Target: 9 × 11 inches · portrait

Main Course · Southern Chicken Dinner

Southern Fried Chicken Dinner with Honey-Butter Biscuits

Juicy bone-in fried chicken gets a crisp, craggy buttermilk crust alongside easy honey-butter biscuits, tangy slaw, and buttered corn.

97 min

4 servings

Craggy fried chicken with honey-butter biscuits, creamy coleslaw, and buttered corn on a dinner table.

Ingredients

3 lb bone-in chicken

2 cups buttermilk

2 tsp hot sauce

1 tsp smoked paprika

2 tsp kosher salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup buttermilk (2 tbsp reserved marinade)

2 qt neutral frying oil

2 cups shredded green cabbage

1 carrot

2 tbsp sliced scallion

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

6 tbsp cold unsalted butter

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp melted butter

4 ears corn

2 tbsp butter

kosher salt

Equipment

Large bowl · Baking sheet · Knife · Deep heavy pot · Tongs · Wire rack or plate

The craggy-crust trick

Wet clumps in the flour create the ridges. Press rather than shake the coating, and do not crowd the frying pot.

Get ahead

The slaw can be made before the chicken marinates; keep it chilled until dinner is ready.

Marinate and make slaw

01. Coat chicken in the seasoned buttermilk marinade and chill 30 minutes; it seasons the meat without strong heat.

02. Dress cabbage, carrot, and scallion, then chill so the slaw stays crisp and tangy.

Bake biscuits

03. Heat oven to 425 F and mix cold butter into the dry biscuit ingredients before adding buttermilk; stop when the dough is shaggy.

04. Pat dough 1 inch thick, cut 8 squares, bake 14 minutes, and brush immediately with honey butter.

Create the crust

05. Rub buttermilk and reserved marinade into the seasoned flour mixture to make plenty of small clumps.

06. Press each chicken piece into the clumpy dredge and let the coating hydrate for 10 minutes before frying.

Fry in batches

07. Heat 2 inches of oil to 350 F and set the oven to 200 F for holding cooked chicken.

08. Fry in 2 batches at 325 to 350 F until deeply golden and 165 F inside; use the warm oven only for the first batch.

Finish the meal

09. Simmer corn 5 minutes, then toss it with butter and salt while the chicken finishes.

10. Rest chicken 5 minutes on a rack so its crust stays crisp, then serve with biscuits, slaw, and corn.