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In many parts of the country, it looks like spring has officially sprung a few weeks early. Summer-like temperatures have brought many of us outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. And where is the best place to eat a good meal in the warm weather? Alfresco, of course! And what could be better on a perfect spring day than a good old fashioned picnic?
The most ideal picnic foods are ones that can be eaten by hand. Finger foods such as sandwiches, cut up fruit, cheese and crackers, and deviled eggs all fit the bill. But my personal favorite is the standby cold fried chicken. This delicacy always accompanied my family on our beachside picnics in the summer.
For a classic picnic, I picture a red-checkered tablecloth with a wooden basket resting on it, filled to the brim with golden brown fried chicken. Accompanied by lemonade and a few trusty sides such as potato salad and brownies, you’ll have a nostalgic movable feast fit for royalty.
There are as many ways to make delicious fried chicken as there are places to have a great picnic. In the most traditional Southern Fried Chicken, the chicken pieces are given a soak in a mixture of milk and egg or buttermilk, coated with flour, and then fried in either Crisco or lard. But there are so many other coating choices: cornmeal, panko breadcrumbs, or cornflake crumbs. To avoid trans fats, cooking oils such as canola or peanut can also be used. If you have a deep fryer, you can store your frying medium right in the deep fryer for several uses.
I don’t own a deep fryer, so our frying expeditions are limited to a couple times a year. Besides the health concern, my “fear” of frying goes back to the time I decided to fry calamari in our not well ventilated apartment kitchen and vowed never to do it again! But, with proper ventilation, it is a delicious way to cook moist and tender chicken with a crisp crust--the perfect thing to tote along in your basket.
For healthier chicken, you can coat in your choice of batter, and then bake instead of frying. There is also flash fried chicken, in which the chicken is first poached, and then fried quickly at 400 degrees F, in order to eliminate all the extra fat the chicken soaks in as it fries. You can use oils such as canola, grapeseed or peanut, that contain fewer artery clogging trans fats. Don’t use olive oil; it’s has too low of a smoke point for deep frying. If you fry at the proper temperature, the food will absorb less oil.
But for today’s picnic, we’re going to go all out. I’m going to make fried chicken in the customary Southern fashion, in a heavy cast iron frying pan that has been well seasoned with years of use. I can hardly wait to dig in!
So pack up your picnic basket and head out to your favorite park or spread out a blanket on the banks of a local lake or creek. What the heck, it’s so warm you could even take day trip to the beach. And if you can avoid the triple threat to the spring picnic, wind, springtime showers, and hungry bugs, all the better. After all, without a picnic, it just wouldn’t be spring!
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/1245-fried-chicken-picnic/
Finger Lickin' Spring Picnic
In many parts of the country, it looks like spring has officially sprung a few weeks early. Summer-like temperatures have brought many of us outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. And where is the best place to eat a good meal in the warm weather? Alfresco, of course! And what could be better on a perfect spring day than a good old fashioned picnic?
The most ideal picnic foods are ones that can be eaten by hand. Finger foods such as sandwiches, cut up fruit, cheese and crackers, and deviled eggs all fit the bill. But my personal favorite is the standby cold fried chicken. This delicacy always accompanied my family on our beachside picnics in the summer.
For a classic picnic, I picture a red-checkered tablecloth with a wooden basket resting on it, filled to the brim with golden brown fried chicken. Accompanied by lemonade and a few trusty sides such as potato salad and brownies, you’ll have a nostalgic movable feast fit for royalty.
There are as many ways to make delicious fried chicken as there are places to have a great picnic. In the most traditional Southern Fried Chicken, the chicken pieces are given a soak in a mixture of milk and egg or buttermilk, coated with flour, and then fried in either Crisco or lard. But there are so many other coating choices: cornmeal, panko breadcrumbs, or cornflake crumbs. To avoid trans fats, cooking oils such as canola or peanut can also be used. If you have a deep fryer, you can store your frying medium right in the deep fryer for several uses.
I don’t own a deep fryer, so our frying expeditions are limited to a couple times a year. Besides the health concern, my “fear” of frying goes back to the time I decided to fry calamari in our not well ventilated apartment kitchen and vowed never to do it again! But, with proper ventilation, it is a delicious way to cook moist and tender chicken with a crisp crust--the perfect thing to tote along in your basket.
For healthier chicken, you can coat in your choice of batter, and then bake instead of frying. There is also flash fried chicken, in which the chicken is first poached, and then fried quickly at 400 degrees F, in order to eliminate all the extra fat the chicken soaks in as it fries. You can use oils such as canola, grapeseed or peanut, that contain fewer artery clogging trans fats. Don’t use olive oil; it’s has too low of a smoke point for deep frying. If you fry at the proper temperature, the food will absorb less oil.
But for today’s picnic, we’re going to go all out. I’m going to make fried chicken in the customary Southern fashion, in a heavy cast iron frying pan that has been well seasoned with years of use. I can hardly wait to dig in!
So pack up your picnic basket and head out to your favorite park or spread out a blanket on the banks of a local lake or creek. What the heck, it’s so warm you could even take day trip to the beach. And if you can avoid the triple threat to the spring picnic, wind, springtime showers, and hungry bugs, all the better. After all, without a picnic, it just wouldn’t be spring!
Extra Crispy Southern Fried Chicken
Made with canola or peanut oil, chicken, milk, eggs, salt and pepper, garlic powder, seasoned salt, flour
Made with canola or peanut oil, chicken, milk, eggs, salt and pepper, garlic powder, seasoned salt, flour
Serves/Makes: 4
- 3 pounds chicken, cut into pieces
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt (optional)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups canola or peanut oil
Rinse the chicken pieces with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
In a shallow bowl, beat the eggs with the milk, and stir in the salt, pepper and garlic powder. Soak the chicken in the milk mixture for 5 to 10 minutes.
Combine the flour and seasoned salt (if using) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add the chicken pieces, a few at a time, and shake to coat completely in the flour. Shake off any excess and set the chicken aside on a rack to dry while the oil heats.
Pour the oil into a deep skillet or deep fryer and heat it to 350 degrees F. Add chicken thighs and legs and cook for several minutes.
Add other chicken pieces being careful not to overcrowd the skillet. Continue cooking, turning once, until the chicken pieces are golden brown and cooked through. Drain the crispy fried chicken on paper towels and serve warm or at room temperature.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/1245-fried-chicken-picnic/