Gus' Fried Chicken Recipe: Crispy Thanksgiving Delight

Although Southern cuisine gets its own share of praise, one thing’s for sure: It’s not enough. It will never be enough. American cuisine is not all about hamburgers and fries, and it’s definitely not best described with those chain fast-food restaurants. Soul food, on the other hand, might be the best of the rest. And when it comes to that, Gus’ fried chicken recipe should be mentioned.

The world-famous Gus’ fried chicken recipe is kept secret by the man himself, but this copycat version is as close as it gets. The secret? The liquid batter consists of flour and spices. All done in an hour, the chicken is so tender that it melts in your mouth, with an explosion of savory and earthy flavors.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Pro Tips
• Gus' Fried Chicken Recipe: Crispy Thanksgiving Delight
• Comments

Ingredients

• Chicken — 3 ½ pounds
• Buttermilk — 4 cups
• All-purpose flour — 3 cups
• Cayenne pepper — 1 tsp.
• Paprika — 2 tsp.
• Salt — 2 tsp.
• Black pepper — 1 tsp.
• Vegetable oil — 5-6 tbsp.

Instructions

1. Clean, wash, and cut the chicken into eight equal pieces.

2. Combine chicken with buttermilk in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

3. The next day, combine the flour, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper in a plastic bag.

4. Shake to mix.

5. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet.

6. Coat each piece of chicken with the flour mixture.

7. Once the oil is hot, transfer the chicken pieces to the skillet, one by one if necessary.

8. Cook the chicken pieces for three minutes per side.

9. Drain the chicken with paper towels before serving.

Substitutions

• All-purpose flour — As endorsed by Gus himself, all-purpose flour works extremely well here. That being said, you can experiment with various alternatives. Cornstarch gets the job done and provides a unique corn flavor to the dish. Egg wash and breadcrumbs should be considered as well.

• Vegetable oil — It is said that Gus’ fried chicken recipe traditionally uses peanut oil. While nothing is wrong with that, it’s definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, so feel free to use vegetable oil, olive oil, or peanut oil. The difference is minimal.

• Buttermilk — If you have buttermilk, stick to it. Regardless, if you’re short on buttermilk, it’s not the end of the world. A fine buttermilk replacement would be a combination of milk and lemon juice. You can substitute buttermilk with milk in a 1/1 ratio, and a teaspoon of either lemon juice or vinegar would suffice.

Variations

• Hot — While Gus’ fried chicken recipe makes a soulful dish, some might find it lacking when it comes to the hotter side of things. If that’s the case with you, you can add a splash of Louisiana hot sauce to the mix. Tabasco works fine as well.

• Earthy — Why not try adding some herbs and spices to Gus’ fried chicken recipe? You can use herbs and spices like basil, oregano, rosemary, and thyme.

• The sauce — No fried chicken is complete without a proper sauce, and that goes for Gus’ as well. Everyone loves a thick, savory gravy sauce, but obviously, classic ones like BBQ, ranch, and sweet-sour would go well.

Equipment

• Measuring cups and spoons

• Knife

• Mixing bowl

• Plastic bag

• Skillet

• Paper towels

Storage

• Allow the fried chicken to cool completely. Either transfer the leftovers to an airtight container or wrap them tightly with aluminum foil.

• Once refrigerated, the leftovers will last for between 3-4 days.

Pro Tips

• Marinating — As made clear in Gus’ fried chicken recipe, you should ideally marinate the chicken overnight. However, if you’re short on time, you can get away with marinating for at least two hours. Keep in mind that marinating the chicken for less than two hours is pointless.

• Serving — Another important note to remember is that you should be looking to rest the chicken before serving. A few minutes will do. This will help the chicken to balance the flavors and stay moist.