Gordon Ramsay's fried chicken is a buttermilk fried chicken made with dark meat on the bone: thighs and drumsticks soaked in buttermilk seasoned with salt and pepper, rolled in flour spiked with smoked paprika, garlic powder and cayenne, then fried in a heavy pan of hot oil until the crust is craggy and deep golden. He serves it with a quick sweet pickled celery that cuts straight through the richness. The recipe comes from his book Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Home Cooking, and he cooks it start to finish in a video on his YouTube channel, which Foodbeast covered when it went up.
This version keeps his method and flavors and fixes the two things that most often go wrong at home: greasy chicken from oil that runs too cool, and a crust that slides off. It borrows a little cornstarch for crunch from the newer pickle-brined fried chicken on his own site, fries in a deeper pot with a thermometer clipped to the side, and drains on a rack. Bone-in dark meat is the cut he cooks, and if you buy a whole bird his way of choosing and breaking down a chicken gets you the legs for this and the breasts and carcass for later.
What Makes Gordon Ramsay's Fried Chicken Different
Gordon Ramsay's fried chicken stands out for how little is in it. The buttermilk carries only salt and pepper, the flour carries three spices, and there is no egg wash and no second fry. The Daily Meal counted his whole seasoning as five ingredients: salt, pepper, smoked paprika, cayenne and garlic powder. The smoked paprika gives color and a gentle smokiness, the cayenne brings the heat, and the garlic powder adds a savory note. He also presses the flour onto each piece so it clings thickly, which is where the rough, craggy surface comes from.
He uses thighs and drumsticks rather than breasts, and that choice matters as much as the coating. Dark meat has more fat and more connective tissue, so it stays juicy through the 15 to 30 minutes bone-in pieces need in the oil, while a breast dries out in the same time. Ramsay has published two versions over the years, and they line up like this:
| Step | Ramsay's book version | His pickle-brined version | This recipe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soak | Buttermilk, salt, pepper; 30 min to overnight | Pickle brine and buttermilk; overnight to 24 h | Salted buttermilk; overnight is best |
| Coating | Flour, smoked paprika, garlic powder, cayenne | Flour and cornstarch, double dredged | Book spices plus a little cornstarch, one thick dredge |
| Oil | About 3/4 in in a heavy pan, 340°F | About 2 in in cast iron, 325°F | 1½ in in a Dutch oven, held at 325 to 340°F |
| Time | 25 to 30 min, turning | 8 to 12 min, oven to finish | 14 to 18 min, turning |
| Served with | Sweet pickled celery | Spicy whipped honey butter | Sweet pickled celery |
Why You Soak Chicken in Buttermilk Before Frying
Soaking chicken in buttermilk before frying seasons and tenderizes the outside of the meat and gives the flour something wet and sticky to grab. Buttermilk is cultured milk: the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension explains that it is made by fermenting milk with acid-producing bacteria, and that acidity is also what makes it thick. Mild acid and the salt you stir in both denature the proteins on the surface of the chicken, loosening them so the outer layer stays tender and holds on to more of its moisture when it hits the hot oil.
Keep your expectations honest about how far it goes. The buttermilk and the pepper only reach a few millimeters into the meat; marinades do not soak through a thigh. Salt is the one ingredient that travels, which is why the salt goes into the buttermilk and why an overnight soak seasons the meat more deeply than Ramsay's 30-minute minimum. Overnight in the fridge is the sweet spot, and up to 24 hours is fine. Much longer and the surface can turn soft and mushy. If you have no buttermilk, stir a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar into a cup of whole milk and let it sit for 10 minutes, or thin plain yogurt with milk.
How to Dredge Fried Chicken So the Coating Sticks
To make the coating stick, lift each piece out of the buttermilk, let the excess drip off for a few seconds, then roll it in the seasoned flour and press the flour on firmly with your palm. Next, set the pieces on a wire rack and leave them for about 15 minutes before they go into the oil. That rest is the step most home cooks skip, and it is why breading falls off fried chicken.
