Fried Dill Pickle Chicken

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: North American

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 25

Marinate Time: 1

Total Time: 1 35

Servings: servings

Calories: 292kcal

Author: Lord Byron's Kitchen

Sounds odd, right!? But, if you love dill pickles and you love fried chicken, you’ll love this recipe! Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are marinated in jarred dill pickle juice and then fried with a light and crispy coating. Tossed in a sweet, dill pickle sauce with sliced pickles, Fried Dill Pickle Chicken is about as pickley as anything can get!

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Ingredients

For the Chicken:

1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into thin strips)
1/2 cup dill pickle juice
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup cornstarch
oil for frying

For the Sauce:

1/4 cup dill pickle juice
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup sliced dill pickles
2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill, plus more for garnish

Instructions

Pile the chicken into a bowl and pour a half cup of the pickle juice into the bowl with it. Toss the chicken so that it is well coated with the pickle juice. Cover the bowl well and refrigerate the chicken for one hour.
Once the chicken is marinated, drain it well and discard the used pickle juice.
Place the well drained chicken back to the bowl and add the ground black pepper and toss to coat well.
Next, add half cup of cornstarch and toss until all of the chicken is well coated. Set this aside until you are ready to fry the chicken.
To prepare the sauce mixture, add the remaining pickle juice to a bowl along with the water and two tablespoons of cornstarch. Stir well to dissolve the cornstarch.
Next, add in the honey and whisk well until incorporated. Set that aside.
Next, add four inches of vegetable oil to a heavy bottomed pot. Turn on the heat and heat the oil to 315 degrees F.
Once the oil is hot, using tongs, lower the chicken into into the oil one piece at a time. Don’t overcrowd the pot. I tend to fry them off about a four or five pieces at a time. The chicken fries really quickly; it only needs about 4 minutes.
Once all of the chicken is fried, increase the heat of the oil to 350 degrees. Carefully place all of the chicken back into the oil. This is what I refer to as the second fry and it will add further crisp to your chicken and it only needs another 3-4 minutes. Remove from the oil and drain well.
In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, add the sauce mixture and bring it to a boil.
Once the sauce begins to thicken, add in the fried chicken. Toss the chicken well into the sauce until well coated.
Next, add in the chopped fresh dill and the sliced dill pickles. Continue to move the chicken about the skillet until the sauce begins to caramelize and thicken more, sticking to the chicken.
Remove from the heat and transfer all of the chicken to a serving plate. Garnish with more fresh dill and serve immediately.

Notes

Do not marinate the chicken for longer than three hours, because depending on the strength of your pickle juice, the brine could begin to break down the chicken, which is not what you want!

Nutrition