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Chicken cooking in a skillet with oil
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5 from 2 votes

How to Fry Crispy Pan Fried Chicken in Oil (Recipe)

Easy and delicious, this crispy pan fried chicken (in oil) is a great way to make your own fried chicken!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
resting time5 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: main
Cuisine: American
Keyword: How to fry chicken in a pan with oil
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 340kcal
Cost: $10

Equipment

  • 1 heavy duty pan
  • 1 kitchen spider or slotted spoon
  • measuring cups and spoons
  • Stove
  • 1 accurate thermometer
  • 1 plate
  • paper towels

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs chicken Bone in or bone out

Oil

  • vegetable oil or peanut oil or see substitution - 1 inch deep in the pan

Breading

    First Breading Bowl

    • 1 cup flour all purpose

    Egg Wash

    • 3 large eggs beaten

    Second Breading Bowl

    • 1 cup panko
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 1 tsp pepper
    • 1 tbs paprika
    • 3 tsp garlic powder
    • 1 tbs baking powder

    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 170
    • Place the chicken pieces on paper towels and dry the outside of the chicken very well. Allow to drain onto the paper towels for a while. Set aside
    • Pour enough oil into your heavy duty pan to cover 1 " deep. Set on medium to medium high heat and allow to come to temperature while mixing up the breading. Heat to 350 degrees.
    • Sprinkle the chicken with a pinch of the salt and pepper
    • Set up a 3 pan breading station. In one pan, put the plain flour. In the second pan, put 3 beaten eggs, in the third, mix together the panko, baking powder and remaining salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika and mix well. Move the chicken and the breading station to beside the stovetop.
    • Working in small batches, place the chicken into the plain flour and mix around making sure to coat all sides of the chicken with flour, then into the eggs and swirl around making sure to coat in egg then into the panko mixing around so that the breading coats all surfaces.
    • Drop the chicken into the hot oil one piece at a time. Adjust the eye temp so that the chicken does not cook too furiously or does not go cold. The chicken should bubble boldly and continue to do so until cooked through and should be a golden brown color when cooked. Cook to internal temp of 165. Chicken floats when it is done. Remove to a paper towel lined baking sheet placed in a 150 degree oven to drain and set the plate into the oven to keep warm. This also helps to keep the coating crispy. serve hot.

    Video

    Notes

     
    • Always use a high temp oil for frying (vegetable, canola, peanut, etc.). Do NOT use Olive oil for frying these and do not use butter.
    • You'll want to have a thermometer so that you don't burn your chicken and so that the oil is hot enough to fry them appropriately.
    • If you want breading to stick, follow the directions EXPLICITLY in the recipe below. It is SUPER IMPORTANT to dry the meat off completely. You can do this with paper towels or with cloth towels, just so it is very very dry.
    • You can substitute the spices in the seasoning for whatever flips your trigger, but you might want to start with the mix I suggest to make sure you enjoy the chicken before getting too wild and crazy with your seasoning choices.
    SUBSTITUTIONS
    Chicken - You can substitute chicken breast, turkey breast, pork loin, pork chops or chicken tenders in this recipe, HOWEVER, if you use a different meat, then it won't be a chicken . Just sayin.
    Oil - You can use any oil that is suitable for frying - Personally, I like to use either vegetable oil or peanut oil. You can use cannola, safflower, crisco, lard or whatever frying oil you prefer. Just DO NOT use Olive Oil or Butter.
    Seasonings - Feel free to use whatever seasonings you enjoy to season the breading, just understand that it takes A LOT of seasoning to make the breadcrumbs taste just right. I've chosen mine based on cost savings vs flavor.
    Flour - You CAN use either all purpose or self rising flour.
    Panko - I'm using the unflavored panko breadcrumbs but it is fine to use the already seasoned ones. You can add seasoning to them or use them as is.
    Draining on a Paper Towel - The point is to remove some of the grease. If you prefer to do this on a cloth towel or just to allow the turkey to drip onto a plate, that is fine too.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 0.5lb | Calories: 340kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 177mg | Sodium: 807mg | Potassium: 472mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 320IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 230mg | Iron: 5mg