During the rest, the dry flour soaks up moisture from the buttermilk underneath. As the starch and flour proteins hydrate, the powdery coat turns into a tacky paste that bonds to the skin, and you can see the change: the white coating goes damp and slightly darker in patches. Fry it straight from the dredge and the dry flour sits on a slick of buttermilk, so the steam that bursts out in the oil pushes it straight off. For the craggy texture, drizzle two or three spoonfuls of the buttermilk into the flour and rub it between your fingertips to make little clumps before you start dredging. Those clumps stick to the chicken and fry into the rough, crunchy ridges Ramsay goes for. The spoonful of cornstarch helps too, since it has no gluten-forming protein and fries up crisper and lighter than flour alone.
Oil Temperature for Fried Chicken: 325 to 350°F
The right oil temperature for fried chicken is 325 to 350°F (163 to 177°C). Heat the oil to 350°F before the chicken goes in, expect it to drop to around 300°F the moment it does, and then turn the burner up so the oil climbs back and holds at about 325 to 340°F for the rest of the fry. Ramsay's book version fries at 170°C, which is 340°F, and the newer recipe on his site holds 325°F. Bone-in chicken needs that slightly gentler heat because the crust has to stay golden for the full time it takes the meat at the bone to cook.
Here is what that number controls. The coating is full of water from the buttermilk, and in oil far above 212°F (100°C) that water flashes to steam. The steam rushing out puffs the coating into a light, open crust, and as long as it keeps streaming out it also keeps the oil from soaking in. Once the surface has dried, it climbs past 284°F (140°C), where the Maillard reaction starts browning the flour, the paprika and the proteins and builds the toasty, savory flavor of good fried chicken. If the oil runs too cool, below about 300°F, the steam slows to a trickle and oil seeps into the crust before it sets, which is exactly how fried chicken turns greasy. Too hot, above about 375°F, and the outside browns and then scorches (anything past 356°F/180°C starts tasting burnt and bitter) long before the meat by the bone is cooked.
Escali
Escali AHC1 Deep Fry & Candy Thermometer
- Stainless pot clip keeps the probe in the oil, so you read the frying temperature hands-free the whole time
- Dial reads 100 to 500°F, with a movable marker you can park at 325 to 350°F for fried chicken
- NSF certified stainless steel with a 5.5-inch probe; oven and dishwasher safe
A clip-on thermometer like this one is the tool that makes fried chicken repeatable, because a pan of oil gives you no other honest signal. Fry in batches: in a 6-quart Dutch oven, four pieces at a time is plenty. Every piece of cold chicken you add drops the temperature further, so a crowded pot falls below 300°F and stays there. Let the oil come back to 350°F between batches.
| Oil temperature | What happens to the chicken |
|---|---|
| Below 300°F | Steam slows, oil soaks into the coating before it sets; pale, greasy crust |
| 325 to 340°F | The working range for bone-in pieces: steady bubbling, crust browns as the meat cooks through |
| 350°F | Where to start each batch, because the chicken pulls the oil down right away |
| Above 375°F | Crust browns fast and darkens toward burnt before the meat at the bone is done |
How Long to Fry Chicken, and How to Tell It's Done
Bone-in thighs and drumsticks take about 14 to 18 minutes in 1½ inches of oil at 325 to 340°F, turned every 3 to 4 minutes so both sides brown evenly. Ramsay fries in shallower oil, only part way up the pieces, so his take 25 to 30 minutes with frequent turning. In both cases the clock is only a guide. The test is the internal temperature at the thickest part, next to the bone without touching it.
The USDA safe minimum for chicken is 165°F (74°C), and that is the floor. Dark meat eats better higher, around 175 to 185°F, because its collagen (the connective tissue that makes undercooked thighs chewy) needs time above about 154°F to melt into gelatin, which is what makes a well-cooked thigh silky. ThermoWorks recommends at least 170 to 175°F for legs for the same reason, and notes that meat right at the bone can stay a little pink even when fully cooked, from pigment in the bone and muscle. Trust the thermometer, not the color. If the crust is already deep golden-brown and the meat is still short of 165°F, move the pieces to a rack on a sheet pan and finish them in a 375°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes, the way Ramsay's own site does it.
