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Sweet Tea Brined Fried Chicken

Pressed for time? Follow this recipe without the sweet tea brine and you'll still have some incredible fried chicken! This recipe makes a lot of chicken because it is a lot of work. It always feels more worth the trouble to me to make extra!
Course: Main Dish
Servings: 6 Servings

Ingredients

For The Brine:

  • 3 plain tea bags I use Red Rose Tea
  • 1 pinch baking soda
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 3 tbsp kosher salt
  • 20 whole black peppercorns
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 2 large smashed garlic cloves
  • 1 + 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 + 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 3 cups cold water

For The Fried Chicken:

  • 2 cups buttermilk
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 1 tbsp dried thyme
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 + 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 3 lbs chicken breast cut into 3/4 inch nuggets
  • canola oil or other neutral high smoke point oil

Instructions

Make The Sweet Tea Brine:

  • Place the tea bags, sugar, and baking soda in a very large heatproof bowl or pot. Pour the boiling water over the top, cover, and steep for 15 minutes. Remove the tea bags and discard. Stir in the salt, peppercorns, lemon juice, garlic cloves, oregano, thyme, and cold water and allow the brine to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, add the chicken pieces, cover, and refrigerate 12 hours.

Dredge + Fry The Chicken:

  • Pour the buttermilk into a large bowl. In a second large bowl, whisk together the flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, paprika, thyme, kosher salt, and black pepper. Drain the chicken from the brine and pat dry. Dredge the chicken by coating first in the flour mixture, then in the buttermilk, and once again in the flour mixture. I like to dredge multiple chicken pieces at a time for efficiency. (Don’t worry about buttermilk getting in the flour-- those little chunks that are formed make the fried chicken extra crispy!)
  • Heat 1 inch of oil in a dutch oven (or cast iron or heavy bottomed skillet) to 350F. Fry the chicken in batches for 8-10 minutes, stirring initially to keep pieces from sticking together, then stirring occasionally. Fry until dark golden brown and crispy, and the internal temperature of the chicken has reached 165F. Drain on a wire rack and keep warm in a 200F oven while you fry the remaining chicken. Remember to allow the oil to come back up to temperature between batches. Enjoy!