Instant Pot Southern Fried Chicken
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The Instant Pot can be your secret weapon for making fried chicken, saving you hours in the kitchen! This modern appliance has transformed how I prepare this beloved dish. An electric pressure cooker significantly reduces cooking time compared to traditional methods, like marinating the chicken in buttermilk, which is essential for authentic soul food fried chicken.
The biggest advantage of the Instant Pot is its ability to lock in moisture, which keeps the chicken perfectly juicy on the inside. While I still use hot oil and a frying pan to achieve the desired crispy crust on the outside, I rely on the pressure in the Instant Pot to tenderize the chicken with a buttermilk brine. This method allows the soul food seasoning and flavors to infuse quickly into the meat, eliminating the need to brine overnight.
Using an Instant Pot for fried chicken
While there are recipes on the internet that boast of being able to completely fry chicken in the Instant Pot, unfortunately, the truth is that frying in the Instant Pot’s stainless steel inner pot will yield an undesirable chicken. The skin exposed above the oil may sauté too gummy to enjoy.
Instead, we will start our process in the Instant Pot, save some time, and finish the recipe by frying in oil on the stove. There’s just no replacement for that step! However, using the Instant Pot to pressure cook the chicken before frying will shorten the marinating process from 24 hours or overnight to only 20 minutes!
How long do you need to pressure cook chicken to tenderize it?
For the Instant Pot buttermilk brine, pressure cook for 10 minutes and then allow a natural pressure release for at least 10 minutes. The shorter cooking times of the pressure cooker help preserve vitamins and minerals while enhancing the chicken’s rich flavors. This method also tenderizes the texture and improves the overall taste. Yum!
Ingredients
This Instant Pot Southern fried chicken recipe highlights the seasoning and flavors that make it an authentic soul food dish. The Instant Pot is the modern appliance catalyst that enables bringing in 10 minutes rather than requiring an overnight soak. The buttermilk brine is the surprising ingredient that truly makes this recipe shine.
Marinating chicken in buttermilk makes it incredibly tender, moist, and flavorful. The acidity of the buttermilk breaks down the protein structures in the chicken, making it less chewy and helping it retain moisture as well as absorb the soul food seasonings better.
How to make fried chicken in the Instant Pot
This method for making authentic fried chicken begins with the Instant Pot and is finished off in a skillet on the stove. Here’s a step-by-step guide for what you’ll be doing, which you can follow step-by-step with the printable recipe card below.
- Open the Instant Pot and add the buttermilk, salt, and chicken pieces to the stainless steel inner pot.
- Pressure cook, then remove the chicken and discard the buttermilk
- Dredge the cooled-off chicken in seasoning and flour, then fry it on the stovetop in a skillet.
Southern sides for serving fried chicken
This Instant Pot Southern fried chicken recipe pairs well with crisp coleslaw or creamy mashed potatoes. A refreshing, sweet iced tea also complements this Southern-style dish beautifully!
Equipment
- Instant Pot electric pressure cooker
- Large cast iron skillet 8-10" skillet (cast iron skillet preferred)
- Whisk
- Fried chicken scissor tong
Ingredients
Ingredients for the Instant Pot buttermilk brine
- 3 cups buttermilk You can make homemade buttermilk with 3 cups of milk and 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
Ingredients for the Southern fried chicken
- 6-8 pieces chicken or one 3-pound chicken cut into pieces
- 48 oz peanut oil or vegetable oil
- 2 cups all-purpose flour divided
- 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning or all-purpose seasoning
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon red pepper (chili pepper)
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 egg
- ½ cup buttermilk You can make homemade buttermilk with ½ cup of milk and ½ tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
Instructions
Instructions for the Instant Pot buttermilk marinade chicken brine
- To make homemade buttermilk, use 3 cups of milk and 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. In a medium-sized bowl, stir the two ingredients together and let them sit for 5 minutes.
- Open the Instant Pot lid and add the buttermilk and 1 teaspoon of salt to the stainless steel inner pot.