Drain Fried Chicken on a Rack, Not Paper Towels
Drain fried chicken on a wire rack set over a sheet pan, not on paper towels. The pieces keep giving off steam for several minutes after they leave the oil. On a rack it escapes all around and the crust stays dry, while on paper towels it gets trapped underneath, condenses, and turns the bottom of the crust soft and soggy. Ramsay drains his on kitchen paper in the book; the rack is the easy upgrade.
Sprinkle the chicken with a little flaky salt the second it comes out, while the surface is still slick enough to hold it, and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes before you serve it. The temperature inside rises a few degrees from carryover heat during that rest, and the juices thicken as the meat cools slightly, so less of them runs out when you bite in. To keep the first batch hot while the second fries, slide the whole rack and pan into a 200°F oven.
Deep-Frying Safety at Home
Frying chicken safely at home comes down to a heavy, deep pot, oil that fills it no more than halfway, and someone watching it the whole time. Oil foams and rises when wet chicken goes in, so 1½ to 2 inches of oil in a 6-quart Dutch oven leaves plenty of room. Use a neutral oil that handles the heat, such as peanut, canola or vegetable oil, and if it ever starts to smoke, turn the heat down; smoking oil is breaking down and well past the frying range. Lower each piece in gently, away from you, with tongs.
Keep a lid that fits the pot within reach. The National Fire Protection Association advice for a grease fire is to slide the lid over the pot, turn off the burner and leave it covered until it cools, and never to throw water on it: the water sinks, flashes to steam and throws burning oil out of the pot. If the fire does not go out, get everyone out and call the fire department from outside. Once the oil has cooled completely, strain it into a jar if you want to fry with it again.
Ramsay's Sweet Pickled Celery, and What to Serve With Fried Chicken
Gordon Ramsay serves his fried chicken with sweet pickled celery: thinly sliced celery covered in a hot syrup of white wine vinegar and sugar flavored with whole cloves, mustard seeds and black peppercorns, then left to cool. The cloves here are the spice, not garlic. Make it first, before you dredge, so it has time to chill. The hot liquid takes the raw edge off the celery, but the short contact leaves the pectin that holds its cells together mostly intact, so it stays crunchy. The sharp vinegar and the sweetness cut the richness of the fried crust the way a pickle does next to a burger.
For a fuller spread, the classic sides work: a crisp Gordon Ramsay coleslaw, a bowl of creamy mac and cheese or homemade baked beans. Leftovers keep up to 4 days in the fridge; reheat them on a rack in a 375°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes until they are hot through to 165°F, which crisps the crust again where a microwave would steam it soft.
If Gordon Ramsay's fried chicken is your weekend project, his sticky spicy chicken wings are the easier weeknight cousin from the oven, and the Hellfire chicken burger brings the same cayenne heat to a bun. The rest of his poultry dishes are collected in our best Gordon Ramsay chicken recipes, and the heavy pans that make frying easier are in the Gordon Ramsay cookware guide.
Gordon Ramsay Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Sweet Pickled Celery
Ingredients
Chicken and buttermilk soak
- 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 4 chicken drumsticks (about 3 lb chicken in total)
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Seasoned flour
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch (optional, for extra crunch)
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 to 2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
To fry
- 2 quarts peanut, canola or vegetable oil, for frying
- flaky sea salt, to finish
Sweet pickled celery
- 5 celery stalks (about half a head), sliced thinly on the diagonal
- 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
- 6 black peppercorns
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Put the chicken in a bowl, sprinkle with the 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper, pour over the buttermilk and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, ideally overnight (up to 24 hours).
- Make the pickled celery: put the celery in a heatproof jar or bowl. Bring the vinegar, sugar, cloves, mustard seeds, peppercorns and salt to a simmer in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Pour it over the celery, let it cool, then chill until serving.
- Take the chicken out of the fridge about 20 minutes before frying. In a wide dish, whisk the flour, cornstarch, smoked paprika, garlic powder, cayenne, salt and pepper. Drizzle in 3 tablespoons of the buttermilk from the bowl and rub it in with your fingertips to make small clumps.
