Sous Vide Buttermilk Fried Chicken

I have yet to meet anyone that doesn’t love fried chicken. I’m talking about fried chicken that is cooked to perfection. Not soggy, greasy, flavorless, dried out chicken but crispy, crunchy, moist, flavorful fried chicken. When fried chicken is done right, it is downright divine!

It’s actually harder to get it right than you might think. My first attempt was an abysmal failure. I used the traditional method of frying it up in oil. The crust was burnt and the meat was undercooked. It was a rather disappointing result. Not a meal that would make me legend!!! So it got me thinking about what I could do to get it right.

TIP: The single most important thing to aim for with fried chicken is getting a crisp, crunchy, not greasy, coating with a fully cooked, tender and juicy meat. It’s harder to get it right than it sounds.

Cooking it at too low of a temperature will result in soggy, greasy chicken, not good. Cooking it at too high of a temperature will cause the crust to burn before the meat is fully cooked through. Undercooked, burned chicken, not good. This was the result I had after my first attempt.

Maybe it was the electric skillet that was the problem? Maybe if I used a cast iron pan I might get better results? I wanted to use tools I already have instead of purchasing yet another kitchen item. That’s when I came up with the idea of using my Sous Vide cooker.

If you are thinking about purchasing a Sous Vide cooker you may want to consider purchasing the one I have. You can purchase the Anova Sous Vide cooker that I use on Amazon here. Free shipping if you are a Prime member 👍🏻

The more I use it, the more I’m loving it! It has tons of great reviews and I’m having excellent results using it. 

It’s also small and compact which makes it so easy to store in a drawer of your kitchen. I am not a kitchen gadget kind of girl, but this is one kitchen gadget that has gotten a lot of use in the few short weeks I’ve had it! I can honestly say it’s one of the best purchases I’ve recently made that really enhances the quality and results of the foods I cook.

So I got to thinking, what if I cooked the chicken pieces with my Sous Vide and finished them by frying them up in a cast iron pan? The Sous Vide cooking method would ensure the meat was fully cooked and tender, and the frying would give me the tasty crispy crust that makes fried chicken…well…fried chicken. 💡 It sounded like the perfect solution to my under cooked meat/overcooked burnt crust problem!

All right, let’s get this rodeo started already!

Begin by filling a large pot with water. Set the Sous Vide cooker in the pot, clamp it to the sides and set temperature to 185 degrees.

While the water is coming up to the required temperature, season chicken thighs with salt. Place them in a gallon sized ziplock plastic bag, keeping them in a single layer. Use as many bags as needed to keep them in a single layer.

I used thighs because I like the flavor of the dark meat and they were on sale, but you could just as easily use drumsticks or breast meat if you prefer.

Squeeze out all the air and seal the bag.

Once the water temperature reaches 185 degrees, completely submerge the bag(s) in the hot water.

Cook for 4 1/2 hours. (This time is for frozen dark meat pieces, if using frozen white meat reduce the cook time to 3 hours). Cook fresh dark meat for 3 hours and fresh white meat for 1 hour.

I love that it’s not necessary to defrost the chicken pieces before cooking them in the Sous Vide. Just season, bag and go.

Once chicken has cooked for the recommended time, remove the bag(s) from the hot water and remove the chicken pieces from the bag(s) and pat chicken dry with a paper towel.

Place an inch of oil in a cast iron skillet and get the temperature to 375-400 degrees. The meat is already fully cooked so frying at a higher temperature will produce a crispy crust quickly without overcooking the meat.

While the oil is heating up, fill one ziplock bag with Buttermilk.

Fill another bag with the flour mixture. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and onion powder. Seal the bag and shake to mix the flour and spices together, until well combined.

Set out a wire rack to drain cooked pieces of chicken.

Place the chicken pieces in the buttermilk to coat.

Using tongs, place one piece of chicken from the buttermilk into the flour mixture. Seal bag and shake well to coat the chicken completely.

Place each coated chicken piece on a rack and continue coating the remaining pieces of chicken, one at a time, with the flour mixture.

Place breaded chicken pieces in the hot oil and fry until crisp and golden brown on the outside. Fry only a few pieces at a time, you don’t want to crowd the pan and bring down the temperature of the oil. Not only will it increase the cook time and possibly overcook the chicken but if the oil is not hot enough you may end up with greasy chicken.

Turn chicken while frying to ensure it browns evenly on both sides. Remove when it is a rich, golden brown.

Drain fried chicken on wire rack while you fry up the remaining pieces of chicken.

I like to serve fried chicken with either my favorite potato salad recipe or creamy mashed potatoes. When I want to serve fried chicken with potato salad I cook up the potatoes the day before. The next morning all that’s left to do is to toss together the salad and pop it in the fridge. Allowing it to sit in the fridge for a several hours lets the flavors to come together and enhances the taste.

Mashed potatoes are another favorite side to serve with crispy fried chicken. The contrast of the crispy, crunch of the fried chicken with the smooth creaminess of the the mashed potatoes; it’s such a wonderful combination of textures in your mouth.

Learn how easy it is to make the world’s creamiest, fluffiest mashed potatoes to serve with your perfectly fried, crispy chicken.

Whether you choose to serve fried chicken with potato salad to with mashed potatoes, you won’t be disappointed with this classic, iconic American meal. A tried and true meal that has been enjoyed by generations of families. Talk about the ultimate comfort food!

You can easily double, triple or even quadruple this recipe to feed a crowd. Go on, give the Sous Vide cooking method a try, you are going to LOVE it!!!

My second attempt cooking fried chicken with my Sous Vide produced phenomenal results!!! The chicken was fully cooked all the way through and super juicy and tender. The crust was crunchy, crispy and perfectly browned. DELICIOUS! Exactly what you want when you eat fried chicken!!!

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If you decide to make this Buttermilk Fried Chicken, don’t forget to comment and leave a review, or tag me on Instagram so I can see it!