Farmhouse fried chicken - simple, basic, yet so richly flavored and tantalizing. A comforting, home-cooked way to make fried chicken that never goes out of style. (Skip to recipe.)
Chances are, if you grew up on a farm on the Canadian Prairies, you've eaten chicken prepared like this. (Chances are if you grew up in town on the Canadian Prairies, you've eaten it, too.)
Simple. Basic. Yet somehow so richly flavoured and tantalizing. When this chicken is doing its thing in the oven, everyone who enters the kitchen smiles eagerly, sniffing and asking Mmmmm. . . what's for dinner?
It is the kind of comforting, home-cooked way to make fried chicken that never goes out of style.
My mother-in-law (affectionately called Granny by everyone) has made this fried chicken for the 60-plus years she's lived in the farmhouse on the family farm in northern Alberta.
Raymond's dad, who, at 94-years-young, is one of the dwindling number of Canadian World War II veterans alive to tell his amazing stories, rates this chicken as one of his favourite dishes.
My kids rave about it - it's their favourite meal that Granny makes, too.
I think it has stood the test of time.
* * * * *
Farmhouse Fried Chicken
- One 3 to 4 lb (1.4-1.8kg) chicken, cut up, or a mixture of pre-cut chicken pieces
- ½ cup (70gms) flour, or your favourite gluten-free blend, or cornstarch (I like to use a blend of equal parts millet flour, sweet rice flour, and potato or corn starch)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning or ground sage
- 2 to 3 tablespoons oil
- ¾ to 1 cup (180-240ml) water
Optional (but only if you want to be extra fancy): 1 or 2 bay leaves, use white wine instead of water
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Cut the chicken into serving sized pieces (see how to cut up a chicken here), if using.
In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil.
Dip the chicken pieces into the seasoned flour, turning them to coat all sides and get the flour into all the crevices. Shake off the excess.
Fry the floured chicken pieces in the oil, skin side up first, until golden brown on both sides. You may need to fry them in two batches, adding the remaining tablespoon of oil for the second batch. If you have a splatter screen to put over the skillet while frying, it will help reduce the mess on your stovetop from the fine splatters of oil.
Remove the browned chicken pieces to a casserole dish, dutch oven, or small roasting pan with a lid. Or use a baking dish, and cover it with foil while in the oven. Ideally the roasting dish will be large enough to hold the chicken pieces in one layer if they are snugged up against each other.
*If your chicken was excessively fatty, and a lot more fat has collected than you started with, tilt the skillet and spoon out several tablespoons of the excess fat, leaving only about 2 tablespoons in the skillet with the drippings.
Pour ¾ cup of water into the skillet, and stir to deglaze it and loosen up all the flavourful bits stuck to the bottom. Pour the water with the pan drippings into the casserole dish around the chicken. If using bay leaves, tuck them into the liquid so they are fully submerged. Add a bit more water if needed to bring the liquid up to ¼ inch (.5cm) deep.
Cover and bake for 1 hour. If you have time, you can bake it for up to two hours, adding a bit more water halfway through if it's getting dry (but it is tender and flavourful after one hour, the extra time just adds a slight edge of even more tenderness.)
Transfer the chicken pieces to a serving plate and drizzle with the flavourful gravy left in the bottom of the roasting pan.
*Variation: Mabel's Mushroom Fried Farmhouse Chicken - 2 cans sliced mushrooms with their liquid. Instead of the water, drain the liquid from the tinned mushrooms and use it to deglaze the pan. Scatter the mushrooms over the chicken, pour in the deglazed mushroom liquid, and bake as for the regular Farmhouse Chicken, above.
Or use 1 lb (450gms) fresh mushrooms, sliced. Place half of them into the roasting pan before you put in the chicken pieces, and sprinkle the other half on top of the chicken pieces. Use water to deglaze the pan, as in the recipe above.
Serves 4 to 5.
Guten Appetit!
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Yes ..... Do remember farm fed chicken when on the farm and prepared the same way. Oh so good‼️‼️.
Margaret
Oh, my yes - with a farm fed chicken this would be even better - such flavour! There's something special about meals that are so simple to make, yet complex in flavour, isn't there? No need to improve on something that's been so good so long!
