Oven Fried Chicken (KFC Copycat)
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My Oven Fried Chicken is a spin on the classic KFC version, although this is BAKED not fried. To get it super crispy I have a secret I’ll share with you, but read on!
The main thing I look for in fried chicken is a fantastic crunch and flavor. The inside needs to be juicy, not dried out. What more could you ask for in “fried chicken” that’s baked without all the grease and clean up!
My Oven Fried Chicken (KFC Copycat)
Baking instead of frying was the goal and when you bake the chicken the skin renders the fat and gets crispy. The tough part was getting the right consistency in coating the chicken and I believe I have it covered.
First you’ll need to start off by soaking the chicken in buttermilk. This not only tenderizes the chicken, but allows the spice and coating mix to adhere better to the chicken pieces.
While I did a tremendous amount of reading and testing I can’t believe some of the nonsense I saw passing as KFC copy fried chicken out there!
Some even said they got the recipe online from the Colonel’s family, and I’ve seen that “handwritten” recipe from the supposed grandson, but some people didn’t even follow that! He had the ingredients written with “tsp” as in teaspoon and people had tablespoon in their ingredient lists, with the same amounts of flour he had. OVER KILL.
The Process
I made several batches with several different versions and techniques.
- The image below shows the seasoning and breading I came up with although the photo shows the batch that I double dipped. As in buttermilk marinated chicken, then shake it off, dredge in the seasoned flour and then back in the buttermilk with an added beaten egg and dredged again. Double dipped and ready to bake. Melted butter gets drizzled over each chicken piece and in the oven they went.
- What I found out was this double dredge technique is great if your actually frying the chicken (yes, I tested it that way, too!). It was good, though the breading was too much and got slightly steamed on the inside while baking. It was crunchy on the outside, but half of it slide off when taking a bite. Not that crunch-tastic fried chicken feel I was looking for.
- While it did indeed taste great, I adjusted the paprika and black pepper and used white pepper for the next batch and liked that better as well only doing one dredge. To get the extra crunch my secret is to add some baking powder to the dredge.
Here is the batch of the double dipped and dredged version. Looks and tastes amazing, but was not perfect.
I wanted a baked version that tasted like it was fried. Back to the drawing board and the store for more chicken (thank goodness it was on sale).
For the oven fried chicken batch I have written in this recipe I added turmeric for added color, lessened the paprika and black pepper and used white pepper, did only one dredge in the seasoned flour with a little Panko for added crunch after soaking in buttermilk and the crunch was spot on! Don’t forget to add that baking powder to your batch, that’s my secret for mega crunch.
Ingredients for Chicken and Spice Blend
- 4-5 lbs chicken (See Note 1)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 4 tbsp butter melted
KFC Copycat Seasoning Blend
- 2 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp celery salt
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp dried mustard
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
How to Make Oven Fried Chicken
- Place the chicken parts with the skin on in a plastic bag and pour the buttermilk in to coat. Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal. Massage the chicken and buttermilk with your hands to coat evenly and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes minimum up to several hours.
- Preheat your oven to 425°F. In a medium sized bowl using a whisk, mix together the flour, Panko, baking powder and 11 herbs and spices. Set aside.
- Place a 13×9” baking dish in the oven to get hot for at least 15 minutes (See Note 2). While pan is heating up remove the chicken from the buttermilk, shaking off excess, and dredge in the seasoned flour mixture (See Note 3), coating on all sides with one hand.
- Drizzle the melted butter in the heated baking dish and arrange the chicken pieces skin side down on top of butter (with plenty of room on each side so they “fry” not “steam”).
- Bake for 12 minutes, uncovered. Carefully turn the chicken pieces over and bake another 12 minutes or until internal temperature reads 165°F depending on the size of your chicken. (See Note 4) Remove from oven and allow to rest 5 minutes and then serve.
Final Notes
I like a bit of heat and kick so a little cayenne was added in the seasoning, too. That is totally optional, but I highly recommend it. This is THE version. What started out as a test to get the KFC version ended up being better than I had hoped. This oven fried chicken is the way to go for me and I hope you enjoy it. Lightly coated, crunchy, flavorful and juicy on the inside. You could tap a fork on it and hear how crunchy it is going to be!
Fried chicken feel and taste, though baked in the oven with just a little butter.
If you like baked chicken dishes try my Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu, Baked Honey Mustard Chicken, or my Bacon Wrapped Chicken. Here’s the recipe for my Classic Potato Salad recipe seen in the photos, too. Enjoy!
Can you freeze leftover fried chicken?
Yes! Freeze the chicken on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for one hour. Remove the frozen chicken from the baking sheet and place in an airtight container or a freezer bag. Don’t forget to label with date . It’s safe for 3-4 months.
Can fried chicken be frozen then reheated?
Preheat the oven to 350°F and place frozen fried chicken in a single layer on a baking sheet. Depending on the size of the pieces, it will take 30 to 40 minutes to reheat.
