This is the Best Imitation Fried Buttermilk Chicken Recipe (2024)

Everyone’s grandma in the South (often called Memaw or Granny) has her own fried chicken recipe. It’s the one dish she can always be counted on to bring to potluck dinners.

This recipe for fried buttermilk chicken is the closest shortcut we’ve been able to come up with for Granny’s fried chicken. We know that a proper Southern grandmother typically has a recipe that takes hours to soak in the buttermilk alone. But as busy parents, many of our readers don’t have that kind of time.

You can make some fried buttermilk chicken without having to spend all day in the kitchen. This isn’t quite a 30-minute meal, but it doesn’t take much longer than that. You can satisfy your craving for fried chicken even on a busy day when you can’t make it to Granny’s house for dinner.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

One of the things you’ll notice about this recipe is that even though it’s called fried buttermilk chicken, it’s not actually fried. Part of that is because we are generally more health-conscious than our grandmothers were. Granny’s chicken is a delicious treat on special occasions, but most of us are watching both our cholesterol and our waistlines.

Even though this buttermilk “fried” chicken is actually baked, you don’t have to miss out on the satisfying crunch of fried chicken. Because this recipe uses panko (Japanese) bread crumbs and crushed walnuts, these ingredients still keep the chicken crispy.

This recipe is also healthier than traditional fried chicken because it uses boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Typical fried chicken uses a whole chicken, skin and all. While fried chicken skin is delicious, it’s also not very healthy. Chicken skin is high in fat and most nutrition experts advise you to avoid it on a healthy diet.

The ranch dip mix adds a tangy zip of flavor to the chicken that will still wow your taste buds. Even though this recipe doesn’t have as much fat as a traditional buttermilk fried chicken recipe, it doesn’t lose anything in flavor. In fact, kids absolutely love it because they think ranch goes great on everything. And let’s admit it: they aren’t wrong!

Buttermilk Chicken Recipe

This recipe still fits our criteria for a healthy, relatively inexpensive meal. But we know some families are on tighter grocery budgets, so you don’t need to take this buttermilk chicken recipe off the menu entirely.

You can make the recipe even cheaper by making substitutions for the buttermilk. You can use lemon juice or white vinegar, plus regular milk instead of buttermilk. To make this buttermilk substitute, use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar, then enough milk to add up to a total of one cup.

If you don’t have Panko bread crumbs, you can use regular bread crumbs. Or, if you want to save even more money, you can make your own bread crumbs by letting some white bread get stale and then crush them up very finely. Instead of crushed walnuts, you could use crushed corn flake cereal.

You can even use cheaper cuts of chicken if you want. You can buy a whole chicken and cut it up into breasts, thighs, wings, and legs. This is by far the cheapest way to purchase chicken, but it is more time consuming than just getting pre-cut boneless skinless breasts. If you’re health-conscious, remove the skin before preparing the food.

Sides to Serve With This Recipe

Even though the buttermilk chicken recipe is different because it’s baked instead of fried, you can still make the traditional side dishes. The most typical side dishes for fried chicken are mashed potatoes, corn, and biscuits. Some people also make macaroni and cheese instead of mashed potatoes, which is always popular with kids.

Macaroni and cheese usually isn't the healthiest side, so if you want to serve it with this chicken without hurting your diet you'll need to make a couple of adjustments. For one, you'll want to use low-fat cheese instead of regular cheese. Second, try using reduced-fat milk instead of whole milk. The taste will still be very similar, but it won't have as many calories.

Sweet potatoes can make a great side for this chicken recipe, as well. The great thing about sweet potatoes is that they offer a lot of health benefits, but are still beloved by kids. Healthy foods that kids love are far and few in between, so you should definitely take advantage of the ones that exist out there.

A salad is never a bad side, either. A simple side salad is easy to prepare, and a nice way to make a complete meal. Choose simple, affordable ingredients and a good dressing. A nice dressing is the key to ensuring your kids actually eat their salad without too much fuss!

Buttermilk fried chicken is a delicious favorite that has stood the test of time. If you don’t have a Southern Granny to make it for you, this recipe is a healthy alternative that you can make in very little time.

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