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.
I am wanting to serve this to a very large crowd. If I cooked the chicken the day before and then reheated it in the oven, would it still taste as crispy?
I doubt anything could be crispier than fresh, but yes, you could and it should be good.
This has been my go-to recipe for years and it’s perfect. Just wondering if you’ve ever tried it in an air fryer and if you altered it in any way for that (other than, obviously, time/temp). Thanks in advance!
Haven’t played with an air fryer, but I’m sure it would work just fine. Thanks Toni!
Can you use a baking sheet instead of a baking dish?
Definitely Lola. Enjoy!
You mention about avoiding glass bakeware, so do you use a ceramic or metal pan?
Yes I have several ceramic ones (Pampered Chef) and metal roasting pans. Hope you enjoy this one Julia!
Hi Kevin Just wanted to know if I could use regular flour instead of Panko bread crumbs thanks so much for the recipe? Linda
Yes, but the added crunch factor would definitely be missing. Can I ask why?
Really helpful video and the chicken is great! I do think it would be easier if the proportions were representative of a smaller amount of chicken though. For example, for 8 pieces of chicken drumsticks only.
So glad you enjoyed this one Kyle. As for “pieces” vs weight, it’s hard to judge when some “drumsticks” are bigger or smaller, all relative. BUT you can alter the ingredient list if you hover your mouse over the NUMBER of Servings and move it up or down, ingredient list changes as well. Hope this helps.
usay chicken is on top what top is there a grate in the dish
Hi Joe. That’s just a bit of finely chopped parsley for garnish on the top. It’s optional 🙂
Thanks for the seasoning list – but it’s WAY low on salt compared to KFC, though probably for the better. The baking powder and panko bread crumbs are great ideas and I can’t wait to try it.
I will say that you may be correct about 1 tsp amounts, but NOT for salt.
I cooked KFC chicken using the original techniques back in the late 60’s working my way through college.
We had a 20 lb sack of flour and a THREE POUND sack of salt, along with a plastic bag of about two pounds of “The Colonel’s secret ingredients” that we mixed together in a bin. The secret ingredients included a lot of pepper that made you sneeze when mixing it.
We used an eggwash with real eggs and real milk back then. 18 pieces went from eggwash to flour bin to 350° oil in a pressure cooker brought up to 15 psi then 7 minutes at a medium heat.
People avoiding salt due to high blood pressure often see their b.p. go through the roof after eating just two pieces of KFC chicken!
Today, when I make my KFC Copycat, I use 1 tbsp of salt for every cup of sugar – much, much less than KFC chicken.
That doesn’t mean 1 tsp of celery salt and 1 tsp of salt are any less tasty along with the rest of the seasoning, but I wanted to point out the Colonel was heavy on salt.
Thanks for the detailed tips and info here Mickey!
Thanks so much for posting this recipe! We are vegetarians but I love the taste of KFC which I remember from my childhood. I made this with mushrooms and halloumi but followed all the other steps and it turned out great. I think the flavours are wonderful and I even made a gravy from the drippings in the bottom of the pan to go with mashed potatoes. With a coleslaw on the side, it was a good as eating out!!
I am so glad Darcy! We love it around here too! Thanks for sharing this!
I made this for my husband, who absolutely loves KFC. He could not believe how wonderful it came out! You definitely knocked it out of the park when you came up with this! I really appreciate all of the effort you put into this recipe, and I look forward to trying out some of your others. Thank you so much!!!
I am so glad Dawn! Nothing beats having a meal you love at home! I hope you find more recipes you enjoy! Thank you!