That’s an interesting process, but it’s pretty cool to know that the brand puts a lot of value on its secret recipe.

The 11 herbs and spices in the KFC fried chicken recipe

A quick search reveals far more than 11 herbs and spices in KFC fried chicken. One recipe included ground vanilla bean. Another called for ground cardamom.

One of the recipes I looked at had a quarter cup of pepper AND a quarter cup of paprika!

One weird KFC fried chicken copycat recipe clearly stated that the 11 secret herbs and spices was a myth, and that there were only four ingredients in the entire recipe (salt, pepper, flour and MSG).

I honestly couldn’t get on board with any of those KFC copycat recipes.

One taste of KFC fried chicken and you know it’s seasoned with more than just salt and pepper. And vanilla? Cardamom? I had my doubts.

Should you soak chicken before breading it?

Another inconsistency with all the KFC copycat recipes out there is what to do with the chicken before you bread it and fry it.

A few recipes I found didn’t instruct you to do anything with the chicken. Just get it coated and into the fryer.

But real chicken from KFC is juicy and flavorful on the inside. It’s more than just a delicious coating on the outside.

I came across a few recipes that said to brine the chicken in a spiced and salted water bath to infuse it with flavor.

This is definitely a tried and tested method for making excellent chicken. It’s just not the best possible way to make your KFC fried chicken recipe.

The most authentic recipes said to soak all the chicken pieces in a buttermilk mixture for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours before moving on to the seasoning and cooking.

Why soak the chicken in buttermilk?

I didn’t know why chicken marinated in buttermilk produced such good flavor, but this forum helped answer my question.

The high amount of lactic acid in buttermilk tenderizes the chicken meat, while the milk fat infuses flavor into the chicken.

Now that you know the background and a few different possibilities for some of the ingredients in KFC’s fried chicken, it’s time to get to the recipe!

Cooking tips for this KFC fried chicken recipe