We tested 6 famous chefs’ fried chicken recipes and found a clear favorite

The winning recipe produced an audible crunch that you simply have to experience.

Key points

• We tested six fried chicken recipes from famous chefs to find the crispiest crust, juiciest meat, and best overall technique.
• Our favorite recipe relied on an overnight buttermilk brine, a dredge in seasoned flour, and shallow-frying in a cast-iron skillet.
• Across all six recipes, maintaining oil between 325°F and 360°F produced the best results, allowing the chicken to cook through before the breading overbrowned.

Fried chicken tops my list of favorite feel-good foods. I want it for my birthday, the Super Bowl, and a weekend treat. It’s indulgent yet approachable — crunchy and delectably savory. Its scent permeates any space where it’s fried, be it your kitchen, a diner, or a gas station. I know of few people who can resist grabbing a warm, freshly fried piece and digging in.

Food & Wine readers also love fried chicken, and the magazine’s archive offers no shortage of recipes. A panel of editors, alongside experts from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen, selected six recipes from famous chefs and culinary professionals. Each recipe was tested and tasted — a happy day for the team. The buffet of fried chicken options sparked lively conversation about how to achieve the crispiest breading and juiciest meat. But one recipe delighted us most of all, and it was also one of the easiest to make.

Winner: Angie Mosier’s Super-Crispy Pan-Fried Chicken

Active time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Total time: 9 hours 15 minutes

Atlanta cook, writer, photographer, and stylist Angie Mosier has worked in food media for decades. She has collaborated on multiple cookbooks with world-renowned chefs and has served as president of the board of directors of the Southern Foodways Alliance. Mosier’s Super-Crispy Pan-Fried Chicken is exactly as advertised — ultra-crispy, and our favorite of these tests. 

Mosier calls for drumsticks and thighs, soaking them in buttermilk overnight. Once brined, the chicken is drained; dredged generously in seasoned flour; then pan-fried, well-spaced, in two cast-iron skillets. Our team noted an audible crunch while tasting, with some comparing the crispy coating to the texture of cornflakes. The chicken was moist with classic flavor. This recipe demonstrates how simple ingredients can create an exceptional experience with the right execution. 

Related: 21 Delicious Ways to Use Up Leftover Buttermilk

Best Southern-style: Shaun Doty’s Ultimate Southern Fried Chicken

Active time: 45 minutes

Total time: 45 minutes

Chef Shaun Doty was instrumental in growing Atlanta’s fine-dining scene. After earning a culinary arts degree from the Charleston campus of Johnson & Wales University, Doty worked in top restaurants throughout the South, as well as Michelin-starred kitchens in Belgium and France. Today, he combines his passion for Southern food with French culinary precision at Bantam & Biddy, which has locations in Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida.

The flavor of Doty’s Ultimate Southern Fried Chicken took us back to the parking lot of a well-known Southern grocery store — a high compliment. His breading combines flour, spices, and cornstarch for crunch. He seasons the chicken with salt and pepper, then double-dredges it in the dry mixture, dipping in a coating of whisked eggs in between. Shallow-fried in a cast-iron skillet, the result is juicy and extra crispy. We were amazed at how well seasoned the chicken tasted in the absence of a marinade. Some tasters compared the texture of the breading to popcorn chicken, with its aroma triggering memories of a to-go box from the supermarket. 

Related: I Tried Every Fried Chicken Spot in My City — This Grocery Chain Beat Them All

Most chef-forward: Thomas Keller’s Lemon-Brined Fried Chicken

Active time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes

1988 F&W Best New Chef Thomas Keller revolutionized fine dining with his restaurants The French Laundry in Yountville, California, and Per Se in New York City, both of which have earned three Michelin stars in concurrent years. Passionate about finesse, flawless technique, and presentation, he and his team have won 11 James Beard Awards. Beyond his successful restaurants, perhaps his greatest legacy is mentoring the next generation of chefs who are shaping today’s culinary scene. 

Keller’s Lemon-Brined Fried Chicken is famously served at his casual Napa Valley restaurant Ad Hoc + Addendum. He brines whole chickens in a lemon-forward mix before breaking them down into pieces, dipping in buttermilk, and dredging in seasoned flour. As in the previous recipes, Keller shallow-fries the chicken in a skillet. The team was amazed at how the lemon flavor shone through, and the brine kept the chicken moist. Because the technique required more effort, it left tasters wondering if the investment in time truly paid off, but this recipe is perfect for citrus lovers as well as those who would like to try a chef-driven approach.