- Lift each piece from the buttermilk, let the excess drip off, and roll it in the seasoned flour, pressing firmly so a thick, shaggy coat sticks. Set the pieces on a wire rack over a sheet pan and rest for 15 minutes, until the coating looks damp.
- Pour the oil into a heavy 6-quart Dutch oven to a depth of about 1½ inches, never more than halfway up the pot. Clip a deep-fry thermometer to the side and heat over medium-high to 350°F. Set a clean wire rack over a sheet pan for the cooked chicken and heat the oven to 200°F.
- Lower 4 pieces into the oil, one at a time and away from you. The oil will drop to around 300°F; raise the heat so it climbs back and holds at 325 to 340°F. Fry for 14 to 18 minutes, turning every 3 to 4 minutes, until deep golden-brown and craggy and the thickest part near the bone reads at least 165°F (175 to 185°F for the most tender dark meat).
- Move the chicken to the clean rack, sprinkle with flaky salt, and keep it warm in the oven. If the crust is browned before the meat reaches 165°F, finish those pieces on the rack in a 375°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Let the oil return to 350°F, then fry the second batch the same way.
- Rest the chicken for 5 to 10 minutes, then serve with the drained pickled celery.
Notes
Gordon Ramsay Fried Chicken FAQs
The questions that come up most: how Gordon Ramsay makes fried chicken, what spices he uses, how long to soak chicken in buttermilk, what oil temperature to fry at, how long to fry thighs and drumsticks, why the breading falls off, whether you need egg, and what to use instead of buttermilk.
How does Gordon Ramsay make fried chicken?
He soaks bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks in buttermilk seasoned with salt and pepper, rolls them in flour mixed with smoked paprika, garlic powder and cayenne, presses the coating on firmly, and fries them in a heavy pan of oil at about 340°F, turning often, until deep golden and cooked through. He serves it with a sweet pickled celery. The recipe is from his book Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Home Cooking.
What spices does Gordon Ramsay use in fried chicken?
Five ingredients: salt and black pepper in the buttermilk and the flour, plus smoked paprika for color and smokiness, cayenne for heat and garlic powder for a savory note. Use 1 to 2 teaspoons of cayenne depending on how hot you like it.
How long should you soak chicken in buttermilk before frying?
At least 30 minutes, which is Ramsay's minimum, but overnight in the fridge is better because the salt in the buttermilk has time to season deeper into the meat. Up to 24 hours is fine; much longer and the surface can turn mushy. Always soak it in the refrigerator.
What temperature should the oil be for fried chicken?
Heat the oil to 350°F, add the chicken, and hold it at 325 to 340°F while it fries. Below about 300°F the crust soaks up oil and turns greasy; above about 375°F it browns and darkens before the meat at the bone is cooked. A clip-on thermometer is the only reliable way to know.
How long do you fry chicken thighs and drumsticks?
About 14 to 18 minutes in 1½ inches of oil at 325 to 340°F, turning every few minutes. In shallower oil, as Ramsay fries it, allow 25 to 30 minutes. The chicken is done at 165°F at the thickest part, and dark meat is more tender at 175 to 185°F.
Why does the breading fall off my fried chicken?
Usually because the chicken went into the oil straight after dredging. Let the coated pieces rest on a rack for about 15 minutes so the flour soaks up the buttermilk and turns into a tacky paste that bonds to the skin. Also press the flour on firmly, do not crowd the pot, and turn the pieces with tongs rather than a fork.
Do you need egg for buttermilk fried chicken?
No. Ramsay's fried chicken uses no egg at all: the thick buttermilk is the wet layer that holds the flour. Egg washes are used in other breading methods, but buttermilk alone gives a craggy, crisp crust that stays on as long as the dredged chicken rests before frying.
What can I use instead of buttermilk for fried chicken?
Stir 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar into 1 cup of whole milk and leave it for 10 minutes, or thin plain yogurt with a little milk to buttermilk consistency. Both give the same mild acidity and a thick enough layer for the flour to stick to.
About the Author
John Siracusa is the founder of Hell’s Kitchen Recipes. He focuses on technique-first, reproducible home cooking and researches recipes & kitchen equipment from published food science and professional chef methods since 2016.