It’s so easy to make these fried chicken thighs!
Fried chicken seems like something you’d only want to buy from a restaurant. If you’ve never fried chicken, it may seem daunting. It’s actually quite easy. Read on and fear not.
What makes these chicken thighs crispy?
A combo of “Tipo 00” flour (Italian flour often used for pasta and pizza) and corn starch make this chicken crispy. Also, we double coat the chicken. It gets one dip in the flour dredge, a soak in the beaten eggs and then one more dip in the flour dredge. That’s what makes these super crispy!
Why use chicken thighs for fried chicken?
I’m a big fan of using chicken thighs for soups, roasting, grilling, and now, frying! I feel like thighs are the perfect part of the chicken–a combination of the best from the leg and breast meat–the juiciness of chicken legs with the easy to eat tenderness of the chicken breast. Thigh meat is forgiving and it doesn’t dry up as easily as chicken breasts. Also, I went boneless and skinless to reduce the fat content a bit and still have incredibly delicious chicken. Imagine a large upscale chicken finger. Seriously… I’m salivating over here just thinking about this.
How do I know when the chicken is cooked?
You can use a meat thermometer to make sure the chicken reaches 165 °F. In our case, cooking it for the full 13 minutes at 350 °F, and paying attention to make sure our chicken had a beautiful golden colour, did the trick. I didn’t have to measure the temperature in this case.
Don’t be tempted to take the chicken out too soon! Keep in mind that when you drop in the chicken, the temperature of the oil drops, and it takes a little bit of time before the temperature is back up to 350 °F. You’re safest to use a meat thermometer to ensure you achieve the right internal temperature for perfectly cooked chicken.
What temperature should the oil be for frying chicken?
As I mentioned before, you want to cook the chicken at 350 °F, give or take. If you go colder, you’ll be left with soggy, greasy chicken. Go hotter and you run the risk of overcooking the outside of the chicken before the inside is fully cooked.
Can I cook many pieces at the same time?
It’s not recommended unless you have a very large fryer. You never want to overcrowd your fryer or fryer basket. It leads to uneven cooking.
We don’t deep fry a lot at our house, but when we do…
I try to keep our meals fairly healthy, with only the occasional cheats, like fried foods. Deep frying isn’t something I do often, but sometimes you just need to dig into some fried finger food awesomeness. You know what I mean?! And Liz and I are okay with this. We feel that most things are fine in moderation. That goes for this deep fried dish–no guilt.
This fried chicken recipe was outstanding! Our family devoured it. We are so happy with this recipe, and even happier to share it with you. Give it a try. Indulge without guilt, and make today yummy!
Easy fried chicken thighs – Crispy, juicy and delicious
Ingredients
- 3.5 lbs or 1.6 kg boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tsp kosher salt to season chicken
- 1 tsp ground black pepper to season chicken
- 4 large eggs beaten
- Enough vegetable oil for frying in your deep fryer. Follow manufacturer instructions.
Flour dredge
- 3 cups “Tipo 00” flour Italian flour often used for pasta and pizza
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 4 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 1/4 cups garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion power
- 1 tbsp paprika
Instructions
- Preheat the deep fryer oil to 350 °F.
- Turn on the oven and set to "warmer" temperature. Between 170 °F and 200 °F.
- Place a cooling rack on a large baking sheet and set aside.
- Pat down the chicken thighs with paper towel to remove extra moisture
- Place the chicken thighs in a bowl and season them with 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of black pepper. Mix well.
- Place the bowl with the chicken thighs in the fridge until you're ready to start frying.
- Beat the eggs in a bowl and set aside.
- In a medium size bowl, mix together the flour, corn starch, 4 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika.
- Make a line across your work station/counter with the bowls side by side, first the bowl of chicken, then the flour, then the eggs, and last an empty large plate.
- Pat the first chick thigh in the flour to coat the entire thigh. Shake off the excess.
- Dip the coated chicken thigh in the beaten eggs and coat the entire thigh.
- Once again, pat the same thigh in the flour to coat the thigh completely. Shake off the flour excess.
- Place the coated thigh on the empty plate.
- Repeat the last 4 steps for another 2 to 3 thighs.
- Carefully place the coated thighs in the hot oil to fry them. Place only 3 to 4 thighs in your fryer at-a-time to avoid overcrowding the fryer basket.
- Let the chicken thighs fry for about 13 minutes.
- While the first batch is in the fryer, place the bowl of chicken thighs in the fridge. This step is optional, but it does help reduce bacteria growth. Take them back out about 4 minutes before the batch in the fryer is done.
- Coat the next 3 to 4 thighs in flour/egg/flour as described in the previous steps to get them ready, and place them on the plate.
- As each batch is done cooking, place the finished pieces of chicken on the cooling rack, sperate from each-other, and place the baking sheet inside the oven to keep the chicken hot.
- Once all the chicken is fried, serve it hot with your favourite sides. We served ours with potato salad, macaroni salad. bean salad, slaw and curry quinoa. We also had some peri peri on the side for those who wanted a little kick. YUM!
Notes
- Make sure to wash your hands and all surfaces often to avoid any bacteria growth.
- You can use All Purpose flour for the recipe if you can’d find Tipo 00 flour.
- Use a meat thermometer to make sure the chicken has reached 165 °F internal temperature.
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