Fuss-Free Southern Fried Chicken
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
With a ranch dressing and buttermilk coating that delivers tender chicken underneath a crunchy skin, this easy and fuss-free southern fried chicken recipe is finger-licking good!
Today I’m going to show you how we make my beloved fuss-free southern fried chicken recipe. Every Southerner has one of these recipes in their back pocket and mine is a staple at family get-togethers.
My version is a little bit different. It’s oven-fried, but not how most folks expect it. You see, the chicken is baked to resemble being fried — that’s where the “fuss-free” comes in. Yep, this fried chicken recipe is going to blow your mind, because today we’re frying the chicken in oil, but in your oven.
The beauty of this is that once you bread your chicken in a delicious combination of ranch dressing and buttermilk, it’s pretty much a hands-off process. So rather than watching over a frying pan, you’re free to set the table, make some side dishes, or drink a nice glass of iced tea. The end result is a perfect fuss-free southern fried chicken dish that’s tender and moist on the inside, but wrapped in the most crunchy and tasty skin imaginable. Pair it with your favorite southern sides and you have a winning southern supper!
Susie Braund, my mother’s friend who is known for her kindness, passed on this cooking method, and from the moment Mama told me about it I couldn’t wait to try it. I think you’ll enjoy it too!
P.S. If you’re looking for a great chicken finger recipe that will have teenagers and other assorted children staking out your house for supper, check out my chicken planks recipe by clicking here.
Recipe Ingredients
- Flour
- Oil
- Bone-in skin-on chicken (can be or legs)
- Buttermilk (any kind of milk will do)
- Ranch dressing (I used this to season the flour)
- Equipment: A deep cast iron skillet (a cast iron dutch oven will also work)
How to Make Fuss-Free Southern Fried Chicken
Before we get started (and this is VERY important) put about a 1/2-inch of oil in the bottom of your skillet and place that in the oven. Turn the oven to 450 degrees so that the oil is heating up as the oven heats up.
Why is hot oil important?
Hot oil is crucial for frying chicken because when your oil temperature is hot enough, it sears the breading as soon as contact is made and creates an instant coating. If your oil isn’t hot enough, your chicken pieces end up soaking up far more oil, ending with greasy (and not crunchy) chicken.
Place your flour in a shallow dish and season it.
I’m using two packages of ranch dressing mix but you can just use salt and pepper if you like. This is totally up to you — we are ranch lovers in our house!
Mix that up.
Pour some buttermilk into your other baking dish and get ready to dredge.
Place chicken in the milk first, coating the whole peice…
then the breading mixture (roll it around)…
then the milk again…
And finally, the once more.
This double-dipping method makes your final southern fried chicken so much more delicious (trust me).
You can, of course, just dip it in milk once, and seasoned flour once, if you want.
Repeat this process with the . Here are all of our breaded pieces on a gorgeous platter I found at an antique mall.
Take your hot, hot, hot skillet with the hot, hot, hot oil in it out of the oven with good protection for yourself and carefully put your chicken pieces in it.
They will begin to bubble and sizzle as soon as they get in there. Try not to let them touch, but do what you gotta do!
I ended up not being able to fit all of my chicken in this photo so I’m doing two batches.
Place this in the oven and “” for 40 minutes. This is when you and go and do whatever it is you’d rather be doing.
After 40 minutes, carefully remove the skillet from the oven, turn all of the pieces over, and place it back in the oven for 15 minutes.
by placing each on a paper towel-lined plate.
Now I know some of y’all are looking at that cooking time and thinking “Christy is crazy.” Well of course I’m crazy, but that is beside the point entirely. The chicken you see pictured was cooked at that exact amount of time at 450 degrees and was gooder than gold (that’s a Southern saying).
Enjoy this fuss-free southern fried chicken recipe, folks!
Please note: Mama wants me to let you know that I did wash the platter before I put the cooked chicken on it since I used it for the raw chicken as well. Thanks for looking out for us, Mama!
Storage
Store chicken leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. For best results, reheat either in the oven or air fryer.
