Buttermilk Chicken Tenders Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How long should you leave chicken in buttermilk? ›

Soak chicken in buttermilk with garlic, onions, herbs, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours.

Remove your chicken from the fridge. Line a rimmed baking sheet with paper towels. Lay your chicken on the paper towels and then take a few extra and dab the top of the chicken. It is not necessary to remove all the buttermilk, you just don't want it soaking in the milk before it goes on the grill.

If you are looking for a substitute because you don't have buttermilk, you can add some lemon juice to regular milk to soak the chicken.

It's best to marinate the chicken in milk for at least 30 minutes, but you can also marinate it for up to 24 hours for maximum flavor and tenderness. Be sure to cover the chicken and refrigerate it while it marinates to prevent any potential food safety issues.

Whisk together buttermilk, mustard, salt, pepper, and cayenne in a bowl. Pour buttermilk marinade into a resealable plastic bag. Add chicken pieces, coat with marinade, squeeze out excess air, and seal the bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for 2 to 8 hours.

In my experience, chicken that is marinated for too long develops an unpleasant, mushy texture. Four or five hours is about the max for buttermilk. Other people don't mind if the meat gets a little soft, so an overnight marinade would work for them.

You don't start dry

The first step to breading chicken is crucial: Make sure the chicken is completely dry before starting the dredging process. Using a paper towel, pat the meat dry on all sides. Excess moisture will cause the flour to get soggy, meaning it will not adhere properly to the chicken.

Easy to prep, this marinade for fried chicken features a few key ingredients, like buttermilk, flour, salt and pepper, and can work its magic in as little as 30 minutes — or, marinate your chicken overnight if you have time.

The natural acidity of the buttermilk tenderizes the meat, and also adds a tangy flavor to the chicken.

Buttermilk is acidic and acid breaks down protein strands, tenderizing the meat. Buttermilk also adds a pleasant flavor to the finished product. Regular milk is not acidic, doesn't break down protein strands, and adds almost no flavor to chicken.

Is it better to fry chicken in buttermilk or regular milk? ›

It's thicker, so breading will stick to the chicken more readily than if you just used a milk dunk. The fats and acids in the buttermilk act as a sort of brine for the chicken, and they help make the skin extra crispy too. It's really just the perfect chicken soak. Well, almost perfect.

If you're planning to brine chicken in buttermilk, to fry or roast it, you're in luck – you can use thinned yogurt or soured milk.

Can I Marinate Chicken for Too Long? The USDA recommends not keeping poultry in marinade for longer than two days, as it's possible that the marinade will start breaking down the meat's fibers and cause it to become mushy. A good rule of thumb is to keep marinating time under 24 hours.

Briefly soaking meat in a solution of baking soda and water raises the pH on the meat's surface, making it more difficult for the proteins to bond excessively, which keeps the meat tender and moist when it's cooked.

The rule of thumb is to let a chicken brine for approximately one hour per pound of meat, though you may want to lengthen or shorten that time depending on the strength of your salt solution or the level of salt you want to achieve.

The secret to making the perfect fried chicken is the use of buttermilk, as it helps tenderize each piece while leaving each bite juicy and crispy. After marinating, dredge your chicken pieces in the flour mixture and get to frying!

Most recipes for marinating meat and poultry recommend six hours up to 24 hours. It is safe to keep the food in the marinade longer, but after two days it is possible that the marinade can start to break down the fibers of the meat, causing it to become mushy.

You're roasting here, but the buttermilk and salt still work like a brine, tenderizing the meat on multiple levels to yield an unbelievably juicy chicken. As an added bonus, the sugars in the buttermilk will caramelize, contributing to an exquisitely browned skin. Be sure to leave 24 hours for marinating the chicken.

short answer, no. The chicken would become over marinated and be spongy. The bacterial culture in the buttermilk is what breaks down the chicken, too much and you have spongy weird tasting meat. In fact, you should marinate no more than 24 hours.