Cold Fried Chicken Recipe (2024)

Perhaps you don't eat fried foods any longer but please don't speak for everyone. I still eat and love fried foods and keep a deep fryer setup on my counter. I make french fries, Thai spring rolls, dumplings, and yes fried chicken often. My cholesterol levels are fine and so too is my blood pressure. My good friend of many years who never ate fried food and worked out everyday just had a stoke and died. So?

Made this last night for group of friends. They loved it. Lessons learned from cooking fried chicken first time: 1) have the right kind of thermometer, 2) don't run out of flour (corn meal can work in a pinch), 3) double dredge of chicken works better (soak as directed, dredge in flower, soak in a new bowl of buttermilk, dredge again), 4) if you are an idiot like me and can't keep temp of oil just right to cook chicken through, finish it in the oven, 5) don't drink too much while cooking.

This is indeed an old fashioned recipe, except my mother fried chicken in lard... she lived healthy to 92. So, if you are going to fry chicken you might just as well cook the best tasting chicken and only do it a couple of times a year. I put 2 T of cornstarch with the dredging flour; it makes the skin/exterior more crispy. Yogurt substituted for buttermilk is good, so is a plain water brine.

Overall, a good recipe - but a few changes: First, it was way too salty. I would leave brine as-is but reduce the salt in the dredge to 1 Tbsp. Next, I would omit the turmeric and replace with more traditional fried chicken seasonings. The problem with turmeric is it didn't really add much flavor, but created a big mess. I said goodbye to two nice dish towels that were permanently stained. On top of that, we ate this picnic-style and all had stained fingers. Final tip: use thighs and drumsticks.

Fried chicken is a great offering for a picnic (and the ants also love ) In Italy buttermilk is extremely difficult to find, I add a bit of fresh lemon juice to regular milk, voila buttermilk. Or instead of the lemon a bit of creme of tartar

This is my first time deep frying chicken. What this recipe needs is an indication of how long to fry the chicken. Any sort of hint would be helpful. What I suggest is a mention of the internal temp to which to cook the chicken, and then a general timeframe of how long this takes. A note saying '14-18 minutes depending on oil used and size of chicken thighs ' would be a great way to help novice deep-fryers plan cooking time.

Yes, Ellen, but as Julia always said, in moderation we can have just about anything. I don't think people would be frying chicken more than once or twice a year these days, and it would be just mighty fine ... and it is so satisfyingly delicious and fun!

I found that if I cut up the chicken into pieces that are 4-5" and used peanut oil in an electric fryer set at 375 deg. the oil after the chicken was added stayed at 325-335. 7 1/2 minutes cooked it perfectly and the second try was unnecessary.f

This kind or dish is a special treat, not something to indulge in daily. Food is not just material sustainence, but emotional as well.

Six inches of oil? Seriously? Restaurant recipes should be converted for home cooks. There are plenty of reputable pan-fried chicken recipes, on the NYT Cooking site and elsewhere.

I've made this recipe three times. Usually in much greater quantities as it's a party food. It always gets consumed quickly and with smiles and lots of "mmmm mmm"s. It seems done after the first frying but the second one is what gives it the dry crunch that makes it my go-to recipe. This has conquered the most picky eaters (kids!). I make lots because I want to make sure there's a piece or two in the fridge tomorrow.

I've made this twice in order to have cold to serve at my house. It's some work but well worth the effort. I make a mix of thighs, legs, and wings.

Love this one! I put everything to soak in a zip lock bag. And another zip lock bag to dredge the chicken in flour. Thighs cooked up nice and moist.

No, the time allowed at room temp after cooking is 4 hours before it needs to be refrigerated. This may be from old government info, is my guess. I got this from two sources who quoted recent training: a chef in a national park and a restaurant manager of a very large chain institution.

I should've read the notes first. I agree, TOO much salt in the dredging flour! Fried it first then baked it in 225 oven to finish it off. Glad I tested recipe before serving it at a party.

I just added 1 Tb each of salt and turmeric to the flour dredge, along with 1 Tb of fine-ground gochugaru and 2 Tb of cornstarch. Fried in home-rendered lard, it was perfectly crunchy and seasoned, even cold. Great for a picnic, as predicted! One note: there were a few pieces of chicken I wasn't able to fit into the buttermilk bath overnight, and I just dipped them before frying the next day. There wasn't a huge difference between those and the pieces that got the long soak.

Legitimately delicious both hot and cold. Its extra special cold though. I doubled the recipe and added a few of my own tweaks - white pepper in both the marinade and the dredge and pickle brine in the marinade. I thought the turmeric was different, unexpected and super delicious. I ended up only frying once since the thighs were so big and i had so many I didn't want to be frying for 2 hrs. so I can only imagine how much better that crust will be next time I double fry it!! Brava Gabrielle!

I come back to this recipe again and again. I try others and come back to this one. Yes, the turmeric is messy. My only wish is that there was specific timing for the cooking periods.

I love cold fried chicken from time to time. I grew up eating it and I think it's because it was still crunchy after being in the refrigerator and also because we just liked to eat hot things cold sometimes on hot days (like steamed vegetables from the fridge).

I’ve made this recipe using lard, and also using crisco. Both worked really well! I used only thighs, and kept the chicken in 8 minutes for the first fry, and 5 minutes for the second. Came out perfectly!

The amount of salt in this recipe makes more sense if you are indeed serving it cold. Julia Child's cucumber soup recipe (among many others) has you deliberately oversalt the soup at the end if you will be serving it cold.

This was kind of ok in a weird and salty way. It was the first time I experimented with deep frying, and it was challenging to cook the chicken without burning the coating. Someone with skills could probably make it taste really good.

Sorry, but I can't shut up about this as I grew up eating Grandma's kosher fried chicken. I LOVE anything from Prune normally, but please take all the observations here to heart. Also, I have a proper high-sided Cusinart enameled cast-iron chicken fryer. About 2" of oil very quickly fills to near the top when you put in 3 big thighs; starting with a full pot is a recipe for a grease fire. Also, I would bet a dinner at Prune that they use a pro deep fryer and not a home pan.

Won't the fried chicken go soggy if left to cool or put in the fridge?

This recipe was just ok. I'm guessing I prefer my fried chicken to be hot. Like another reviewer mentioned - it was way too salty and the tumeric just made a mess. I didn't think it was worth the effort.

My dad used to put the flour and seasonings in a medium paper bag and shake the chicken pieces in the bag a couple or so at a time. Saves a mess I think.

I've made this recipe three times. Usually in much greater quantities as it's a party food. It always gets consumed quickly and with smiles and lots of "mmmm mmm"s. It seems done after the first frying but the second one is what gives it the dry crunch that makes it my go-to recipe. This has conquered the most picky eaters (kids!). I make lots because I want to make sure there's a piece or two in the fridge tomorrow.