So you have got a challenge to cook fried chicken without flour, which should be crunchy and crispy simultaneously?
It’s really tricky to attain the crisp outside and juice inside without loading your white meat with heavy coatings.
Is there any solution?
Yes, we’ll share mouthwatering flourless fried chicken recipes for whole chicken, chicken thighs, and chicken wings. Keep reading and learn how to fry chicken without flour or any flour alternatives. Here we come.
1. Easy Flourless Fried Chicken – Shallow Frying Method
Without using a lot of seasoning and flour, you can still achieve perfect juicy and crispy chicken simultaneously. And this is what this easy shallow fried chicken recipe helps you with.
You can try it with your whole chicken, chicken pieces, chicken thigh, and wings. Let’s see how you can make it!
Ingredients for Chicken
- 1 whole chicken with skin cut into 4 pieces after removing the mid bone
- Sea salt or rock salt to taste
- Canola oil for shallow frying
Ingredients for Seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black salt (optional)
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp thyme
- 4 lemons, cut in halves
Method
- Wash the chicken pieces and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Take a large-sized pan that allows water evaporation to help your chicken achieve the right crisp.
- Add enough canola oil to the pan so that your chicken is half-dipped into the pan. It would be ¼ of the actual depth of the pan. And heat it.
- Check the oil temperature by using a thermometer. It should be between 325 and 375 degrees. (Note that the temperature drops when food is added, so check it before adding anything.) If you don’t have a thermometer, dip a wooden stick or spatula in the pan. If you see bubbles around it, the oil is ready for frying.
- Season the chicken pieces with heavy salt.
- Add the chicken to the oil and let it fry over medium heat. Don’t overcrowd the pan.
- Turn the chicken a bit after every 5 minutes and keep frying until you spot a nice golden color on the chicken. It will take roughly about 30 minutes.
- At this point, add a few garlic cloves to add a charismatic aroma to your chicken. Let the chicken fry with garlic for 5 more minutes.
- Your chicken is fried.
- Now mix the ingredients for seasoning and sprinkle them over the chicken. You can also use your favorite seasoning.
- Squeeze lemon juice over the chicken and give a treat of tons of flavors to your taste buds.
For frying chicken thighs without flour:
You can use the abovementioned method with the sole exception being that you must double-fry the chicken thighs.
- First, fry them at 300F until they’re golden brown.
- Then remove the chicken thighs, rest for 15 minutes, and fry again at a higher temperature of 400F. It’ll make the chicken thing perfect, crunchy from the outside and fully cooked inside.
Note: You can add garlic cloves during the last 5 minutes of double frying the chicken thigh.
2. Deep Fried Chicken Without Flour – Chinese Style
How often do you hate seeing blood near the bones when eating fried chicken? Don’t tell me how embarrassing it is to serve your best-fried chicken but your guests won’t eat that undercooked chicken without telling you why.
Such a nightmare… but it must be over now!
We’ve developed this flour-free, thoroughly done, golden brown deep-fried chicken recipe. It’s Chinese-style chicken, yet you may experiment with the broth ingredients and seasoning. Follow the basic techniques, and you’re ready to throw a dinner party.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken leg quarters
- 3 cups water
- 2 tbsp salt
For brining
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup soy sauce (skip it if you want to go completely gluten-free)
- 4 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 star anise
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 4 slices of chopped ginger
- 2 stalks of green onions (skip if you don’t have them)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 4 cloves (optional)
Method
- Put the chicken in a large bowl and add 3 cups of water. Add 1 tbsp salt and mix.
- Let the chicken rest in this simple brine for at least 6 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
- When your brined chicken is ready, prepare the broth.
- To prepare the broth, add 6 cups of water and all the broth ingredients: ginger, salt, lemon juice, black pepper, star anise, and cloves, into the water and let it boil for 10 minutes.
- In the broth, add the chicken and boil for 20 minutes. During parboiling, keep mixing the chicken with a spatula every 5 minutes.
- After parboiling, remove the chicken from the broth and place the chicken pieces on a mesh tray so the liquid is strained and the rest evaporates. Your chicken will dehydrate after some time. Putting chicken into hot oil right from water is a risky business.
- For deep frying, pour canola oil (preferably) into the wok or pan and let it heat on medium flame. Check the oil temperature to be 350F using a thermometer. You can also use a wooden stick or spatula to check the oil temperature suitability. The oil is ready if you see bubbles along with the wooden bar.
