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Sweet-Tea Fried Chicken
This recipe combines two Southern staples—sweet tea and fried chicken—in an ethereally crispy union. Serve it with punchy, peppery white barbecue sauce.
👥 4 Servings👤 Zoe Denenberg📖 bonappetit
🥘 Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you prepare them:
🍳 Cookware
- ●bowl
- ●whisk
- ●pan
- ●saucepan
- ●baking dish
- ●baking sheet
- ●skillet
📝 Preparation Steps
1
Sauce
2
Vigorously whisk ¾ cup mayonnaise, ¼ cup buttermilk, ¼ cup distilled white vinegar, 1 Tbsp. freshly cracked pepper, 1½ tsp. dark brown sugar, 1½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt, ½ tsp. Dijon mustard, ½ tsp. garlic powder, ½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce, and ⅛ tsp. cayenne pepper in a small bowl until smooth. Cover and chill white sauce at least ⏱️ 1 hour and up to 3 days.
¼ cup buttermilkbuttermilk1 cup. freshly cracked pepper1 tsp½ tsp. dark brown sugar1½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt1½ tsp. garlic powder. garlic powder2 tsp
3
Chicken and Assembly
4
Heat ½ cup granulated sugar, 2 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 Tbsp. plus ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 2 cups water in a small saucepan over medium, stirring to dissolve sugar, until mixture is steaming but not simmering, about ⏱️ 3 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately add 8 black tea bags; let sit ⏱️ 8 minutes. Remove tea bags, squeezing out excess over pan; discard. Add 1 tsp. baking soda and stir to dissolve (mixture may fizz). Pour in 2 cups cool tap water and stir to combine. Let sweet tea cool.
black tea bags8. baking soda1 tsp
5
Place 4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs in a medium bowl and pour sweet tea over (chicken should be submerged). Cover with a lid or plate and chill at least ⏱️ 1 hour and up to ⏱️ 12 hours. If chilling longer than ⏱️ 4 hours, let chicken sit at room temperature ⏱️ 1 hour before dredging and frying.
6
Whisk 1½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup cornstarch, 1 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¾ tsp. Morton kosher salt, 2 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. freshly cracked pepper, and ¾ tsp. cayenne pepper in a shallow bowl or baking dish. Pour 1 cup buttermilk into another medium bowl and season with a large pinch of salt.
½ cups all-purpose flour1½ tsp. garlic powder. garlic powder2 tsp. freshly cracked pepper1 tsp¼ cup buttermilkbuttermilk1 cup
7
Working with 1 chicken thigh at a time and using 1 hand for wet ingredients and the other for dry ingredients, remove chicken from marinade, letting excess drip back into bowl. Dip chicken in buttermilk, letting excess to drip back into bowl, then dredge in flour mixture, tapping off excess. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet.
¼ cup buttermilkbuttermilk1 cup
8
Pour vegetable oil into a medium cast-iron skillet to come 1"–1½" up sides; fit with thermometer. Heat oil until thermometer registers 325°. Carefully lower chicken thighs into oil and fry, turning with tongs every 1–⏱️ 2 minutes and adjusting heat as needed to keep oil between 300°–325°, until deep golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part thighs registers 165°, 8–⏱️ 12 minutes. Using tongs, transfer chicken to a wire rack set inside a clean rimmed baking sheet; season lightly with salt. Let cool ⏱️ 10 minutes.
Vegetable oil (for frying; about 4 cups)
9
To serve, transfer chicken to a platter and drizzle with white sauce. Serve with white bread and remaining white sauce alongside.
White bread (for serving)
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