This easy gluten-free fried chicken recipe is seriously the best. You will be hooked with one bite of this crispy, juicy, gluten-free fried chicken with tapioca starch! Follow all of my tips and tricks to get the best gluten-free fried chicken ever!
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❤️ Sandi’s Recipe Summary
The fried chicken came out amazing. It was the best fried chicken I have had in over 15 years. Came out super crispy (I only dipped once) and the chicken was moist and flavorful. Your directions were easy to follow and made all the difference to me.”
ellen s., blog comment
When the owner of Proposition Chicken in San Francisco, Ari, told me he was going to share his exclusive gluten-free fried chicken recipe with us, I thought about how incredible that was. How often do you feel safe eating fried chicken at a restaurant? One taste of this gluten-free chicken recipe, and you will be hooked!
If you love making chicken recipes, I have a lot of incredible gluten-free chicken recipes to try!
Comfort foods like these rarely happen in the gluten-free realm; if they do, they are not very good. (Looking at this photo of gluten free fried chicken is really making me hungry!)
Ingredient Notes:
For the full list of ingredients and amounts, please go to the recipe card below.
- Chicken – You can use bone-in or boneless chicken cut for this recipe.
- Tapioca Starch – This is the hero of the recipe. It is grain-free and adds the crispiest of coatings!
- Buttermilk – This adds flavor and juiciness. If you don’t have buttermilk, mix 1 cup of milk with one tablespoon of lemon juice.
- Red Wine Vinegar – Most vinegar is gluten free, but always read the labels!
- Cayenne Pepper – This adds a hint of spice; it is optional.
- Oil – One of the most important factors to consider when choosing an oil to use is the oil’s smoking point. The smoking point is the moment when the oil is no longer glossy and shimmery-looking, and it starts to smoke.
How to Make the Best Gluten-Free Fried Chicken (Step-By-Step)
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Step 1: Add all the buttermilk, red wine vinegar, and cayenne pepper to a large
Add the raw chicken to the liquid ingredients and coat the chicken with the buttermilk mixture. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
Step 2: Soak the chicken in the buttermilk overnight or for 12 hours in the refrigerator. This makes the meat more tender and juicy when you fry it.
Remove the chicken and dip it into the tapioca starch seasoning blend. Toss the chicken to coat it.
Easy Frying Tip
Our outdoor Weber grill has a side burner attached. I use this to make my fried chicken. I hate when hot oil splatters all over my kitchen; that smell permeates EVERYWHERE! Avoid all of this if you can, and cook this outside.
Step 3: In a Dutch oven or large 12-inch cast-iron skillet, heat the oil to 350-375º F. Use a digital thermometer to measure the temperature. Gently drop the chicken into the hot oil. Be careful of the hot oil spattering out of the pan!
👀 Sandi Says: I recommend using canola or avocado oil because they are good at high heat. Do NOT use olive oil or other low-smoke point oils, or the flavor will turn out rancid.
Step 4: Use long metal tongs to flip the chicken over so both sides cook evenly. Cooking time will vary by the cut of chicken you use and whether it is bone-in or boneless. Be sure the internal temperature of the meat is 165º F.
If you want to try one of my old Texan favorites…you need to try this easy Gluten Free Chicken Fried Steak recipe! If you make chicken nuggets with this recipe, you can use them for my Gluten Free Orange Chicken!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Unfortunately, traditional fried chicken is not gluten-free. Not only do they coat the chicken in flour, but the fryers in many restaurants become contaminated because they also fry other gluten foods in the fryer.
The best gluten free flours to use for frying chicken and other savory dishes like eggplant parmesan are Tapioca Starch (the star of this easy chicken recipe), Cassava Flour, Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Flour Blend (in the red label bag), and Gluten Free Bisquick.
The length of time to cook fried chicken depends on whether you cook it in a frying pan, an air fryer, or a deep fryer. When cooked, you want to ensure the chicken’s internal temperature is 165º F.
A deep fryer like this recipe calls for takes about 18 minutes. Cooking this recipe in a skillet with an inch of oil will take about 25 minutes. You will need to turn the chicken often so all sides get crispy.
I have not tried this recipe in an air fryer yet, but one of my readers has tried it. She said the fried chicken would take around 25 minutes to cook in an air fryer.
Buttermilk definitely adds to the flavor profile of this recipe. If you don’t have buttermilk, why not make some with milk and lemon juice?
For this recipe, use regular milk and add one tablespoon of lemon juice. Let it sit for 10 minutes then you are ready to go :-). If you want delicious baked fried chicken, try this Gluten Free Buttermilk Oven Fried Chicken recipe!
Sides To Serve With Fried Chicken:
- Deli-Style Gluten Free Macaroni Salad
- Loaded Baked Potato Salad
- Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes with this easy Gluten Free Gravy
- The Best Kale and Apple Salad
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If you made and enjoyed this recipe, I would be incredibly grateful if you could leave a comment below. This will help others know that this recipe is delicious. Thank you!