- Deep-fry chicken in this oil till it turns golden brown.
Note:
- You can also use this method for frying chicken thighs, wings, and whole chicken.
- After mixing the seasoning with butter, you can also baste your favorite seasoning on this fried chicken.
- If you run short of time, you can skip the first step of bringing chicken in salty water overnight or for 6 hours. Yet, this step can help your fried chicken remain juicier.
3. Pan Fried Chicken Wings without Flour
No drama, few ingredients, and simple techniques can do wonders for your wings when fried in little or no oil. No oil or stir-frying?
Here is a simple recipe for flawless fried chicken wings with three versions:
- Pan-fry
- Oven fry
- Air frying
Feeling excited?
Let’s go over how you can cook your most yummy chicken wings.
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken wings with skin
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp ginger juice (grate the ginger and squeeze to get juice)
- 1 tbsp rice wine (you can also use lemon juice in the same quantity)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
Method
- Wash the chicken wings and pat dry them using a paper towel.
- Add all the ingredients to the chicken wings and mix them well.
- Marinate the chicken wings for 2 hours in the refrigerator
- After two hours, let them rest at room temperature for half an hour to thaw
- Turn on the flame at medium heat.
- Add oil to a large-sized seasoned cast iron pan or nonstick pan and spread wings evenly in the pan.
- Let them fry for a minute, then cover them with a lid for 2 minutes.
- After 2 minutes, flip the wings and cover them again.
- Repeat the flipping and turning every 2 minutes, and keep the wings covered during cooking. Keep doing so until the wings attain a nice crunchy golden brown color on all sides.
Note: You can also follow the same seasoning for oven or air frying.
How can you fry chicken wings without flour in the oven?
- Place baking paper on a baking tray for oven-frying flourless chicken wings.
- Spray the chicken wings with oil, place them in the tray 2 inches apart, and bake them at 400F for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, flip the wings and bake again at the same temperature for 15 more minutes. Your crispy brown wings will be ready.
For fried chicken in an air fryer without Flour
- Place the wings or chicken pieces in the air fryer basket at a decent distance and fry them at 350F for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, open the basket and check the wings. Now fry them again by raising the temperature to 400F so the wings get a beautiful brown color.
SO WHICH ONE IS THE CRISPIEST?
Among all the methods mentioned above, the wings fried in the air fryer and oven will be more crispy for fried wings without flour.
Enjoy these best recipes and let us know which you like the most in the comment section.
We’ll keep bringing you more delicious recipes!
FAQs
Can you fry skinless chicken without four?
You can fry skinless chicken without flour. “Yet, what type of frying is better?” It’s a big question. You can’t fry every chicken piece evenly.
So, here is the list of what type of frying is suitable for no breading, skinless chicken frying:
- You can stir-fry chicken wings and chicken strips. They might get some color and remain soft. However, over-frying can cause the meat to get hard and lose moisture.
- You stir fry the boneless chicken no matter what part it is.
- You can deep fry or shallow fry skinless chicken breasts, leg quarters, wings, or thighs, yet it can be a colossal mistake to aim for a typical “golden brown” color. It’ll cause the meat to lose moisture and become too chewy— that’ll struggle during chewing and be pretty annoying!
Can you substitute Flour with egg to fry chicken?
NO!
Replacing Flour with eggs can sound like a great idea. The truth is, eggs have nothing to do with your chicken frying adventure.
When fried, the chicken’s skin will become crispy, not the egg coating. More adversely, the egg coating can burn faster and create an illusion of doneness.
So, opt for Flour or no flour altogether, and chicken with skin.
Is fried chicken without flour healthier?
Flour adds more carbs to your fried chicken and, of course, more calories. So, cutting the carbs and added calories is a good idea.
Additionally, when combined with fat, carbs are considered bad for your health. A study reveals that combination forces your body to call for more food, and eventually, you’re obese.
Fried chicken with flour vs. no flour, which absorbs more oil?
In every way, it’s evident that extra coating on your fried items absorbs more fat. Consequently, the food is more calorie-rich, challenging to digest, and bad for overall health. So, when frying, you should choose the healthiest method.
Is fried chicken without flour keto?
Yes, fried chicken with no flour or other “carbs-based batters” is good for keto. However, calculate your macros, e.g., fat and protein ratios, and customize your portions. All the recipes that we’ve shared are keto-friendly.
