Delicious easy to make Southern-Style Baked Fried Chicken will be one of your family’s favorite baked versions of Southern Fried Chicken. This flavorful recipe for juicy yet crispy chicken is hands-down, one of our most requested menu items by friends and family alike.
One of the things I love is good crunchy Southern Fried Chicken. Unfortunately, the oils used in that wonderful Chicken don’t seem to me. I have learned over the years that too many fried foods tend to make me a little ill. It’s one of those things where I tend to Pick my poison carefully these days. So I am sharing my favorite recipe for Southern-Style Baked Fried Chicken with Y’all today.
I really wanted Fried Chicken the other day, so what does one do when they absolutely CRAVE something they can not eat? They Adapt and overcome. With that said. I decided to make a baked version. I looked at the net for a few recipes ideas, then decided to go back to my family’s recipes. I decided to make a few adaptations that would suit my needs. Hence my Oven Baked Fried Chicken recipe is born.
The first time I made this, the chicken was good but did not brown or crisp as much as I like, so I brushed it with a bit of butter, and man did that make a huge difference in the taste and texture. This is optional but definitely makes a big difference.
**Tip! To make the chicken more crisp, brush with butter or olive oil to brown! Works like a charm!**

Southern-Style Baked Fried Chicken
Ingredients
Ingredients needed for marinating
- 2 cups Buttermilk
- 1/8 cup Tabasco sauce
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Poultry seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon Fresh ground black pepper
- 1 Whole Chicken cut into 8 pieces
Ingredients needed for breading Chicken
- 3 large Eggs
- 1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce or more
- 2 cups All-purpose flour for breading
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
- Kosher salt, to own taste optional
- 1 teaspoon Black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Dry mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon Poultry seasoning
Instructions
- Wash whole chicken thoroughly (very important since chicken may have undesired residue still on the skin and inside)
- At this time you will want to use a sharp butcher’s knife and cut the chicken into desired pieces. 2 Breasts, 2 wings, 2 legs, and lastly 2 thighs.
- Once you have cut your chicken up into pieces you will need a large plastic container or glass container with tight-fitting lid. Place all ingredients listed above in container, using a small whisk mix all ingredients thoroughly. Place Chicken in the mixture turns into the mixture a few times to coat.
- Place in your refrigerator, for up to 12 hours. — You will want to turn chicken in the mixture a few times. When the desired time has elapsed for marinating your chicken, drain chicken of excess marinade. Set drained meat to the side. You may use a colander to drain the chicken in the sink to make things easier
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F
- In medium size glass bowl or container of choice, crack 3 eggs, add the Tabasco sauce, whisk to combine all the ingredients. In a clean dry plastic container with a tight-fitting lid or large Ziploc bag if desired (gallon size preferably) place 2-3 cups flour, baking powder, Cajun seasoning, and black pepper. Place a tight-fitting lid on a container or seal Ziploc bag. Shake vigorously to combine all ingredients. Set to the side.
- Once you have completed all 8 pieces of chicken, place each piece of chicken in the egg mixture (be sure to coat the entire piece of chicken in the egg) as you complete each piece place one at a time in flour mixture container and shake to coat thoroughly. Place the chicken on baking racks you have placed on the cookie sheet at this time. You will continue this process until each piece has been done and placed on the baking rack on the cookie sheet.
- Place in preheated oven to 425 degrees and bake 45 -50 minutes. (You may want to turn chicken 25 minutes into baking for the BEST results)
Tip:
- Use melted butter or olive oil to brown and crisp the chicken. Simply brush on with a pastry brush on both sides 10 minutes before removing from the oven.
Nutrition
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20 Comments
Jenni
April 18, 2019 at 11:46 amThis looks incredibly crispy and flaky for a baked chicken – I am super impressed! I also love the seasoning combination you used. This would pair perfectly with some southern potato salad!
hmccallum
April 19, 2019 at 10:19 amJenni, you hit the nail on the head with the idea of some freshly made Southern Potato Salad– let’s also add some Coleslaw to it! Sounds like a plan!
Emily
April 18, 2019 at 11:40 amThis fried chicken is the real deal! Love that it is actually oven-baked though!
hmccallum
April 19, 2019 at 10:18 amHey there, Ms. Emily, thanks for stopping by to check out the Baked Fried Chicken. Glad you liked it.
Adrianne - Sweet Caramel Sunday
April 18, 2019 at 11:38 amWow!! This sounds delicious. I love that they are baked and not fried. I hope to try this recipe out on the upcoming weekend.
hmccallum
April 19, 2019 at 10:16 amHello, Adrianne, I hope you and your family enjoy the Baked Fried Chicken.
bethpierce2013
April 18, 2019 at 11:29 amNothing better than baked crispy chicken! It’s one of my favorite meals; I’ll have to give your recipe a try!
hmccallum
April 19, 2019 at 10:16 amGood morning, Beth, me too! I love the fact it’s baked and there isn’t a ton of oil needed.
Kate
April 18, 2019 at 11:14 amThis Oven Baked Chicken looks super crispy and juicy!
hmccallum
April 19, 2019 at 10:19 amYes! That’s the best part of this recipe! Baked yet still crunchy! Thanks for stopping by.
cvan
April 18, 2019 at 12:01 amOven temperature should be 450 or 425?
At what point do you brush on the butter? When it is already cooked for some time?
Your instructions are repeated multiple times. You may want to check that in the post.
hmccallum
April 18, 2019 at 10:50 amHey there, Cvan, oh my gosh thank you for letting me know. A while back I added the recipe card and made a change or two and apparently did not check my finalized work. I am so sorry. Thank you again for letting me know. To answer your questions the temp is 425 degrees F- the butter I usually brush on only if needed the last 10 minutes of cooking. Hope that helps.
Juliana
March 25, 2019 at 10:13 amCan you use this recipie in the slow cooker/Crockpot?
hmccallum
March 25, 2019 at 10:25 amUnfortunately, you can not do this in a crockpot, in order to make fried chicken have the proper texture you must either fry it or do a baked version. Otherwise, you will have a soggy mess.
Thanks for asking! Have a great day.
Stacy
January 9, 2019 at 10:11 amI made this and it turned out pretty well, I modified the spice a little because the first time it was too spicy for my tummy. I loved the taste but I can’t have the spice. I also followed your cue by brushing with butter to crisp it more. Worked like a charm thank you.
hmccallum
January 9, 2019 at 10:19 amThank you for sharing Stacy, I know sometimes spice does upset one’s stomach. Glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe though.
Renee's Kitchen Adventures
June 18, 2014 at 9:27 amThis oven fried chicken looks great! I think my family would enjoy it very much! I’m going to have to give this one a try! It’s been awhile since I’ve cooked up bone in chicken!
Heidy L. McCallum
June 19, 2014 at 2:28 pmThe only thing I might do differently Renee , is dab a bit of oil on it to brown it more evenly. With my stomach issues I try to avoid doing so but in this case I think it would be a good idea.
Ronda Eagle
June 11, 2014 at 11:03 pmLooks good. I’ll be over for dinner shortly. 🙂
Heidy L. McCallum
June 11, 2014 at 11:24 pmCome on over, I would enjoy that plenty of Oven Baked Chicken to go around 🙂