Fuss-Free Southern Fried Chicken
This Fuss-Free Southern Fried Chicken is made in the oven, so you can skip the mess and avoid hovering over the stove without sacrificing that classic fried taste. I use a ranch dressing and buttermilk coating that keeps the chicken ultra-tender on the inside while delivering a perfectly crunchy exterior. Simple, delicious, and great with a side of homemade mashed potatoes!
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Fuss-Free Southern Fried Chicken
- Serves: 4
- Main Ingredients: bone-in skin-on chicken pieces such as breasts, legs, or leg quarters, oil for frying, all-purpose flour*, ranch dressing mix*, buttermilk*
- Why You'll Love It: 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!
Crispy Oven-Baked Fried Chicken
Few dishes from Southern cuisine are as universally beloved as fried chicken. Every Southerner has their own recipe in their back pocket, and mine is a little 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 mix of ranch dressing and buttermilk, it’s pretty much hands-off from there! 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 Southern sweet tea.
It comes out tender and moist on the inside, wrapped in the crunchiest, tastiest skin imaginable. Pair it with some oven-baked mac and cheese, and you have a winning Southern supper!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Oil (use a high smoke point oil)
- Flour (self-rising flour also works fine)
- Ranch dressing mix (or salt and pepper, or any seasoning you like!)
- Buttermilk (any kind of milk will do)
- Bone-in, skin-on chicken (can be chicken breast or chicken legs)
Tips Before You Get Started
- Want extra heat? Mix two tablespoons of hot sauce with the buttermilk.
- Make sure your oil is hot enough before you start frying! I can’t stress this enough. When the oil is at the right temperature, it sears the breading the moment the chicken hits the pan, giving you that perfect crispy coating. If the oil isn’t hot enough, your chicken will just soak up all that oil and end up greasy instead of crunchy.
- If you can’t fit all your chicken in the baking dish at once, just do it in two batches. Giving each piece enough room helps the coating stay crispy and lets the heat circulate evenly. If you overcrowd the pan, you’ll trap steam and end up with a soggy coating after all that hard work!
How to Make Fuss-Free Southern Fried Chicken
1. Heat the Oil
To start, add about ½ inch of oil to the bottom of your skillet and put it in the oven. Turn the oven to 450°F so the oil heats as the oven heats up.
2. Dredge Your Chicken
While we wait for the oil to get hot, place your flour in a shallow dish and season it with the ranch dressing mix or your seasoning of choice. Mix that up well.
Next, pour some buttermilk into another dish.
Place the chicken in the buttermilk first, coating each piece. Then dip it in the breading mixture, rolling it around until fully coated.
Then dip it again in the milk, and then in the seasoned flour mixture once more. Repeat this process with the remaining chicken.
Tip: This double-dipping method creates an extra-thick, crispier coating that locks in moisture and flavor, making your fried chicken even more delicious.
3. Fry in the Oven
Take your hot, hot, hot skillet with the hot, hot, hot oil out of the oven (with good protection for yourself!) and carefully add your chicken pieces.
They will begin to bubble and sizzle as soon as they go in. Try not to let them touch, but do what you gotta do!
Place this in the oven and “fry chicken” for 40 minutes. This is when you can go do whatever you’d rather be doing 😉
4. Flip the Chicken
After 40 minutes, carefully remove the skillet from the oven, turn all the pieces over, and put it back in for 15 minutes.
5. Drain & Serve
When done, remove from the oven and place each piece on a paper towel-lined plate to drain for a few minutes.
Enjoy this fuss-free Southern fried chicken recipe, folks!
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.
Southern Fried Chicken FAQs
Honestly, anything you love! I switch it up every single time depending on what I’m feeling. This time around I went with ranch dressing mix, but my go-to combo is garlic powder, paprika (or cayenne pepper), parsley, salt, and pepper. If you want to keep it simple, poultry seasoning or seasoned salt work great too.
Many recipes tell you to brine your chicken before you fry it. I don’t for several reasons.
1. I don’t want to.
2. Typically, I don’t usually plan my meals far enough in advance.
3. I don’t have time. When I’m ready to cook supper, I’m ready right then, and I generally don’t lollygag around in the kitchen hours beforehand lookin’ for something to do.
4. I can’t stand the thought of wasting buttermilk (what a lot of folks brine it in).
Granny didn’t do it.
5. 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.
You can serve your fried chicken with a variety of different sides. Options include mashed potatoes, creamed corn, mac and cheese, coleslaw, cornbread, parmesan oven fries, buttermilk biscuits, green beans, or potato salad.
Nothing makes me happier than hearing that a recipe was a hit at the dinner table! If you tried this one, leave a star rating and a comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Fuss-Free Southern Fried Chicken
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 oil to a depth of ¼-½ inch into a deep cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven. Place in the oven and preheat to 450°F. 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 ¼-inch of milk.1-2 cups buttermilk*
- Dip each chicken piece in the milk to coat all sides, then into the flour mixture, then into the milk again, and then into the flour mixture again. Place on a platter when done.3-4 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces
- Five minutes after the oven is preheated, remove your skillet and carefully (using tongs) place each piece of chicken in the skillet, positioning them so that they don't touch.
- Return to the oven for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, use tongs to flip each piece of chicken over, and return to the oven for 15 minutes more.
- Remove chicken and place on a paper towel-lined platter. Enjoy hot or cold.
Would boneless,skinless chicken breasts work just as well. I would like to try this but can’t stand the skin.
Hi Kathy, you could try it without the skin, it won’t be quite the same but should turn out ok.
It works! Next time, I will check it before the 40 minute mark, as it got a little browner than ideal, but it was still good! My husband ate 4 pieces, so it gets a repeat!
I am so glad to hear that you liked it Kerry!!!
I made this last night, yes on Valentine’s day, and it completely bombed. I followed the directions to a tee and there wasn’t an ounce of breading left on it when I got done. Most of it came off on the first flip, and by the time I got it out when it was done, the rest of the breading came off. I don’t understand what went wrong. The only thing I think it could be was I was using a medium size skillet and the pieces were really jammed in there.
Ryan, I’m so sorry to hear that! I know that was a disappointment. If the pieces are touching, it does make the breading stick to the other breading rather than the chicken. If you try it again in the same size skillet, I’d do it in batches so they have a little wiggle room.
This was amazing Christy!! Thank you! It was me,by the way, that professed my love for your chicken and dumplings at Santa’s Village back in December and it was so nice to meet you and your family! 🙂
Total cooking time was 25 minutes. 20 on the first side, 5 on the second. Served with mashed potatoes, cream gravy, sweet & sour green beans (from your cookbook) and fresh corn on the cob. Yummmm!!! Thanks so much.
I want to try this using “pounded” boneless, skinless chicken breast, thus “chicken fried chicken.” ( I have a marble rolling pin that I pound the fat end of the chicken breast so that it’s all the same thickness.) I’m thinking the cooking time will be less than with bone-in, correct? Like maybe 30 minutes on the first side, 10 minutes on the second??
Yes Dana, and I might even check it at twenty minutes for the first side 🙂
Oh my!! I had a failed attempt at frying chicken 20 yrs ago. Just tried this recipe tonight. It was amazing! This will be the only way we fry chicken. Paired the fried chicken with collards from the garden, red beans (somewhat like your recipe), cornbread and brownies! What a great Sunday dinner. Thank you Christy for helping me fry chicken!!
Oh my goodness, that sounds so good! Now I am starving!! I am so glad to hear that you liked the recipe and it turned out great for you!!