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Lemon-Ginger Fried Chicken

Cooking Light
Lemon-Ginger Fried Chicken
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Leigh Ann Ross
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Worthy of a Special Occasion

Giving the chicken a double coat of flour mixture creates a golden crust (without the skin) when pan-fried. We use lemon rind instead of the lemon extract called for in the original.

Carefully pour in the broth so you don't wet the crispy brown coating on the chicken. The broth mixture turns into a glazey sauce that can be served with the chicken.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 breast half, or 1 thigh plus 1 drumstick)

Ingredients

  • 1  teaspoon  grated lemon rind
  • 1  cup  fresh lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
  • 2  teaspoons  minced peeled fresh ginger
  • 1 1/2  teaspoons  minced garlic
  • 2  bone-in chicken breast halves, skinned
  • 2  bone-in chicken thighs, skinned
  • 2  chicken drumsticks, skinned
  • 4.5  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
  • 2  teaspoons  ground ginger
  • 1  teaspoon  paprika
  • 1/2  teaspoon  ground red pepper
  • 1  teaspoon  kosher salt
  • 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4  cup  peanut oil
  • 1/4  cup  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
  • 2  tablespoons  brown sugar
  • 1  lemon, thinly sliced

Preparation

1. Place rind, juice, and next 5 ingredients (through drumsticks) in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal and shake to coat. Marinate in refrigerator 1 hour, turning bag occasionally.

2. Sift together flour and next 3 ingredients (through red pepper). Place flour mixture in a large zip-top plastic bag. Remove chicken from marinade bag, reserving marinade. Sprinkle salt and black pepper evenly over chicken. Add chicken, one piece at a time, to flour mixture; seal bag and shake to coat chicken. Remove chicken from bag, shaking off excess flour mixture. Reserve remaining flour mixture. Place chicken on a wire rack; place rack in a jelly-roll pan. Cover and refrigerate 1 1/2 hours. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 350°.

4. Return chicken, one piece at a time, to flour mixture; seal bag and shake to coat chicken. Remove chicken from bag, shaking off excess flour mixture. Discard remaining flour mixture.

5. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes or until golden, turning once. Arrange chicken in single layer in a shallow roasting pan. Combine broth and reserved marinade in a small bowl; carefully pour broth mixture into pan. Sprinkle chicken evenly with sugar, and top with lemon slices. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until golden and a thermometer registers 165°.

Nutritional Information

Calories:
375
Fat:
15.5g (sat 3.3g,mono 6.6g,poly 4.7g)
Protein:
30.8g
Carbohydrate:
30.5g
Fiber:
2.4g
Cholesterol:
85mg
Iron:
2.6mg
Sodium:
578mg
Calcium:
48mg
Kathy Kitchens Downie, RD, Cooking Light, AUGUST 2009

Member Ratings and Reviews

5 stars
KN
I thought this chicken was incredibly juicy. The breading turned out great. A lovely Sunday dinner. Will definitely make again.01/10/10

5 stars
stef
This recipe is time-consuming (marinate chicken for 90 minutes in the fridge, let come to room temperature for 30 minutes, pan-fry for 10-15 minutes if you don't want to crowd the pan, bake for 45 minutes) so get an early start! One star off for time consuming-ness, another star off for confusing instructions. I couldn't tell what pan I was supposed to add the chicken stock/marinade to at the end of the recipe before baking. I was baking the chicken in a large jellyroll/sheet pan with a cookie rack in it, so i poured the liquid in that so it would keep some moisture in the oven while the chicken finished baking. I bet a lot of people will be confused by the instructions and put the chicken directly into a pan along with this liquid, which will make their "fried" chicken turn into braised chicken. Yummy, I'm sure, but sad because 1) your chicken is no longer crispy and 2) you spent time and calories frying the chicken in oil first.09/21/09