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side view of chicken on plate with sauce

Paleo Fried Chicken

Tara Klippert
Think delicious greasy fried chicken, but without the guilt!
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 6
Calories 293 kcal

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • Measure and add all dry ingredients to a large bowl.
  • With a whisk, blend all the dry ingredients together thoroughly.
  • Slowly pour in the club soda starting with 1 1/4 cup. If your batter is too dry, add up to 1/4 cup more as you stir.
    pouring club soda into dry ingredients for batter
  • You will want your batter to be just as thick as pancake batter, but not as thin as cake batter.
  • Dip each piece of chicken in the batter, making sure to coat each side with a thick layer.
    raw chicken thigh in batter before frying
  • On the stove, heat a large cast-iron skillet on low to medium heat and add roughly 1/2 cup to 1 cup of pork lard (or cooking oil of choice) to the bottom of the pan. Around an inch of oil should be sufficient. Hot oil is dangerous, do not fill your pan higher than half way up or you might burn yourself when it spatters, or start a fire.
    pork lard melting in cast iron pan
  • Immediately put your battered chicken thigh into your large skillet. You will generally be able to fit 3 battered chicken thighs in your pan at a time.
    three pieces of fried chicken frying in cast iron pan
  • After about 5 to 7 minutes, or when the chicken thigh starts getting brown and crispy on the bottom, carefully flip it over to the second side using a metal flipper. Be careful not to spray yourself with the hot lard! I suggest wearing oven mitts and an apron. Cook for another 5 to 7 minutes until golden brown.
    three pieces of chicken frying in cast iron pan
  • Once your battered chicken thighs are done, carefully use tongs to scoop them out and place them on a plate lined with paper towel. This will soak up some of the extra grease. Cut into the thickest chicken thigh to make sure that the chicken is cooked through. If it's not, drain out some of the grease and put them back in the pan at a lower temperature to allow them to cook through more thoroughly. Use a meat thermometer to make sure that your chickens internal temperature is at least 165°F.
    three pieces of fried chicken on paper towel beside spatula
  • Serve as soon as possible! They will be nice and crisp when they first come out of the pan, but quickly lose their crispy texture. Serve with a mixture of 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon yellow mustard, and 2 tablespoons of homemade mayonnaise in a shallow bowl for dipping. Trust me!

Notes

Above in the blog post I provide recipe ingredient substitutions as well as recipe variations.

Nutrition

Serving: 6gCalories: 293kcalCarbohydrates: 20.5gProtein: 23gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 4.4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gCholesterol: 103mgSodium: 805mgPotassium: 151mgFiber: 1.2gSugar: 2.3g
Keyword dairy free, grain free, nut free, paleo, soy free
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