Old fashioned Cast Iron Skillet Fried Chicken with Homemade Chicken Gravy. The preparation is simple but attention to details important. The right kind of oil at just the right temperature and knowing when to turn the chicken are important. Learn how, step by step.
Cast Iron skillet fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy with a side of Old Fashioned Green Beans. This is the first meal I ever learned how to prepare as a young cook.
Being a third-generation Kansas farm girl, I know my chicken frying. I grew up on my mother’s family recipe for fried chicken with Crisco. On the farm, my father would kill a chicken, my mother would dress it, cut it up and promptly place it in a large pot of salted water to brine for a coupe of hours.
This ended up on our dinner table several times a week during wheat harvest when we had a table full of hired hands helping my father with the farm work.
The “breading” was nothing more than salt and peppered flour. Never did we jazz up the breading mixture with things like buttermilk, corn flakes or herbs.
And use a deep fryer??? Never. You can’t make gravy if chicken has been cooked in a deep fryer.
I wouldn’t touch our classic recipe. The results, sweet milk gravy over creamy mashed potatoes and perfectly crunchy fried chicken. One whole fryer chicken, cut in pieces.
I’ve never fried chicken in anything but Crisco. As far as I know nothing fries up chicken better than Crisco.
- Step 1: About three giant heaping tablespoons of oil to the cast iron skillet, or a large fry pan with deep sides. You’ll need enough oil to cover the chicken pieces half way. Turn the burner to medium high.
- Step 2: Remove the chicken pieces from the brine and pat dry. While the oil is heating in fill a dinner plate with flour. Mix in about a teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
Step 3: Dredge each chicken piece on both sides in the flour mixture and shake off any excess flour. Use a digital thermometer to make sure the oil has reached 350 – 375 degrees. Place the pieces in the pan, presentation side down. In the meantime, turn on the burner under those peeled potatoes you’ve cut up for your mashed potatoes.
- Step 4: Once you have all the chicken pieces situated in the pan, let them fry at a bubbling speed for about 10-15 minutes. With a fork, take a peek to see if you’ve achieved just the right golden crust. Nope, not ready yet.
- Step 5: I’ve just turned this thigh. Now that’s perfect.
- Step 6: Continue to turn the pieces as they reach that crispness and brown on the other side for another 15 minutes, or so.
- Step 7: After both sides are crunchy and browned, I briefly cover the pan and let everything steam for about 2 minutes only. Any longer will turn that crusty goodness soft. I’m just doing this to make sure the internal meat is cooked through. Use a meat thermometer to determine the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees.
- Step 8: After removing the smaller pieces, pay special attention to the two large breast pieces by turning them on their sides for a few minutes. Just want to make sure each side has that crispy crust.
Total time to cook a full pan of chicken is about 30-40 minutes. Remove the cooked chicken pieces to a large platter and tent with foil.
How To Make Fried Chicken Gravy
- Step 1: Before we start the gravy, dip out about 1/2 cup of that starchy water that the potatoes have left behind from boiling.
- Step 2: Carefully pour off the oil leaving about 3 tablespoons in the fry pan. Make sure you don’t let any of those brown crunchies on the bottom of the pan escape. That’s what really makes a gravy flavorful.
- Step 3: With burner on medium low, add 4 tablespoons of all purpose flour and stir into a roux.
- Step 4: Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes, sprinkling in a little more flour if you feel the consistency isn’t thick enough. You’ve got to get this part right because you can’t add any more flour after this step, or you’ll get those undesirable lumps.
- Step 5: Make sure you’re scraping up every bit of the chicken bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Step 6: Add about a cup of milk. Stirring constantly allow mixture to thicken. Stir in about 1/2 cup of reserved potato water and continue to cook. As it bubbles and thickens add milk, a little at a time to achieve that perfect gravy consistency.
Questions You May Have
Don’t you dare try to get all healthy on me and remove the skin…it won’t work…don’t bother. Making cast iron skillet fried chicken is not the time to count fat calories. It’s all about that crispy skin.
How To Serve It.
Mash potatoes with some butter and milk and just enough salt and pepper. My mom always served this meal with this Old Fashioned green beans recipe. that have been tossed with some cooked chopped onion and bacon pieces.