Recipe Notes
- Now, all you need to make fried chicken is flour, salt, and black pepper. You do not have to use ranch dressing mix to season your flour if you don’t want to. If you’d rather just use plain flour, add about a tablespoon of salt and a 1/2 tablespoon of black pepper to two cups of flour and stir. That’s all you need. Of course, more or less salt and pepper to suit your taste.
- It is important that you know the accurate temperature of your oven for this recipe. Over time, ovens may not be accurate. A way to test this is to buy a simple oven thermometer on the kitchen gadget aisle for a few dollars. Preheat your oven with the thermometer in it and then see if the thermometer and the oven agree on temperature and adjust accordingly.
- If you only have self-rising flour, that will work fine. Just increase or decrease the amount depending on how many pieces of chicken you use.
- Any kind of milk will do. Once again, you may need to add more or less depending on how many pieces of chicken you use.
- The best oil for frying includes vegetable oil, canola oil, or peanut oil.
- Want extra heat? Mix two tablespoons of hot sauce with the buttermilk.
Recipe FAQs
What else can I use to season the flour?
The main purpose of this post is to show you this fuss-free method of frying chicken, so feel free to use your favorite breading recipe or try mine. I happened to use the ranch dressing mix this time but I actually do it a different way each time, depending on my mood. I am a big fan of garlic powder, paprika (or ), and parsley in my flour along with salt and pepper. Other simple seasoning options include and .
Should I brine my chicken beforehand?
A lot of recipes will tell you to brine your chicken before you fry it. I don’t for several reasons.
- I don’t want to.
- Typically, I don’t usually plan my meals far enough in advance.
- I don’t have time. When I’m ready to cook supper, I’m ready right then and I generally don’t lolly-gag around in the kitchen hours beforehand lookin’ for something to do.
- I can’t stand the thought of wasting buttermilk (what a lot of folks brine it in).
- Granny didn’t do it.
- See #1.
Having said this, if you prefer to brine your chicken, I think that is awesome and I salute you. Do it your way. Soak the chicken pieces in a buttermilk marinade in the fridge for at least six hours (or overnight) to make the flour stick better.
What do you serve with this southern fried chicken recipe?
You can serve your fried chicken with a variety of different sides. Options include mashed potato, creamed corn, mac and cheese, coleslaw, cornbread, parmesan oven fries, buttermilk biscuits, green beans, or potato salad.
You may also like these chicken recipes:
Ingredients
- 3-4 pounds bone-in skin-on chicken pieces such as breasts, legs, or leg quarters
- oil for frying
- 2 cups all-purpose flour*
- 1-2 packages ranch dressing mix*
- 1-2 cups buttermilk*
Instructions
- Pour the oil to a depth of 1/4 - 1/2 an inch into a deep cast-iron skillet or dutch oven. Place in the oven and preheat to 450. It is very important that your skillet be in your oven while it preheats.oil for frying
- In a shallow dish, stir together flour and seasonings (either ranch dressing mix, salt and pepper, or seasonings of your choice).2 cups all-purpose flour*, 1-2 packages ranch dressing mix*
- In another shallow baking dish, pour about 1/4-inch of milk.1-2 cups buttermilk*
- Dip each chicken piece in the milk to coat all sides, then into the flour mixture, then milk again, and flour mixture again. Place on a platter when done.3-4 pounds bone-in skin-on chicken pieces such as breasts, legs, or leg quarters
- Five minutes after the oven is preheated, remove your skillet and carefully, (using tongs) place each piece of chicken in the skillet, positioning so that they don't touch.
- Return to oven for 40 minutes. Remove from oven, use tongs to flip each piece of chicken over, and return to oven for 15 minutes more.
- Remove chicken and place on a paper towel-lined platter. Enjoy hot or cold.
Notes
Nutrition
Submitted by Rick. Click here to submit your positive or encouraging quote, or to read more!