Related: 17 Recipes to Make at Home for a Taste of Thomas Keller

Most approachable: Jonathan Waxman’s JW Fried Chicken

Active time: 45 minutes

Total time: 45 minutes

Chef Jonathan Waxman is a pioneer of California’s farm-to-table movement, cooking at the famed Chez Panisse and creating the restaurant Michael’s in Santa Monica. He brought his seasonal focus to New York City with Barbuto in the West Village, which has been open for over 20 years. The James Beard Award–winning chef champions careful ingredient sourcing and simplicity.  

His signature JW Fried Chicken recipe was one of the easiest and quickest we tested. Chicken pieces are seasoned with a rub that includes ground ginger, then dredged in flour, buttermilk, then a mix of flour and fine cornmeal. They’re shallow-fried in a cast-iron skillet and, ideally, drained on butcher paper. Though the exterior of the chicken came out crispy, some tasters weren’t fond of the cornmeal grit. But the recipe comes together in less than 45 minutes and uses just six ingredients, not counting salt, pepper, and the oil for frying. For those looking for weeknight-friendly fried chicken, this is the one.

Related: 30 Quick Chicken Recipes to Make in 45 Minutes or Less

Most flavorful: Meherwan Irani’s Marghi Na Farcha (Parsi Fried Chicken)

Active time: 40 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Chef Meherwan Irani’s Chai Pani restaurant helped cement Asheville, North Carolina, as a culinary hot spot when it opened in 2009. Irani moved from his home in the Indian state of Maharashtra to the United States as a graduate student, quickly got into the food business, and started making waves. A James Beard Award winner, he owns multiple restaurants and the spice company Spicewalla. His recipes have filled the pages of Food & Wine for years, including his traditional Marghi Na Farcha, a Parsi-style take on fried chicken. Irani’s father is Parsi, a descendent of Zoroastrians who settled on India’s east coast from present-day Iran more than 1,000 years ago. Though they’re small in number, their culinary reputation is tremendous.

Irani’s fried chicken starts with a flavorful marinade of cilantro, lime juice, and dried spices such as turmeric and Kashmiri chile powder. After marinating, the chicken (boneless, skinless thighs in this case) is dredged in flour, dipped in egg, then shallow-fried in a cast-iron skillet while the chicken is basted. Tasters loved the flavor, but noted that with the added moisture from the marinade and eggs, the breading did not crisp optimally. Still, it was deeply satisfying.

Related: 6 Meherwan Irani Recipes to Channel Chai Pani at Home

Best for making ahead: Bobby Flay’s Fried Chicken with Honey Mustard

Active time: 1 hour

Total time: 2 hours

Chef Bobby Flay, a James Beard Award winner and a household name thanks to his omnipresence on the Food Network, is an influential voice in American dining. His current fast-casual chains, Bobby’s Burgers and Bobby’s Burger Palace, bring his signature fine-dining creativity to everyday foods.

Flay’s Fried Chicken with Honey Mustard starts with a marinade of yogurt and spices. The marinated chicken is then parcooked in the oven. After baking, the chicken is dipped again in yogurt before being breaded in seasoned flour. It’s deep-fried, then served with a horseradish-spiked honey mustard sauce. Tasters found that the yogurt marinade did little to impart flavor, and parcooking actually dried the meat out a bit. That said, we acknowledge that this recipe would be handy for a dinner party, as the chicken can be baked in advance, then quickly fried to finish. 

Related: Bobby Flay Trademarked This Iconic Burger — Here’s How to Make It

Final takeaways

Our testing showed that straightforward ingredients and precise technique often deliver the best results. The winning recipe relied on an overnight buttermilk brine for juicy meat and a seasoned flour dredge that produced an exceptionally crisp crust. Our runner-up proved that a simple double-dredge with flour, cornstarch, and egg can deliver equally satisfying crunch and classic flavor. 

While the recipes that incorporated complex brines, marinades, or parcooking were unique and flavorful, they often lacked the juicy meat and shatteringly crisp coating that tasters wanted most. For readers seeking the ultimate fried chicken recipe for a summer gathering, Angie Mosier’s classic method earned our top spot. The best choice for you, though, will always come down to the flavors and techniques you enjoy most.

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