Best Gluten Free Fried Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
Marinade
- 8-10 pieces Bone-in chicken of your choice
- 1 cup buttermilk (*see note)
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ tablespoon red wine vinegar
- dash of salt and pepper to taste
Prep
- 1 cup tapioca starch (*see note)
Cook
- hot oil for frying (*see note)
Instructions
Marinade
- Put 1 cup buttermilk, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/4 tablespoon red wine vinegar, and dash of salt and pepper to taste (except chicken) into a bowl and whisk until fluffy.
- Put 8-10 pieces Bone-in chicken of your choice into a large dish and pour the marinade over the butchered chicken.
- Move chicken around to make sure all of the raw chicken is all covered in the marinade.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12 hours.
Prep
- Drain marinaded chicken in a large strainer.
- Place chicken in 1 cup tapioca starchand toss it around to cover the whole piece of chicken.
- Let the chicken rest 2-3 minutes on a baking pan.
- Gently heat oil in a pre-seasoned cast iron skillet. If you have a deep fryer, that is great! I would use that instead. The oil should be 350-375 F degrees before adding the chicken pieces.
- Fry the chicken for 10 minutes on one side. Flip the chicken to cook the other side another 10 minutes. (Do this if you are not fully submerging your chicken in the hot oil. After you cook each side of the chicken, check the internal temperature of 165 F degrees. The total cook time would be around 20 minutes, but it depends on the cut of chicken you are using. If you are deep frying the chicken it will take less time for your chicken to cook.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
Notes
- Many ask if you can use cornstarch instead of tapioca, this should be okay.
- If you do not have buttermilk, you can make your own by mixing 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
- If you like your chicken extra crispy, double-dip it! After doing one dip in the tapioca starch, put back into the buttermilk, then redip into the tapioca starch.
- Use an oil that is made to tolerate high heat. Canola, avocado, and coconut oil are all great high heat oils for frying. (Note if you use coconut oil it will impart a flavor where canola and avocado oil are tasteless.)
- You want your hot oil temperature to reach between 350-375 F degrees before adding the chicken.
- This fried chicken will keep up to 3 days in the refrigerator in an air-tight container. To reheat, put onto a baking sheet, cover with foil (to prevent burning the crispy coating), and bake in the oven at 325 F degrees for 20 minutes. Check to see if it is heated all the way through.
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SPECIAL NOTE
Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, my rule of thumb is to add more flour if your dough or batter is wet and add more liquid if the dough or batter is too dry!
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
I truly hope you enjoy this recipe. I have been testing and creating gluten-free recipes for over 15 years. Creating gluten-free recipes that do not taste gluten-free is my goal for every recipe. Sometimes I only have to test a new recipe a couple of times, and others it takes multiple times. I do this so you get reliable, delicious results every time!
Hello Sandi,
I haven’t made it yet, I usually use an air fryer to cook my chicken. Will an air fryer work for this recipe? It sounds delicious!
Sara
Hi Sara, I haven’t tested this fried chicken recipe in an air fryer. I double checked my spreadsheet of reader modifications, and it looks like nobody has written to me saying they tried it. If you try it, please do let me know how it turns out.
Fried chicken breast and thighs last night. Made a few mistakes with the mixing. Put the tapioca starch in with the buttermilk mix. Then after marinading 2 hr. followed the part about tossing in tapioca flour. Oh well….But it turned out fantastic. Hubby was so excited to finally find a recipe for fried chicken. This is a keeper and will be used many times. Thank you for all your hard work.
I am so glad the chicken turned out great! Thank you so much, Carol!
I made this with wings since its my first time frying chicken. I used cornstarch, didn’t have tapioca flour and followed the recipe otherwise. It was cripsy and moist, but I had to play around with cooking times, since I only did a sampling of wings. This is the first fried chicken I’ve had in over 3 years….it was so good. Will make with other chicken parts now…Love your recipes! Thank-you for sharing your wisdom.
Thank you so much, Bonnie. I really am glad you are enjoying my recipes.
I tried the fried chicken recipe and your easy fresh herb potato salad last night. The fried chicken came out amazing. It was the best fried chicken I have had in over 15 years. Came out super crispy (I only dipped once) and the chicken was moist and flavorful. Your directions were easy to follow and made all the difference to me. I am 83 years old and now I can have fried chicken again. Two others in my household (one a gluten-free skeptic and does not like anything GF) said the chicken was the best they have ever had.
The potato salad was excellent and easy to make. I will never make my regular potato salad again. This one is fabulous.
Thank you for the recipes.
You absolutely made my day, Ellen. My goal is to make food even non-gluten free people like. Thank you so much for coming back to let me know.
Quick question – will Otto Starch work also?
I haven’t tested using the tapioca flour. The recipe was shared with us from a chef, so I don’t know how to answer this question. If you try it, please come back and let us know how it worked.