Girl! This is awesome!!! I can’t wait to try it out. I have a smart girlfriend who cooks her FRIED OKRA in the oven using this exact method (cast iron skillet and cooking oil). I usually only fry boneless breasts/cutlets. My family will enjoy having this, they miss my grandmothers stovetop, pan-fried chicken. Love you, your recipes & tips and most of all your stories!
I hope your family enjoys it Ginger!!!
Lazy cook that I am, this sounds like a super great way to “fry” chicken. Can’t wait to try it! However, I AM lazy – and I am curious, too. Does this method makes a big spatterly mess in your oven?
It doesn’t splatter at all Gloria!!
P.S. I want to to do that with okra now!
Christy:
Oh no! This splattered all over my oven. It tastes delicious, but not sure it’s worth cleaning the oven. Thank you for all you do
i never liked the frying cause of the oil. what do you do with the oil after you use it? some people let it cool , strain it and use it again but storage space is an issue with me. that three legged chicken looks delicious.
I don’t fry often but when I do I like to use the oil twice so I usually try to fry two or three things that week. One day I might make this chicken, then a day or two later, I’ll make fried okra or fried potatoes, and if enough oil is left I’ll use it to make Chicken planks over the weekend. That way I get to reuse it but don’t have to hold onto it for long 🙂
Yum! This looks really good! I don’t have the cast iron skillet, but I do have the cast iron dutch oven! I was planning on making a roast chicken w/dressing and mashed/gravy this week as well as chicken and dumplings. But I know hubby likes fried chicken, I just hate the mess! I’m pretty sure he will eat chicken 3 times in 7 days though with the varieties! Going to the grocery store tomorrow!
I hope he enjoys it, and I can’t wait to hear what you think of the recipe Sheryle!
I never buy chicken with the skin or bones, nor do I fry chicken not because I don’t want it but because I can’t fry chicken it just doesn’t turn out right it taste like my moms or my sister’s no matter what I do it isn’t very good to me. So I quit trying a few years ago. But I think that I have to try this way. A friend of mine tells me that it is just me and that I miss moms cooking and I do miss it. But nobody fried chicken like my mom she always made it for me in my birthday when I was home and when I moved away she always made it when I came home.
I hope it turns out fabulous for you Melanie, I am not sure anything ever turns out as god as a Mama can make it, but I am hoping this comes close.
Thanks, Christy for another wonderful recipe! I have a ‘nice’ collection of cast iron pieces now and always am keeping my eye open at our local goodwill store. My sister was just talking to me yesterday and she was ‘chewing on her husband’s ear’ again for messing up her cast iron skillet. A few years ago he put it into the dishwasher and she still ‘chews’ on him for that, lol. But a few days ago he messed it up while cooking and she was fussing and fussing over cleaning it and was using a brillo pad on her while we were talking. I screamed and she almost dropped the phone in the dishwater. I told her to throw that dang billo pad away! Lord O’ Mighty! I told her to heat up her burner, put a spoon of shortning in that pan and throw some plain old salt in it, to work that around with her spatula and it will work all those old bits and pieces of burnt food out. To let it cool a bit, scrap it all out and just rinse in hot water and put back on the burner or in the oven to dry. I also gave her another alternative if there was still some bits left in it. Then I told her to HIDE it from her hubby! lol
Oh my goodness, that poor pan! She better be thankful to have such a wonderful sister to keep her straight!
Hello Christy,, update on my sister’s pan: it was saved! lol She did the shortning & salt trick and it worked for her and the pan is ‘hidden’ in the oven (she says he NEVER opens or uses the oven). I was laughing and said, “ummmmm, for now, that is”. She just does not appreciate my sense of humor sometimes, lol.
What was the alternative method?
Hi Cyndi, the ‘alternative method’ would be to add some water to the skillet and heat it up to soften everything, and if that didn’t work to add a cup of coke to it. That is just for some really extreme burnt and stuck on good! But the oil and salt has ALWAYS worked for me, then just wipe that out, rinse and heat to just dry up the water or place in a warm oven upside down to dry.
LOVE this! Just one question. Does the oil splatter in the oven much while it is cooking?
It doesn’t splatter at all Paulette, it just gently bubbles.