Brining chicken (or any poultry) before cooking can produce a deliciously tender and juicy bird. Using pickle brine for the job not only makes the most of the leftover liquid from your last jar of pickles, it also imparts a dilly twang to your chicken. Paired with a classic Southern breading technique and fried in our deep Carbon Steel Frying Pan, this combination unlocks the best fried chicken you’ve ever had.
Great served warm or at room temperature, this chicken can round out any spread. Add a dusting of Made In x Jacobsen Salt Co. Pickle Salt to really bring out the pickle flavor.
Pickle Fried Chicken
Don’t toss your empty pickle jar just yet.
Rhoda Boone, Culinary Director
- 1.
Place chicken in a porcelain or glass Baking Dish or a resealable plastic bag. Pour pickle brine over and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours (do not exceed 24 hours or the chicken can become mushy.)
- 2.
Fill a large Carbon Steel Frying Pan or Wok with oil to a depth of about 2 inches. Heat over medium-high until a thermometer registers 350F. Set up paper towel-lined Sheet Pan and a cooling rack set over another Sheet Pan.
- 3.
Set up your dredging station: In one Baking Dish or Bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg. In another Baking Dish, whisk together flour, cornstarch, Pickle Salt, paprika, and baking powder.
- 4.
Add about a tablespoon of the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and use fingertips to work into clumps. This will help create a craggy texture. Working in batches, transfer a few pieces of chicken from the pickle brine into the buttermilk mixture and coat. Then dredge in flour and pack it on to create more shaggy bits. Shake to remove any extra flour and place on a Platter or Sheet Pan.
- 5.
When ready to cook, working in batches, carefully lower pieces into oil. Oil will drop to about 300F; maintain a temperature of 300-320F as you fry. After about 5 minutes, turn chicken pieces over and continue to cook, flipping pieces occasionally, until crust is uniformly golden brown and chicken is cooked through to an internal temperature of 165F. This can take between 12-18 minutes total depending on the cut of chicken and the temperature of your oil.
- 6.
Transfer chicken to the paper towel-lined Sheet Pan and blot the oil on all sides, then transfer to the cooling rack set over the Sheet Pan. Immediately sprinkle with Pickle Salt on all sides.
- 7.
Return oil to a temperature of 350F before starting the next batch. Repeat the process with the remaining pieces. Sprinkle with salt and let cool slightly before serving.
Note: if the outside of chicken is getting very dark before the inside is cooked all the way through, transfer to Sheet Pan and bake in a 350F oven to finish cooking to avoid burning the exterior in the oil.
