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grandma's unbreaded fried chicken

(7 ratings)
chachi avatar
Blue Ribbon Recipe by
joeyjoan K
@chachi
Clarkston, MI

I love this chicken. In fact, it is the only fried chicken I eat. For 2 weeks each summer I stayed with my grandparents. Of all the wonderful things we did, one of my best times was when Grandma and I would make my favorite dinner, fried chicken with mashed potatoes and corn. My older brother and I argue all the time about this. He says it was breaded. I KNOW it wasn't. While this is an easy dish to prepare, it is not an easy recipe to write. I have no measurements or timing; it's mostly about feeling. I love this chicken, it is so crispy and juicy. Finger-licking and lip-smacking good!

Blue Ribbon Recipe

This fried chicken recipe intrigued us. Would it be good without breading? Turns out, it's fantastic! Frying the chicken in bacon grease adds tons of flavor to the chicken. The skin crisps up with bits of bacon, salt, and pepper. You really can't tell that the chicken is not breaded. Serve with mashed potatoes and gravy for a comforting meal. This unbreaded fried chicken would be tasty for a picnic too.

— The Test Kitchen @kitchencrew
(7 ratings)
cook time 1 Hr
method Pan Fry

Ingredients For grandma's unbreaded fried chicken

  • chicken, frying pieces 1lb per person
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 3-4 slice
    bacon fat or 3 Tbsp cooking oil
  • lg
    skillet that hold heat (i.e. cast iron )

How To Make grandma's unbreaded fried chicken

  • Cooking bacon in a skillet.
    1
    Cook bacon in skillet or heat cooking oil. Oil will spit when you drop water in it when hot enough. (My Grandma only used bacon fat, that was her frying oil of choice, It does add to the flavor of the chicken.)
  • Seasoned chicken added to the skillet with bacon grease.
    2
    Salt and pepper your chicken to taste. When your oil is hot enough, carefully place the chicken in the pan bottom side down.
  • Chicken simmering on the stove.
    3
    Cover and simmer on medium-ish heat for 15 min.
  • Turning the chicken and continuing to cook.
    4
    Using TONGS turn chicken. Recover and continue to cook for 15 min more.
  • Checking the meat doesn't stick to the pan.
    5
    Check the meat if the meat has started to pull away from the leg bone raise the heat a little and cook uncovered, rearrange the meat according to the heat in your pan. If meat is not pulling away continue to cook covered on medium-ish heat. After you uncover and raise the heat, turn every 10ish minutes, cooking till meat is cooked thru and the skin is golden brown and crispy. Remove from pan and keep warm.
  • Gravy made from pan drippings.
    6
    Make your gravy using the pan drippings.
  • Grandma's Unbreaded Fried Chicken on a plate with veggies and mashed potatoes.
    7
    Serve warm or cold. This makes the best cold picnic chicken.
  • Last Step: Don't forget to share! Make all your friends drool by posting a picture of your finished recipe on your favorite social network. And don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes so we can see it too!
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