I love fried chicken (who doesn’t) and beer batter is one of the easiest ways to make it–and have it come out perfect every time. Beer batter is a “puffy” coating because of the baking powder, so it also makes a “pretty” fried chicken. I use my homemade baking mix, but you can substitute any baking mix in this recipe. I think it works better with skinless chicken, but you can do it with the skin on, too.
This recipe will fry up a whole chicken, but I just had six small skinless, boneless thighs last night. This same batter can be used to fry up all sorts of things–fried cauliflower, fried cheese, anything you have on hand, so no need to waste it if you have leftovers!
If you don’t want to use salt, or if you don’t like garlic or cayenne pepper, replace the seasonings with an equal amount of herbs or whatever seasonings you like.
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How to make Beer Batter Fried Chicken:
up to 2-3 pounds chicken, cut up
1 cup baking mix
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 egg
1 cup beer
Place chicken in a large pot and cover with water; add a pinch of salt. Boil chicken for about 20 minutes.
(Large pieces might need to be boiled longer.) Drain chicken on a paper towel and pat dry. Combine batter ingredients in a small bowl.
Get the beer.
Pour it in….
Watch your batter get drunk!
My. Let things calm down for a minute then stir it well. Dip chicken pieces one at a time.
Gently shake off excess batter.
Fry in hot oil about 2-3 minutes per side….
….until prettily browned.
Remove from oil and drain. That’s it!
Somebody get the mashed potatoes and beans!
See this recipe at Farm Bell Recipes and save it to your recipe box.
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ladybird_1959 says:
Can’t get the recipe to save to my recipe box. Is there a problem? I keep getting a 404 error. Chicken looks delish!
On May 29, 2013 at 9:02 am
Suzanne McMinn says:
It should work now! Sorry about that!
On May 29, 2013 at 9:15 am
brookdale says:
This looks so yummy! Will have to try it.
A question…how much oil do you put in the pan? It looks like you’re using a frypan? I thought this was deep-fried but looking at the pics again, I guess not.
And, you heat the oil to sizzling first, right?
I haven’t fried chicken in a long time as you can tell!
On May 29, 2013 at 10:40 am
Suzanne McMinn says:
Yes, heat the oil first. I don’t deep fry it. I just put about an inch of oil in the pan.
On May 29, 2013 at 10:42 am
Lois says:
Very similar to what I use for frying shrimp or other seafood except that I’ve always used just all purpose/self rising flour, not baking mix. I’ve never been able to tell a difference between the 2 flours for frying so I just use which ever is handiest. I’ve never tried frying chicken in batter. Seems like baking mix would make it kind of sweet? Beer and chicken? That sounds good!
On May 29, 2013 at 3:02 pm
Carolyn252 says:
Sorry for being so clueless, but what in the world is “baking mix?” Do you mean Bisquick or a pancake mix or a white cake mix or bread mix or what? Thanks!! Please reply to me via my email address [email protected]
On May 29, 2013 at 6:13 pm
Suzanne McMinn says:
Carolyn, I mean a baking mix like Bisquick. (I’m sorry, I can’t reply to comments via email.)
On May 29, 2013 at 6:16 pm
Carolyn252 says:
Thanks for the quick reply. And, since I was indeed able to find my way back here, I got to read your reply just fine (without needing it sent to me as an email.). Will try this recipe for sure. Looks yummy.
On May 29, 2013 at 6:53 pm
Joell says:
:happyflower:
What a great way to prepare chicken, reminds me a lot of tempura,I would like this with a veggie stir fry and some rice. Thank you, a copy of this will go into my cookbook. :hungry:
On May 30, 2013 at 6:51 am
oct4luv says:
I am so making that this weekend, I already have the chicken and now I have a reason to go get some Bud Light. :shimmy:
On May 30, 2013 at 11:48 pm
tc1161 says:
Well I’m a little/lot clueless too. My question is about boiling the chicken. What exactly are we aiming for when we boil it? And you said that larger pieces might need to boil longer. So I don’t understand what I’m looking for to know when I’ve boiled it enough. I think from one of the pictures that I don’t want to completely cook the chicken by boiling it.
The only time I remember frying chicken my mother was right there with me. Sadly she’s not here to stand beside me anymore so I can’t ask her about this. Though she never boiled the chicken before frying so I think we would have both been clueless.
Also I’m not a beer drinker so is one beer better than another? I guess its too much to ask that there are single 8 oz cans of beer for sale? ha ha
On May 31, 2013 at 9:46 am
Sterling says:
I’ve learned that beer can usually be substituted with equal amounts of ginger ale, citrus soda (7up, Sprite, Squirt etc), a sparkling white grape juice or chicken stock. For a more savory dish, you can use beef stock or mushroom broth.
I’ve been looking for a good “puffy” batter recipe and will be considering this one. I wonder if it might bake up just as well as frying. Might have to experiment. :hungry:
On June 1, 2013 at 4:55 am