Don’t forget to drag the green beans through some of the potatoes and gravy as you’re scooping them up. I always grab for the thighs…love that dark meat. Are you a white meat or dark meat kinda person?
Tips For Success:
- Before placing the raw chicken into the hot oil in the pan, make sure it’s hot enough. If it’s not, the chicken will absorb the oil which will keep it from getting nice and crispy. Don’t have a digital read thermometer? You can also sprinkle a bit of flour in the pan before adding the chicken, if it sizzles I know it’s ready.
- Don’t purchase “factory farmed” chicken. This individual pieces of chicken will be too large, making it hard to fit in the pan, and making it hard to get cooked through. Choose a chicken from a small smaller company like Red Bird Farms. Responsible companies such as this, don’t use methods to grow over-sized birds for harvest.
Recipe for Cast Iron Skilled Fried Chicken and Gravy
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Step by Step Cast Iron Skillet Fried Chicken and Gravy
Ingredients
- 1 chicken cut into pieces
- 1/2 cup Crisco enough to cover the chicken pieces half way up
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups flour for dredging chicken
- For the gravy:
- 3 tablespoons drippings oil from the fried chicken
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup starchy water from boiling potatoes
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- 3 hours before frying chicken, place chicken pieces in a large bowl of water that's been heavily salted. Drain chicken pieces and pat dry with paper towels. Place flour on a plate and dredge chicken pieces until well coated.
- Melt Crisco in a deep sided cast iron skillet or large fry pan. When oil reaches around 375 degrees start placing the floured chicken pieces in the hot oil. Cook until well browned, checkin pieces.
- As soon as the pieces start to brown, turn them and cook on the other side until well browned. When done, turn down heat to medium and cover with lid. Cook about 2 minutes just to make sure chicken is cooked through.
- Use a digital read thermometer to make sure the internal temperature of the chicken has reached 165 degrees.
- Remove pieces to a paper towel and tent with foil.
- For the Gravy: Drain oil from pan so that about 3 tablespoons remain. Return to medium heat and add flour to oil. Cook 2 – 3 minutes or until flour is starting to turn color. If the mixture seems thin, add a bit more flour. Add milk and starchy water from the potatoes you’ve cooked. Let it bubble until thickened. Add more milk if necessary to get that gravy consistency.
Notes
- Tips for Success
- Before placing the raw chicken into the hot oil in the pan, make sure it’s hot enough. If it’s not, the chicken will absorb the oil which will keep it from getting nice and crispy. Don’t have a digital read thermometer? You can also sprinkle a bit of flour in the pan before adding the chicken, if it sizzles I know it’s ready.
- Don’t purchase “factory farmed” chicken. This individual pieces of chicken will be too large, making it hard to fit in the pan, and making it hard to get cooked through. Choose a chicken from a small smaller company like Red Bird Farms. Responsible companies such as this, don’t use methods to grow over-sized birds for harvest.
Nutrition
Cast Iron Skillet Fried Chicken and Gravy … It’s Whats For Dinner
Why Trust These Recipes? Lea Ann Brown has lived, worked and played in Colorado for 45 years. She has immersed herself in the Colorado Culinary space, is a Culinary School Graduate and publishes her Colorado food Blog, Cooking On The Ranch.
Abby says
Looks exactly like my moms… fixed in cast iron with good ole Crisco and that’s the way I’ve always done it too. My mom always called it milk gravy & she got the most beautiful color on her roux before adding the milk. Too bad more people don’t learn to cook at an early age with simple ingredients…. Thanks for sharing
Lea Ann Brown says
Hi Abby – thanks so much for the comment.
I can’t imagine making fried chicken using anything BUT Crisco. And isn’t this meal in all it’s entirety just the best. It’s the first thing my mom ever taught me to make – which is surprising, it can be a little fickle to get that chicken just right.
And actually I think my mom called it milk gravy too. A little trick she taught me to do was add some of the starchy potato water to the milk gravy as it was thickening. She learned that from living through the Great Depression – saved on milk.
Thanks for your note – now let’s go fry up some chicken. 🙂
dulce says
How much flour exactly