Chicken breast is known as a lean meat that can be cooked in many ways. It's even possible to cook crispy fried chicken breast, though this incorporates several additional ingredients. Typically, you'll need flour, egg, breadcrumbs and the right fried chicken breast seasoning.
Making Deep-Fried Chicken Breast
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To deep-fry chicken breast, you'll need to prep your chicken first. Fried chicken breast should be boneless; whether or not it's also skinless is up to you.
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Step 1: Thin Your Chicken Breast
This is accomplished by pounding your chicken with a mallet on a chopping board.
Step 2: Dredge Your Chicken Breast
Dredge the chicken breasts in flour that's had your choice of deep-fried chicken breast seasoning added to it. If you don't have prepared seasoning, you can make your own. To make fried chicken breast seasoning, add the following spices to every cup of flour:
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
- 1/2 tablespoon black pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
- 1/2 tablespoon mustard powder
- 1 tablespoon of paprika
- 1 tablespoon garlic salt
- 1/2 tablespoon of onion powder
Step 3: Dip in an Egg Wash
After dredging your chicken in this mixture, dip it in an egg wash. You can also use buttermilk, regular milk or yogurt instead of egg.
Step 4: Add a Coating
Next, cover your chicken breast in breadcrumbs, panko or another coating. This final step can vary substantially — you can use anything from sesame seeds to tempura.
Step 5: Deep Fry Your Chicken Breast
Finally, fully submerge your coated chicken breast in oil to be deep fried. The oil you choose can substantially affect the flavor and nutrition of your crispy fried chicken breast.
Read more: 15 of the Best Lean Animal Proteins
Deep-Fried Chicken Breast Nutrition
According to the USDA, one deep-fried chicken breast weighs around 200 grams or about 7 ounces. Fried chicken breast is also a good source of B-complex vitamins and essential minerals, like phosphorus and selenium.
Chicken breast is considered a healthy, lean protein. Generally, each chicken breast has about 467 calories, 25.3 grams of fat, 12.2 grams of carbohydrates and 47.7 grams of protein. However, the carbohydrate and fat content of your deep-fried chicken breast can vary.
For example, a panko-crusted fried chicken breast will have roughly this amount of carbohydrates. However, a sesame and coconut flour crusted fried chicken breast will likely be higher in fat and lower in carbohydrates.
In order to maintain a healthy diet, you shouldn't eat deep-fried chicken breast too often. Although crispy fried chicken breast is delicious, most recipes tend to be excessively rich in carbohydrates and fat. Excessive consumption of carbs and fat can contribute to weight gain and be detrimental to your health.
Fat and Fried Chicken Breasts
According to the Mayo Clinic, frying foods is not usually considered a healthy cooking technique. This is because frying usually increases your saturated fat intake.
If you're keen on deep-frying chicken breast, avoid frying it in fats like butter, lard and palm oil. Instead, Harvard Health Publishing recommends using vegetable oils like canola, corn and peanut oil.
These vegetable-based oils are healthier for you. Unlike oils that are rich in saturated and trans fats, vegetable oils are rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. According to Harvard Health Publishing and the American Heart Association, choosing healthy unsaturated fats over unhealthy saturated fats can help lower your cholesterol, reduce inflammation and improve your cardiovascular health.
Read more: 18 Fat-Rich Foods That Are Good for You
Ultimately, deep-fried chicken breast can be very nutritious. However, chicken breast will always be considered much healthier if you consume a skinless breast that's been roasted, grilled, braised or baked.
If you love crispy fried chicken breast but want to cut down on your fat intake, you can also try air frying. This cooking technique can help you produce crispy chicken without immersing it in oil.
To make air-fried chicken breasts, you can prepare your chicken breasts in the same way. The main difference is the final step: Rather than immersing your chicken breasts in hot oil, you simply put them in the air fryer.