Instead of fast food, DIY

Why drive thru when you can stay home for a great fried chicken sandwich?

The popularity of fried chicken sandwiches seems to know no bounds.

Witness their proliferation on fast food menus from McDonald’s to Wendy’s and the lines of cars with occupants ordering fried chicken creations at chains such as Chick-fil-A, Popeyes and Raising Cane’s.

Because it takes a lot of hot oil to make chicken sandwiches, they aren’t typically a choice for the home cook except for those with large families and groups of friends.

The cost of both corn and canola oil has increased during the pandemic to the point where it likely will take $8 worth of it to fill a pan for deep frying chicken sandwiches.

So invite the neighbors and your friends and have at it with chicken sandwiches for the whole gang.

Boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs may be used for making fried chicken sandwiches. I prefer thighs because they don’t dry out quite as easily as breasts, although breasts are meatier.

Bone-in breasts and thighs are cheaper, but if you take on deboning them yourself you’ll quickly understand why the boneless ones are pricier.

You’ll need a frying thermometer to clip onto your pan because crispy chicken results when the temperature of the oil stays steady at about 360 degrees. It will drop each time you add more chicken to the pan of preheated oil, so it’s best to use a 12-inch pan and cook only two or three chicken pieces at a time.

They’ll take only a few minutes for each batch, so if you get your timing right, you can cook subsequent batches while the first ones are draining.

Set up stations for cooking, draining and assembling sandwiches and recruit a helper, if possible, to toast the buns, slather them with sauce, top with hot fried chicken and add the lettuce and tomato for completed sandwiches.

Today we’re giving you a recipe for fried chicken sandwiches and providing a tasty grilled chicken recipe for those not interested in using all that oil. Both require marinating, so give yourself plenty of time.

See recipes below.

Why drive thru when you can stay home for a great fried chicken sandwich just the way you like it?