Sylvia Hartnell
Thank you for this recipe Margaret. I have made it twice now. It is so simple but is the best fried chicken I have ever made.
Margaret
How great to hear that, Sylvia. It makes me so happy whenever I hear someone is cooking one of my recipes. There's really something to be said for those simple, tried and true recipes that are passed on through the generations, isn't there? Good old-fashioned goodness. Wishing you happy times in the kitchen with your family these holidays!
Gerry
Wow, was this chicken ever good. It is the best oven baked chicken that I have ever tried. I have tried a lot over the last 25 years. This recipe was quick and easy to make with terrific results. I did cook for the recommended 2 hours. So glad that I did, it made the skin crisp up beautifully. I made exactly as written, but did add two small bay leaves to the dish. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe. I would give you 10*'s for this if I could. Made for Whats on the Menu? Tag Game. Recommended by Kitty. Thanks Kitty, you were right. I loved this.
Margaret
Gerry, your wonderful comment made my day! I'm so glad you liked the chicken as much as we do. It is a pleasure to share recipes when they are so much enjoyed! Thank you for visiting my blog, and wishing you many happy meals around your table!
Gerry
Thank you Margaret it, was my pleasure. You have an amazing blog. I look forward to trying more of your treasured recipes. I can't wait.
Happy Cooking.
Andi of Longmeadow Farm
I have to agree with Gerry, 100%. This chicken is the best chicken I have ever made at home....and like Gerry, have been making it for 30 years. Wow, I followed it exactly, cooked it all in my cast iron skillet, and it was fabulous! So easy too! Thank you for sharing this, since I am from a farm, and still live on one, this will be my "feed the helpers" chicken dinner.
Margaret
I love the image of a table full of hungry farm helpers passing a big platter of this fried chicken around the table - a timeless tradition that connects us to our past. I loved growing up on a farm, and salute you and all the hard work farmers do to bring quality food to our tables. Happy kitchen times to you!
Jeanette
Making this for I think the 5th time? I am using fresh mushrooms & I deglazed with some white wine. Then added a 1/2 cup water. It will now stay in the oven for 2 hours. My house smells fabulous. Serving with the chicken, peel on red mash potatoes, local asparagus & a large mixed salad. Plus I have chocolate cake for dessert. Life is good!
Margaret
Mmm...mmm...mmm...I wanna be in your house right now. Sounds wonderful and it's making my mouth water!
Jeanette
Margaret wish you could come for dinner! Lovely dish, easy to make & you can throw a nap in there too.
Mary Pat Frick, aka twissis
Made for the FF&F Best of 2015 Game as a fave of Baby Kato – I made the Mabel’s Mushroom Fried Farmhouse version using the canned mushroom liquid to deglaze the pan. I recalled my Great Aunt Loretta standing at the stove frying her farmhouse chicken in a mix of lard & bacon drippings that she accumulated in a coffee can. I never thought I’d enjoy that so wonderful chicken in this enlightened age of all things low-fat or oven-baked. BUT this method works, is such an easy fix & the “gravy” is divine. The chicken was good-to-go by itself, so I used the pan drippings to drizzle over mashed potatoes. Aunt Loretta is likely looking down on us & saying “Now why didn’t I think of that?” - Thx for sharing this recipe w/us & for the memory.
Margaret
Thanks for your lovely comment. I'm glad your Aunt Loretta would approve of Mabel's chicken recipe. There really is nothing better than good old-fashioned comfort food, is there? I love how food connects us to the past - some of our strongest memories are around those favourite family dishes, aren't they? (It's a bonus when they're so easy to make, too!) And the heck with low fat! The past generation didn't worry about that - they just worked hard and played hard and ate wholesome food.
Jeanette
Love this recipe!
Margaret
Thanks, Jeanette! 🙂
Lynette AKA breezermom
This chicken turned out so flavorful and fall off the bone tender! I'm not from Canada, but from the Deep South in the USA, so this isn't what I think of when I hear "fried chicken", but it is delicious! Smells scrumptious while its in the oven too. I made this for "Best of 2015" tag game. Great recommendation!
Margaret
Aw, thanks so much! It is quite different from that wonderful, delicious, crispy fried chicken you are famous for in the south, but I'm glad you like it anyway! Chicken is such a versatile meat, isn't it? Wishing you lots of happy kitchen times!