Pan Fried Chicken with Homemade Fried Chicken Gravy

Good old fashioned pan fried chicken, with authentic creamy white fried chicken gravy. Step - by - step instructions.

Course Main Course Chicken

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 45

Brine time 1

Total Time 2 5

Servings

Calories 508kcal

Author Lea Ann Brown

Ingredients

3 pounds Whole Chicken Cut into pieces, or purchase individual pieces of your choice.
½ cup Crisco Shortening enough to cover the chicken pieces half way up
2 cups flour for dredging chicken
2 Tablespoon Kosher Salt divided
½ teaspoon Freshly ground pepper
For the Fried Chicken Gravy:
¼ cup oil drippings oil from the fried chicken
¼ Cup All purpose flour
1 cup milk and more to insure gravy consistency
¾ cup starchy water from boiling potatoes
½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
⅛ teaspoon Freshly ground pepper

Instructions

1 hour before frying chicken, place chicken pieces in a large bowl of water and add 1 tablespoon kosher salt. Drain chicken pieces and pat dry with paper towels.
In the meantime, prepare the Mashed Potatoes. Peel and cube potatoes, cover with salted water and place on stove top to boil. Once tender, remove ¾ cup of the starchy cooking water and set aside. Keep the potatoes warm in a crockpot on low.
For The Pan Fried Chicken
Place flour on a large plate and use a whisk to stir in salt and pepper. Dredge chicken pieces in the flour coating all sides, and shaking off any excess flour. Place each piece on a clean plate. Let sit for 10 minutes to let the flour "set in".
Melt Crisco shortening in a deep sided skillet or large fry pan. When oil reaches around 375 degrees start placing the floured chicken pieces in the hot oil, skin side down. You want to oil to come about ⅓ of the way up the chicken. Cook each piece until golden brown. You don't want to over-crowd the chicken pieces. More times than not, I fry chicken in batches.
Using a meat fork, turn chicken pieces over to brown on the other side.
Use a digital read thermometer to make sure the internal temperature of the chicken has reached 165 degrees. And no pink juices are coming from the chicken.
Remove pieces to a plate lined with paper towels and tent with foil to keep warm.
For The Fried Chicken Gravy:
Drain all but ¼ cup of the oil fro the skillet. Return to medium heat and add ¼ cup flour to the pan. Please note, you can make more gravy by reserving more oil. Just remember you need a 1 - 1 ratio of oil and flour.
Cook 2 - 3 minutes or until flour is starting to turn a light golden brown. Be sure you're aggressively scraping the chicken crumb bits from the bottom of the pan.
Add milk and reserved starchy water from the potatoes. Let it bubble until thickened, at least two minutes. This is important to let the flour flavor blend with the oil. Drizzle in more milk if necessary to get a gravy consistency that's perfect for you. Remember, each time you add a little milk, let it simmer for a couple of minutes to allow the gravy to re-thicken.
Note: Once you add the liquid to the flour oil mixture to start the gravy process, you can't add more flour. It will simply clump without recovery.

Notes

TIPS FOR SUCCESS:

Before placing the raw chicken into the hot oil in the pan, make sure the oil is hot enough. If it's not, the chicken will absorb the oil which will keep it from getting nice and crispy. Use a digital read thermometer to register 365 degrees. Don't have a digital read thermometer? My mom used to sprinkle in a bit of flour to the hot oil. If it created a good sizzle, she knew it was ready for the chicken.

When placing the chicken pieces in the fry pan, don't over-crowd. I usually pan fry chicken in batches. During cooking, if grease is splattering too much, lower heat.

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. Or purchase chicken from Whole Foods. Responsible companies such as this, don't use methods or purchase chicken that are over-sized birds for harvest.

When Making Fried Chicken Gravy: Once you add the milk and starchy water to the flour oil mixture to start the gravy process, you can't add more flour. It will simply clump without recovery.

Nutrition