When Making Fried Chicken, Should You Dip It In Flour Or Egg First?

Dredging rules for crunchy fried chicken are simple but non-negotiable. They exist to maximize the amount and crispiness of the coating all while making the step-by-step process easy to follow. That's why when we spoke to Lance Knowling, Executive Chef of Northridge Restaurant at Woolverton Inn, he was adamant that the chicken be dipped in flour first.

"You will want to put the chicken in flour first then the egg," Knowling said. The role of egg, milk, or a combination of both is to bind the flour to the chicken in order to create a nice coating. However, when you dredge with the wet ingredient first, you actually sabotage the coating's ability to stick to the chicken. Once it hits the hot oil, wet ingredients bubble and steam, which can make a pocket between the meat and fried coating, causing it to fall off while you eat it.

However, if you start with flour, that provides a nice dry surface for the mix of dry and wet ingredients to adhere to the protein. Double-dipping your chicken by dredging it with flour, then wet ingredients, then flour again sandwiches the binding between two layers of crispiness. This is a solid rule of thumb that applies to any fried food, even if they use breadcrumbs as part of their coating.

"Egg or breadcrumbs are not required for great fried chicken," Lance Knowling said. "But if you want to use these methods, those ingredients definitely impact the texture and flavor." 

Breadcrumbs are more absorbent than standard flour and egg coating, which has its positives and negatives depending on the recipe. "I would not use egg batter and breadcrumbs for bone-in chicken, usually you would use this technique for flattened or boneless chicken like chicken parmesan, or even tenderloins," Knowling told us. Since fried chicken isn't always consumed with a sauce, all the breadcrumbs do is absorb more oil, creating a greasier final product. However, for Knowling's suggestion of chicken parm, it absorbs some of the marinara, suffusing the coating with extra tangy flavor. 

To avoid one simple mistake that makes chicken soggy, remember to shake off any excess flour. Using Panko instead of regular breadcrumbs also helps reduce oil absorption. 

If you're going to use breadcrumbs, you'll want to start with flour, then dip in egg, then breadcrumbs. If you want to stop breadcrumbs from falling off your chicken, just 15 minutes in the fridge helps the coating set up and solidify so it fries into a firmer final shape. A properly set coating with ingredients that add extra crispiness like vodka is all but fool-proof when it comes to both texture and taste.