Ditch The Oil And Fry Chicken In A Decadent Butter Bath For Flavor And Crunch

Fried chicken may not be the healthiest meal, but it's certainly the tastiest. There are many great fast food fried chicken chains out there, but trying to achieve that perfect, crunchy piece can be tough to do yourself. However, there's one way to fry your chicken at home that will make it taste like restaurant-quality. Instead of using oil in your pan, try frying your poultry in butter for rich and mouthwatering flavor. Not only does it taste great, but the butter will give you the ideal crunchy outside — even Gordon Ramsay recommends this method for rich and crispy chicken (though he uses a combination of both butter and oil). 

There are a number of ways to make the perfect fried chicken, and using butter needs to be at the top of the list. Frying your chicken in butter can give your meat a juicy inside with a crunchy outside, and a nutty, buttery flavor that is unmatched. It's also a great hack to add moisture if you find that your chicken typically comes out too dry. Your end result will be the crispiest piece of chicken you've ever tasted.

When you're ready to fry, just melt butter, add chicken, and cook for around six to eight minutes. Make sure to flip and cook the other side for another few minutes. This process can take longer depending on how thick your chicken is, so be sure the internal temperature hits 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the chicken is fried and ready, place it on a rack with something underneath to catch the excess grease.

For every pound of chicken, you will need one stick of butter. If that's too much butter for you, you could opt for an unsalted version for less salt, or adjust the recipe slightly to your liking; since substituting butter for oil is 1:1, you could go with half butter, half oil to lighten it up.

Frying your chicken in butter has a few differences compared to using oil, starting with the cooking temperature. Butter will burn and smoke faster than oil, so it's important you set your stove to a lower-than-normal temperature. When using butter, heating it to 300 degrees Fahrenheit is recommended, rather than the usual 350 to 365 degrees Fahrenheit for oil — you can check this by placing a food thermometer in the center. And even though the temperature is set lower, it's important to consistently check your pan so the butter doesn't burn, as it will impact the taste of your chicken if it does. Adding at least a small amount of oil to your pan also helps keep it from burning. Using butter rather than oil means your chicken will cook more slowly, but the lower temperature is necessary to keep the butter from burning. On the plus side, you'll be left with a perfectly juicy piece of meat.