How to Season Flour for Fried Chicken

Fried chicken is one of the 10 most popular comfort foods in the United States, says Alton Brown in the "Food Network Magazine." But it's also a food that may be difficult to incorporate into a healthy, balanced diet. Besides being high in fat, fried chicken can contain large amounts of sodium: Commercially prepared fried chicken may have as much as 860 milligrams of sodium per serving, an amount that supplies 37 percent of the sodium a healthy adult should limit herself to daily. To control your sodium intake, prepare fried chicken at home using flour you've seasoned with low-sodium spices and herbs. Eat fried chicken only occasionally, and use an alternative, low-fat method like oven-frying whenever possible.

Step 1

Measure flour into a large mixing bowl. Plan on approximately 2 cups of flour for every 4 pounds of chicken.

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Step 2

Add your choice of low- or no-sodium seasonings, such as freshly ground pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, oregano, a commercial salt-free seasoning blend or low-sodium seasoned salt.

Step 3

Combine the seasonings with flour thoroughly using a whisk. Store the seasoned flour in a plastic resealable bag or an airtight container, or use it as a fried chicken coating immediately.

Things You'll Need

Large mixing bowl
Low-sodium seasonings
Whisk
Plastic resealable bag or airtight container, optional

Tip

To help the seasoned flour stick to the chicken, mix in a small amount of buttermilk until the flour has the texture of wet sand, then use the mixture to coat the chicken pieces, advises the editors at America's Test Kitchen.

For a crunchier coating, add a few teaspoons of baking powder to the seasoned flour before using.

If you want a spicy fried chicken, add spices like cayenne pepper and chili powder to the flour.

Warning

Do not store and reuse seasoned flour that you have already used to coat raw chicken.

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