Honey Butter Fried Chicken

Honey Butter Fried Chicken recipe! Everything in moderation, right?! Fry up a batch of this crispy, crunchy, spicy chicken then drizzle it with a buttery sweet glaze. HEAVENLY!

WATCH THE HONEY BUTTER FRIED CHICKEN VIDEO

First, get yourself a chicken

Start with a whole chicken cut up into pieces or pick up a package of your favorite chicken parts. Check out the video below to learn a little about the difference between family farmed versus factory farmed chicken. I also show how to cut a whole chicken into pieces.

Remove any feathers that may have survived processing and give the chicken a wash to remove any funky juices built up in the packaging. Just don’t splash chicken water all over your kitchen, that causes more problems than it solves. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and proceed. Always give your kitchen sink and surrounding areas a good cleaning with a cleaner containing bleach after you have washed chicken.

Next, seasoning is LIFE

There is no room here for unseasoned chicken. Mix up a batch of my SEASONED SALT, (RECIPE HERE) and sprinkle it evenly over the chicken and store the chicken in the fridge. Seasoning an entire day in advance is best if you have the time. This lets the salt draw the seasoning deep into the meat. If you ain’t got that kinda time then seasoning for about 6 hours will be okay,

Make the honey butter drizzle

Heat the honey in a 3-quart pot. That may seem large but the honey expands when it simmers. Let the honey simmer for 2 minutes, turn off the heat and whisk in the cold butter until it is completely incorporated. Whisk constantly to emulsify the butter and honey creating a stable glaze that won’t separate. Set the glaze aside until ready to use, it will thicken as it cools.

Get saucy

Pour a little hot sauce over the chicken to add some heat to this dish. The heat from the hot sauce, along with the cayenne pepper in the seasoned salt will balance the sweetness of the honey. The hot sauce also gives the flour something to cling to so you build up a nice crust. I use Frank’s Red Hot hot sauce (this is not a sponsored post, it’s what I really use) because it’s not too hot and it’s a bit thicker than most sauces. The vinegar in it adds a nice tang to the chicken. Try out different sauces and see which one suits you best.

Knock the chill off

Remove the chicken from the fridge a good half hour before you start frying. This helps your chicken to fry up more evenly.

Heat the oil

I fry chicken in a large cast iron pot given to me by my parents. Fried chicken cooked in cast iron is a beautiful thing. An electric fryer is also a good choice because it keeps the oil temperature regulated for you.

Use oil with a high smoke point that won’t break down easily during frying. Canola and peanut oil are great for frying, canola is a less expensive choice. I’m going to write a post all about cooking oils soon so stay tuned for that. Heat your oil to 325 degrees. Don’t overfill the pot because the hot oil will expand and bubble out of the pot during cooking. Always have a heavy metal lid and a kitchen fire extinguisher nearby in case of fire, read THESE HELPFUL TIPS about putting out grease fires before you start cooking. Safety first.

SEASON YOUR FLOUR

That seasoned salt must be added to your flour because unseasoned flour is unacceptable. Place the flour and a few tablespoons of seasoned salt into a 2-gallon ziptop bag so you have lots of room to shake. Add 4-5 pieces of chicken or however many you are cooking in your first batch. Shake the chicken in the seasoned flour until it’s well coated, remove the chicken from the flour and shake off excess flour.

Get frying

Gently place the chicken into the hot oil the oil temperature will drop a bit but come back up in a few minutes. Turn the chicken over every 5 minutes for even cooking. Let the chicken cook for about 15-18 minutes, until the chicken reaches 165 degrees internally. Drain the chicken on a wire rack and keep it warm in a 200-degree oven while you fry the next batch. Don’t crowd the pan, make sure there is space between the chicken parts so it cooks evenly and the oil temperature doesn’t drop too much.