Southern Fried Chicken Strips| At Home with Shay

These gluten-free Southern Fried Chicken Strips will ruin you! Your regular standby of frozen nuggets or fast food chicken strips will never taste the same. Or at least that’s what my family tells me! For real, though, I begin by giving the chicken breast strips a salted buttermilk “bath” overnight. This causes the meat to absorb moisture and flavor while also tenderizing it. Then, the seasoning mixture in the breading packs a fantastic punch of flavor. Deep frying the strips of chicken results in them being perfectly crispy outside while maintaining juicy meat inside.

Ingredients

• Chicken & Marinade

  • 4 chicken breasts
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • oil for frying-enough to fill a saucepan 2" deep
• Breading
  
  • 3/4 cup corn flour
  • 3/4 cup corn starch
  • 1/4 cup gluten-free flour blend- I use Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour
  • 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon celery salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
    

Instructions

1. Combine the chicken, buttermilk and salt in a bowl.  Mix to coat all of the chicken in the mixture evenly.  Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.
2. Heat 2” of canola oil in a medium-sized saucepan and insert a thermometer safe for deep frying.  Heat the oil to 360 degrees.
3. In a large bowl, combine all seasoned breading ingredients.  Add the marinated chicken to the breading mixture, allowing excess buttermilk to drain prior to adding to the breading.  Mix the chicken into the seasoned breading until coated evenly.
4. When oil reaches 360 degrees, shake excess seasoning off the chicken and carefully add the chicken to the oil in batches, making sure not to crowd the pot.  As you add the chicken, the oil temp will decrease & you may need to increase the heat on the burner to maintain an oil temp of 350-360 degrees.  Each batch of chicken should be cooked through in 3-4 minutes max.

Watch the video above to see Shay make this delicious dish.
Visit AtHomeWithShay.com for detailed instructions, nutritional information, and more gluten-free recipes.