How to fry chicken: My Family’s Fried Chicken
Category: Soul Food
Servings: 4–6
Prep Time: 20 min (plus optional 30–120 min soak)
Cook Time: 25–30 min
Total Time: ~50 min
Cook it until it smells like Sunday. A family fried chicken that keeps white meat juicy, with a crispy crust and a soulful tang from a hot-sauce soak.
Soul food is a living recipe — absorbing a rhythm so deeply you could cook it with your eyes closed.
The “instructions” might not look like a recipe at all. They might just say: Cook it until it smells like Sunday.
It’s muscle memory cooking. You don’t think “1 teaspoon of salt,” you think “a little shake until it looks right.” That comes from years of watching, tasting, and adjusting — not measuring.
It’s Flavor DNA. Families who cook this way develop a flavor fingerprint. Even if each person tweaks it slightly, the soul of the dish stays the same. You could eat it blindfolded and know it’s yours.
It’s the opposite of those viral recipe videos that rely on exact steps. You never needed a cooking class from your mom or grandpa. Just standing in the kitchen, smelling the onions, seeing how the spoon moves, hearing them say “not yet” — all of that was the class.
Whether you mean to or not, you’re keeping your family’s food culture alive. And because it’s not written down, it stays flexible — adapting to what’s available, yet always tasting like home.
How We Fry Chicken in My Family
We’re a white-meat family — and we never fry a dry breast. Ever. Here’s how we do it. No exact recipe, no fussy measuring. Just the rhythm we’ve always used.
My Family’s Fried Chicken
Category: Soul Food
Servings: 4–6
Prep Time: 20 min (plus optional 30–120 min soak)
Cook Time: 25–30 min
Total Time: ~50 min
Ingredients
Chicken & Seasoning
2 ½–3 lb chicken pieces (white meat—breasts, tenders, wings)
Kosher salt & black pepper, to taste
Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, to taste
½ cup hot sauce (optional soak for spicy/tangy)
Optional: garlic powder, extra dash of hot sauce
Coating
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
~¾ Tbsp cornstarch (3–4 shakes)
½ tsp baking powder or baking soda
Kosher salt & black pepper, to taste
Frying
Vegetable oil or Crisco shortening (enough for 1 ½–2 in/4–5 cm depth)
Instructions
Prep chicken
Pat chicken dry so seasoning sticks.(Optional) Hot-sauce soak
Toss chicken with ½ cup hot sauce; rest 30–120 min in the fridge. Drain excess before seasoning.Season
Season all sides with salt, pepper, Lawry’s. Add garlic powder or a splash of hot sauce if you like it bold.Make the coating
In a paper/plastic bag or bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder/soda, salt, and pepper.Heat the oil
In a heavy cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven, heat oil to 350°F / 175°C over medium-high heat.No-thermometer tests (pick one):
Wooden spoon test: dip handle—steady, lively bubbles = ~350°F; violent = too hot; sluggish = not ready.
Popcorn kernel trick: add one kernel; it pops around 350–360°F.
Flour pinch: a pinch sizzles immediately (not burning) = ready.
Bread cube: 1" cube turns golden in ~60 seconds ≈ 350°F.
Coat & fry (in batches)
Dredge 3–4 pieces in the flour mix; shake off excess. Lower carefully into oil. Fry, turning occasionally, until deep golden and floating, about 6–9 min for wings/tenders, 10–14 min for breasts depending on size.
If using a meat thermometer, internal temp should read 165°F / 74°C at the thickest part.Let it breathe
Transfer to a wire rack (not paper towels) to stay shatter-crisp. Season with a light pinch of salt while hot.
Chef’s Notes
Cornstarch + baking powder = extra-crisp shell.
The hot-sauce soak adds tang + tenderness—great for white meat.
Your nose is the clock: when the kitchen smells like Sunday, it’s done.
Serving
Mac & cheese, collards, biscuits—or straight off the rack with pickles.
If you make this, tag me @kareem_youngblood
