping and crunching away. There is no better way of serving chicken than this.
Servings 5 people
Ingredients
Chicken Brine
- 2 kg chicken legs and chicken wings mix
- 1 TBSP salt
- 1 TSP pepper
- 1 spring fresh rosemary chopped
- ½ TSP fresh thyme chopped
- 1 TSP fresh ginger grated
- 1 lemon juice
- 1 lemon zest
- 2 TSP sugar
- 1 TSP chili flakes
Dredge Liquid
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 TBSP hot sauce
Fried Chicken Breading
- 2 cups flour
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- 3 TBSP cornmeal
- 2 TBSP salt
- 2 TSP pepper
- 1 TBSP paprika
- 2 TSP garlic powder salt
- 2 TSP onion powder
- 1 TSP poultry seasoning
- 1 TSP cayenne powder
Deep Fry
- 4 cups canola oil
Ranch Sauce
- 1 ½ cups sour cream
- 5 tsp white vinegar / lemon juice
- 2 TBSP fresh chives chopped
- ½ TSP fresh parsley chopped
- 1 TSP dried dill
- 1 TSP garlic powder
- 1 TSP onion powder
- 2 TSP salt
- ½ TSP pepper
Instructions
Chicken Brine
- In a large bowl, clean and rinse the chicken. Pat try. Cut the legs into two pieces separating the drumstick and thigh. Add the salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, ginger, lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, and chili flakes with the chicken. Toss and rub the chicken with the marinate. Put everything in a plastic bag and marinate overnight (12 hours).
To Prepare Fried Chicken
- Next day, take out a baking rack with a fitted baking sheet underneath. Take the bag of chicken out the fridge and give it a light toss to flick out access liquid. Put all the chicken pieces in the rack to air dry in the fridge.
- Prepare the dredge liquid by combining the egg, buttermilk and hot sauce together with a whisk in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl (preferably a smaller bowl with tall wall - like a small pot) put the breading ingredients together. Combine well the flour, bread crumbs, cornmeal, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic salt powder, onion powder, poultry seasoning, and cayenne powder together.
- Take the chicken out the fridge. Dip each chicken pieces separately in the liquid first. make sure all surface is covered with the liquid, and quickly drop the chicken piece in the breading bowl. Rub and put pressure to make sure all surface area is covered with the breading flour. if you see a gap, add some flour and rub it in. Give it a few taps for access flour, and place it back on the drying rack. Repeat until all the chicken pieces are dredge and breaded. Let them rest in the fridge for 1 hour before deep frying.
To Make Fried Chicken
- Heat your vessel to deep fry. I have a wok and I enjoy deep frying everything there. Add 4 cups of fresh canola oil. Preheat oil to 275F.
- Depending how big the deep fryer you have, add enough chicken pieces where it has room to swim around and not be over crowded. I recommend 3 pieces at the same time.
- Carefully dip half the chicken in the oil and hold on to the end for 3 seconds, and let it all go in the deep fryer. This is the reason we need the chicken as dry as possible. If there's liquid on the chicken, the oil will explode and burn your hand. Repeat until you have three pieces in the deep fryer. Fry for 12-15 minutes.
- In a drying rack, add some paper towels. When the chicken is done cooking, take them out and place them on top of the paper towel. Make sure you're not over crowding the chickens. For them to maintain crispy, it needs air circulation to completely dry and not have any moisture. Serve
Ranch Sauce
- Whisk together the sour cream, white vinegar / lemon juice, fresh chives, and fresh parsley. Add the spices. Pour into a jar and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve. This dressing will keep nicely in the refrigerator for up to a week. Enjoy!