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We’re sharing all of our tips and tricks to make the best Fried Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts!
We love fried chicken – with its tender, juicy meat and crispy, seasoned breading. Fried Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts are a delicious option if you want to make a sandwich, or if you simply want to eat fried chicken without worrying about the bones.
Normally, when you make fried chicken from pieces of a whole chicken with the skin still on, the skin really helps the breading stick to the pieces as they fry.
But how do you make the breading stay on a fried, boneless chicken breast without the skin?
After some trial and error – we discovered that three layers of a seasoned flour mixture – with a dip into an egg mixture in between – should do the trick.
You’ll start with thick boneless skinless chicken breasts. If the breast is thicker than an inch and a half, you’ll want to butterfly the breasts so it is a more even thickness. (This will help the fried chicken breast cook through more evenly.)
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. In a second bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and some hot sauce.
Dip the boneless, skinless chicken breasts back and forth in this order: flour, egg, flour, egg, flour. Don’t worry if the breading starts to get a little ‘shaggy’ as you dip back and forth. Those little rough clumps of breading will fry up nice and crisp.
Gently place the coated chicken breasts on a plate – pressing the coating into the chicken to make sure it sticks. Repeat with the rest of your chicken breasts, then melt lard or shortening in a large heavy-bottomed pan such as cast iron or porcelain-coated cast iron braiser.
We recommend that you invest in a deep fry or candy thermometer (which are not at all expensive). This will help you know when your frying oil is at the proper temperature of 325 degrees F. (Don’t go higher, or the chicken will scorch on the outside before it is cooked through on the inside.)
Depending on the size of your pan, fry in batches – making sure that that chicken pieces are not overly crowded as they cook. Fry for about 15 minutes – carefully turning the chicken pieces every few minutes. Jack used two spatulas to flip the pieces, making sure not to disturb the nice, fried crust that formed as the chicken cooked.
How do I know when my Fried Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts are cooked through?
The best way to tell is by using an instant-read probe thermometer. Carefully insert the thermometer into the breast and remove from the oil once the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees F. (The residual heat will continue to cook the chicken to a safe-to-eat internal temperature of 165 degrees F.)
Carefully place the Fried Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts on a rack to drain and cool slightly – then serve immediately. The inside will be juicy and perfectly cooked through, and the coating will be nice and crispy!
You may enjoy these other chicken recipes:
- Buttermilk Fried Chicken
- Parmesan Chicken Cutlets
- Cheetos Chicken Strips
- Pan Seared Boneless Chicken Breasts
- Chicken Cordon Bleu
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Fried Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups buttermilk*
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
3 whole eggs
3 tablespoons whole milk
2 tablespoons hot sauce (we used Cholula which is a mild hot sauce)
Enough lard or vegetable shortening to come 2” up the side of a large cast iron skillet
Instructions
Breasts pieces thicker than 1 ½ inches should be butterflied.
Place chicken breasts in a zip lock bag and cover with the buttermilk and let soak in the refrigerator overnight or at least 12 hours.
When ready to cook, drain the chicken and discard the buttermilk.
In a large bowl, whisk flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika.
In a medium bowl beat eggs, milk and hot sauce.
Place the pieces, two at a time, in flour, egg, flour, egg and flour, pressing each time to coat. The breading should be rough and shaggy and not neat and even. The shaggy parts will crisp up as they fry and give a nice crunchy coat. As you bread each piece, place on a platter or plate.
Place a rack over a sheet tray and set aside.
Melt shortening in a large heavy bottomed pan, (a large cast iron or a coated cast iron pan works best), and hold at 325 degrees F using a candy thermometer or other thermometer to get to that temperature, no higher.
Add all of the chicken at once, piece by piece. If they do not comfortably fit all at once, you will need to cook in two batches. The temperature of the oil will drop below 300 degrees F when you place the chicken pieces in and that is where you should keep it during the cooking. If the oil is too hot, the outside will get too dark before the inside cooks.
Fry for a total of about 15 minutes, carefully turning every few minutes for even browning. (We used two heat-proof spatulas (silicone or metal) to make sure we did not disturb the nice crust forming). Insert a probe thermometer into one piece and remove from the fryer onto the prepared rack once the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees F. The chicken will continue to cook to a safe temperature of 165 degrees F.
Be gentle when handling so that the cooked breading stays on.
Serve immediately.
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Notes
*If you don’t have buttermilk, in a pinch add one tablespoon of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar to every cup of whole milk. Let sit 15 minutes to curdle.
Delicious and tender!!!. Next time I’ll only add a little more spice for my husband.
Thanks Joni!
I’ve made this 3 times now and I absolutely love it. I’m on a strict low sodium diet, so I omitted the salt and used a low sodium hot sauce. I also added a tablespoon of cayenne in the flour mixture (I LOVE spicy fried chicken!) and it was perfect. The most recent time a made it I cut the breast into strips and adjusted the time accordingly, it was a major hit! The biggest surprise was how the breading sticks perfectly to the skinless chicken and the buttermilk marinade was a game changer, I’m going to test out this method with a few other poultry recipes. Thanks for sharing this fantastic recipe!
Great suggestions Jasmyn! So glad you are enjoying the recipe.
Question: Would mixing cornstarch in with the flour help with it sticking to the chicken, or would it alter the taste too much? Also, I am trying for an electric skillet – any gems of wisdom for cooking in that?
Michelle
There are multiple techniques to bread and fry chicken. I tested this with a corn starch and flour mix and it was good, but I thought the flour alone was better for sticking and texture. I also tested using egg whites as well, and settled on this recipe as my final version. As far as using an electric skillet, that is probably more accurate than trying to control a burner. Just make sure you follow the oil temperature guidelines we mention, as well as the internal temperature of the cooked chicken.
Good luck,
Jack
Can you use vegetable oil instead of shortening?
Yes – you can use vegetable oil instead if you prefer
This was delicious!! The kids LOVED it!! (even the picky eater) Their compliments were endless, my favorite- Mommy, this is the best chicken ever, even better than chicken nuggets!! (For a mom there is no higher compliment than that- lol!). I was going to use leftovers tonight for chicken parmesan. Would reheating the chicken in the oven dry it out? Would it still get crispy?
Hi Colleen – As the mom of a picky eater myself, this is music to my ears! (I sympathize AND celebrate with you!) I think it would be fine to reheat these in the oven – as long as you don’t overdo it. Just heat long enough to warm through, but avoid cooking more. Hope that helps!
Chicken turned out juicy and coating was nice and crispy.
Thanks Rich!
All I can say is YUMMMMM! Made it with 1 chicken breast cut into 2 and cooked it for less time and it was the best fried chicken I’ve ever made. I used canola oil instead of shortening.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Loren!
I really enjoyed the recipe. I like, how you can customize the spice blend, I personally like to add a little extra garlic, as I am not so into hot sauce.
Thank you!
I tried this and it was a major hit. Absolutely love this recipe and will make it a weekly meal at my house. Thank you so much.
You’re welcome Martha – so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Can you cook these in an air fryer?
Hi Geri – We haven’t tried it. As written, it’s a fairly thick batter so I think it would need to be deep fried. But a lighter coating would probably work in the air fryer.