Fried chicken = comfort food. Some of my earliest food memories were of eating Kentucky Fried Chicken at the drive-in movie theater (funny that I don’t do either of those things any more). Ed adores it and makes an effort to find good fried chicken when he’s traveling in the South – Mary Mac’s Tea Room in Atlanta is at the top of his list. At work we have an onsite cafeteria. Our recently retired chef (of 39 years) Steve S’s signature dish was fried chicken. I recall having lunch outside on a beautiful June day and my four colleagues all devouring their fried chicken while I ate a wheat-free salad. It’s just not quite the same.
This recipe satisfies those fried chicken cravings with less guilt as it’s ‘oven-fried’ and can be made both with gluten and without. This chicken isn’t difficult to make, but it does take some time. The key getting super moist chicken is brining and you’ll want to do that for 24 hours before cooking it. Dipping it in buttermilk before coating it in the flour mixture also contributes to making this chicken tender. Adding cornmeal helps make it crispy and a few different spices (coriander, cayenne pepper and black pepper) give the crust a nice flavor.
I use thighs as they’re evenly sized and easy to eat. You could add drumsticks along with breasts (they’ll need to cook longer) to the mix, too.
A note on brining – not all kosher salts are created equal. Diamond Crystal kosher salt only has 5 ounces per cup versus Morton’s kosher salt which has 8 ounces of salt per cup. Just one of the many things I’ve learned from Samin Nosart’s Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking. More on this amazing book in the future.
The best thing about this chicken? It’s equally good hot out of the oven or served cold at a picnic or tailgate. It would make a lovely addition to a Super Bowl spread, too. You can even prepare it a day or two in advance.
Gluten-Free/Wheat-Free Option: I used Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour and Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Medium Cornmeal for this recipe. You can substitute the same amount of all-purpose flour if you don’t need to make it gluten-free/wheat-free. Cornmeal doesn’t contain gluten, but could be cross-contaminated in production facilities.
| Cornmeal Oven-Fried Chicken (Gluten-Free) | Print |
- ½ cup kosher salt (preferably Diamond Crystal – see Notes)
- ¼ white sugar
- 3 cups water
- 8 cloves of garlic, skins removed and smashed
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 6 cups cold water
- 8 chicken thighs, with skin and bones
- 1 cup buttermilk (see Notes)
- 1 cup gluten-free flour or all-purpose flour (see Notes)
- ½ cup medium ground cornmeal (see Notes)
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- In a small pot, combine salt, sugar and 3 cups of water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the salt and sugar dissolve.
- Transfer salt-sugar water mixture to a large bowl or pot. Add garlic, coriander, bay leaves, peppercorns and remaining 6 cups of cold water. Stir until brine is cold.
- Add chicken, cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours.
- Remove chicken from brine and place on a larger platter or cookie sheet. Let stand for 30 minutes to remove some of the chill. Remove any spices that may have remained on the chicken.
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil (to ease in clean up). Spray with cooking oil.
- Place buttermilk in a shallow bowl. In a second shallow bowl, whisk flour, cornmeal, coriander, cayenne pepper, sea salt and black pepper.
- Dip each chicken thigh into buttermilk and then dredge in flour mixture, shaking off the excess. Transfer chicken pieces to prepared baking sheet, skin side down.
- Roast chicken pieces for about 25 to 30 minutes or until very browned. Flip over chicken pieces and roast for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Chicken is done when browned and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165°F. Transfer chicken to a wire rack to let cool for at least 10 minutes (the rack allows it to cool more evenly).
- Serve chicken hot, at room temperature or cold. Chicken can be made two days in advance.
* I use my 7-1/4 quart round Le Creuset Dutch oven for brining the chicken - all the pieces are submerged and it has a lid for covering.
* While I like baking with a buttermilk powder mix (such as SACO Cultured Buttermilk Blend), for this recipe I recommend using liquid buttermilk.
* If you want to make this truly gluten-free use gluten-free flour (such as Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour) in place of the all-purpose flour and gluten-free cornmeal (such as Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Medium Cornmeal).
Source: Adapted from Kristin Donnelly’s Modern Potluck (2016)
I was just having the kosher salt discussion with a friend. I am a Morton’s guy – just family tradition – and she is Diamond – because she read about it! But it is so true that it makes a huge difference!
Also, I loved – LOVED – Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat!
I look forward to trying this, Nicole!
David – I should have known that you had thoughts on Kosher salt! And, am so glad you read Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat! It’s actually our book club book this month – I’m really looking forward to discussing it and am sure that I will have more references to the book.