- Add the chicken pieces, skin-side up, to the pot with the buttermilk. (How can you use this recipe without the Instant Pot? Allow the chicken to marinate in the buttermilk for 4 hours to overnight.)
- Close the Instant Pot lid (make sure the valve is in the sealing position – up) and pressure cook on high for 10 minutes.
- When the cooking time is finished, allow a natural pressure release for at least 10 minutes.
- To open the Instant Pot lid, move the valve to ‘venting’ and manually release any remaining pressure, if applicable.
- Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot (you can discard the buttermilk) and set the chicken pieces aside on a rimmed baking sheet to cool off to the touch.
Instructions for the Southern fried chicken
- Mix the poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
- Rub the seasoning mixture all over each piece of chicken.
- Pour the oil into the skillet until it's approximately 1 inch deep or half full.
- Heat the oil over medium heat or until it reaches 350 degrees F.
- While you’re waiting for the oil to heat up. Place 1 cup of the divided flour, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and red pepper in a medium-size mixing bowl (or 1-gallon resealable food storage bag).
- Shake (or mix) the sealed bag to combine the ingredients for a homemade poultry seasoning, and set the flour mixture aside.
- Pour the second cup of flour into a second resealable bag (or medium-sized mixing bowl) and set it aside.
- Whisk together ½ a cup of buttermilk and egg in another medium-sized bowl, and set that mixture aside too.
- The chicken will go through a 3-step process from here.
- First, place the chicken in the bag (or bowl) of seasoned flour and shake or toss to coat the chicken evenly.
- Second, shake off the excess flour and dip the chicken into the buttermilk mixture.
- Third, transfer the chicken to the last bag (or bowl) of flour and shake or toss until it’s very well coated.
- Place the coated chicken into the pre-heated oil, skin-side down, and be careful not to overcrowd the chicken in the oil.
- You can fry a second batch if need be to avoid overcrowding by frying all the chicken at once. Just make sure the hot oil remains at 350 degrees F.
- Cook the chicken pieces for 10 to 15 minutes on each side, occasionally flipping them to prevent excessive browning.
- As the chicken turns golden brown and crispy, remove it from the hot oil and place it in a closed container lined with a paper towel to keep it warm and absorb excess oil. (Until you know how “done” fried chicken looks, use an internal meat thermometer to ensure the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F, indicating it is fully cooked.) Then, serve right away, and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
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Capitalizing ‘black’ people is grammatically incorrect. And titling this as “Instant Pot” implies it will be cooked in the Instant Pot. I appreciate the near-immediate acknowledgment to the contrary and suggest specifying (perhaps in parentheses) this in the title. Marinating the chicken in the instant pot seems like a genius idea, thank you for the suggestion! What is your experience with instant pot deep frying? You seem too look down on the result… I’m obviously here looking to try it, but certainly taken to consideration negative experiences before failing. Hah.
Thank you.
Thanks for your comment. The grammatical changes you referenced are fairly new (but long overdue):
“Racial and ethnic groups are designated by proper nouns and are capitalized. Therefore, use “Black” and “White” instead of “black” and “white.” As for deep frying in an Instant Pot. Although we too wish it would yield better results, the Pot is not made for frying. It will result in a hot oil mess and under-cooked chicken…But we can still use the IP to save time for the necessary buttermilk brine. Yes – GENIUS!
Hello! I promise, no grammar comments. I thought the reviews were for recipes, not for the grammar police. And you are cooking the chicken in the instant pot. Then you are frying the coated skin to crisp it. Oy!
I will definitely try your method. I think the brine pre-cook in the instant pot will really make tender chicken. My question is how many wings, with the tips snipped off, do you think I could fit in a 6 qt. instant pot?
Thanks
Thanks so much for your question and funny comments, LOL! You should be able to fit 6-8 chicken wings in a 6-quart Instant Pot. This method also works for air fryer chicken. Enjoy!