Lately my kids have been big fans of fried chicken. My oldest gets excited if we go out to eat at a chicken wing restaurant such as BW3s or Quaker Steak and Lube. He’s the one who will take on the chicken wing challenge, and granted as he eats them plain, or with a light dry rub, he’s all in, so is my other boy. My girls on the other hand are not. Something about the chicken wing just does not jive with them, but they will eat fried chicken. With that said, I decided to take a different approach to making fried chicken by brining it in a spicy pickle juice mixture.
This fried chicken was so great, and that subtle hint of pickle was spot on, and who doesn’t love some pickles with fried chicken!
I took this one a step further and lathered it with a seasoned mayonnaise. That just took it over the top.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken, cut into various pieces (or you can use your favorite parts)
- 1 cup of dill pickle juice
- 1 cup of dill pickles
- 1/2 tbsp dill weed
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 whole habanero chilies, stems removed
- 1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 3/4 cup of water
- 4 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 5 cups canola oil
- 1 cup of mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp chili garlic seasoning
Start by making your brine. To a food processor or blender, add in the pickles, pickle juice, dill weed, garlic habaneros, 1/2 tablespoon of cayenne pepper, 2 tablespoons of salt, the sugar, and the water. Blend until you have a smooth consistency.
Add the chicken to a large sealable bag. Pour in the brine mixture, seal, and  mix around. Place in the refrigerator overnight.
The following day, about 2 hours before you are going to make the chicken, get the chicken out of the refrigerator and set it to the side.
Make your flour mixture. To a large bowl, add the flour, paprika, cayenne, and salt, and give this a good mix.
Take each piece of chicken and thoroughly coat with the flour. Carefully shake off any excess flour, and set the floured pieces on a wire rack to rest and take some of the chill off of it, about 1 hour.
After an hour, return each flour piece of chicken to the bowl of flour, and coat again, shaking off any excess flour. Yes, we are doing this twice as I find it lends to a crispier coating. Return the pieces back to the wired rack and let them rest for about 30 minutes more.
During this time, take a large cast iron skillet and add to the stove, on medium heat, and pour in the oil. Keep an eye on the oil temp as you are looking for around 350 degrees.
Make the mayonnaise sauce if you are going that route. Mix the mayo and chili garlic seasoning until mixed and set in the refrigerator until you are ready to use.
OK, time to fry. Once the oil is heated, work in batches, and being careful not only to add the chicken, but also not to overcrowd the skillet, cook for about 6 minutes per side. Again, keep an eye on the temperature.
Preheat your oven to 225 degrees.
Once your chicken is cooked, add to a wire lined baking sheet and place into the oven to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining chicken. Go ahead and serve with white bread slices and additional pickles, and if your are going down the mayonnaise route, slather some onto a hot piece of chicken.
This chicken has the right spice level (not too spicy as all of my family devoured this chicken)  with the subtle hint of that pickle that makes you question, or in my case the kids questioning, if that had pickle seasoning. I might have turned for the best on this one as my kids will not even  touch pickles (don’t ask), but they sure did like the pickle brined spicy fried chicken! Hope you enjoy.
Pickle Brined Spicy Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken cut into various pieces (or you can use your favorite parts)
- 1 cup of dill pickle juice
- 1 cup of dill pickles
- 1/2 tbsp dill weed
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 whole habanero chilies stems removed
- 1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 3/4 cup of water
- 4 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 5 cups canola oil
- 1 cup of mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp chili garlic seasoning
Instructions
- Start by making your brine. To a food processor or blender, add in the pickles, pickle juice, dill weed, garlic habaneros, 1/2 tablespoon of cayenne pepper, 2 tablespoons of salt, the sugar, and the water. Blend until you have a smooth consistency.
- Add the chicken to a large sealable bag. Pour in the brine mixture, seal, and mix around. Place in the refrigerator overnight.
- The following day, about 2 hours before you are going to make the chicken, get the chicken out of the refrigerator and set it to the side.
- Make your flour mixture. To a large bowl, add the flour, paprika, cayenne, and salt, and give this a good mix.
- Take each piece of chicken and thoroughly coat with the flour. Carefully shake off any excess flour, and set the floured pieces on a wire rack to rest and take some of the chill off of it, about 1 hour.
- After an hour, return each flour piece of chicken to the bowl of flour, and coat again, shaking off any excess flour. Yes, we are doing this twice as I find it lends to a crispier coating. Return the pieces back to the wired rack and let them rest for about 30 minutes more.
- During this time, take a large cast iron skillet and add to the stove, on medium heat, and pour in the oil. Keep an eye on the oil temp as you are looking for around 350 degrees.
- Make the mayonnaise sauce if you are going that route. Mix the mayo and chili garlic seasoning until mixed and set in the refrigerator until you are ready to use.
- OK, time to fry. Once the oil is heated, work in batches, and being careful not only to add the chicken, but also not to overcrowd the skillet, cook for about 6 minutes per side. Again, keep an eye on the temperature.
- Preheat your oven to 225 degrees.
- Once your chicken is cooked, add to a wire lined baking sheet and place into the oven to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining chicken. Go ahead and serve with white bread slices and additional pickles, and if your are going down the mayonnaise route, slather some onto a hot piece of chicken.