This recipe post, originally published on Kevin Is Cooking March, 2017, has been updated with new content, photos and/or video in March, 2023.
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Oven Fried Chicken (KFC Copycat)
Ingredients
- 4-5 lbs chicken (See Note 1)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 4 tbsp butter melted
Seasoning Blend
- 2 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp celery salt
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp dried mustard
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
Instructions
- Place the chicken parts with the skin on in a plastic bag and pour the buttermilk in to coat. Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal. Massage the chicken and buttermilk with your hands to coat evenly and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes minimum up to several hours.
- Preheat your oven to 425°F. In a medium sized bowl using a whisk, mix together the flour, Panko, baking powder and 11 herbs and spices. Set aside.
- Place a 13×9” baking dish in the oven to get hot for at least 15 minutes (See Note 2). While pan is heating up remove the chicken from the buttermilk, shaking off excess, and dredge in the seasoned flour mixture (See Note 3), coating on all sides with one hand.
- Drizzle the melted butter in the heated baking dish and arrange the chicken pieces skin side down on top of butter (with plenty of room on each side so they “fry” not "steam").
- Bake for 12 minutes, uncovered. Carefully turn the chicken pieces over and bake another 12 minutes or until internal temperature reads 165°F depending on the size of your chicken. (See Note 4) Remove from oven and allow to rest 5 minutes and then serve.
Video
Notes
- I use all parts of a chicken fryer (breasts, wings, thighs and legs). The photos show 6 chicken drumsticks only.
- Avoid glass bakeware as oven temperature and adding of liquid (melted butter) is not something advised per most manufacturers instruction on care.
- When dredging I keep one hand for the wet part and the other for the dry part. This avoids getting clumpy fingers on both hands.
- If using boneless chicken breasts bake/fry 10 minutes per side instead of 12.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
We made this chicken last night. It was the BEST “fried” chicken we ever had…so moist and crunchy! it is going to be added to our recipe book!
Nice! So glad everyone enjoyed this one David. 🙂
Hands down the best oven fried chicken I have ever made! Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for making my day Tammy! 🙂
Excellent recipe! I did it today for the first time. I’m on a low sodium diet and did the recipe exactly as listed with the exception of the salt. In its place I used a generous portion of Spike and substituted celery flakes for the celery salt. It was a huge hit with everyone and I loved it as well. I also used air chilled, organic chicken thighs. The only roasting pan that I have that was big enough was a Lodge cast iron. It came out perfect. Thank you, Jeff
Fantastic! So glad you enjoyed this one Jeff!
very nice Kevin, my thoughts are wondering if this is a good recipe for ‘oven fried fish’ ?
do you have anything like this for crisp oven fish. thanks
You might want to try my Baked Fish recipe post Sell. Hope you enjoy it!
Got it, so much like the chicken. delicious, just got through with it. I used tilapia.
it was more like flat type. The idea worked well and we made fish tacos out of it.
I used my air fryer. Thank you, love your site i love ideas and methods. Jacques
Pipin is one of my favorites, his experience teaches. As with yours. thank you. Sel
Fantastic Sel. Great idea to use the tilapia too. Nice!
This is a well-thought out kitchen test article that I’m sure can deliver some excellent results. It should be noted, however, that the real “secret” that sets KFC apart from most other chicken retailers is that KFC uses institutional grade pressure cookers to cook large amounts of chicken quickly. A good home-baked recipe will come close, but cannot really duplicate that type of process.
Thanks for sharing the insight. I had heard this too myself.
Yes but it’s so much healthier! And at home you know the type of chicken you’re using , rather than the battery chickens stuffed with antibiotics!
So sorry for the late reply as I have been away on a much needed vacation outside the USA (York to be exact!). Needless to say, about your inquiry… I agree, homemade is always better.
Do I place chicken skin side down first or later in the cooking process? I’m planning to use bone in skin on thighs.
Skin side down first Trudy!
Can i use skinless chicken for this recipe? or does it need to have skin on?
It works best with the skin, but by all means go skinless and make sure the chicken is really covered from dredging first before baking Shifa.
thank. you 😊
I made this recipe and followed the instructions to the letter, but it was not crispy at all. Most disappointing. What did I do wrong?
Ps. Taste was lovely.
This is key: Add the melted butter to the heated baking dish and arrange the chicken pieces on top with plenty of room on each side so they “fry” not “steam”. I can’t think of any other reason that they did not turn out if followed to the letter.
Thank you for your reply. Is it possible that the oven was not hot enough or I used too much butter? ( so the chicken boiled instead of baking?)
This was excellent! Cook time was perfect. I scaled it down for two 4 1/2 oz drumsticks. I used a foil lined metal pan in the toaster oven. My 84 yr old, chicken drumstick-loving mom loved it! Your experimenting with the spices was very successful. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Thanks so much for making my day with this comment Pam. Cheers!