You probably wonder how you can get your leftover fried chicken back to its original crunchy, crispy, juicy state. Just as if it were taken out of the fryer minutes ago. So how to reheat fried chicken?
Well you are in luck, below are 4 ways on how to reheat your fried chicken and have it come out crispy, crunchy and all kinds of delicious.
While there isn’t exactly a foolproof method to reheat your fried chicken and have it regain its original flavor and texture, these methods will at least try to get it back to dry crispy and juicy
There are only two factors to consider when reheating fried chicken, retaining its original taste and flavor and ensuring the reheated fried chicken does not make you sick.
4 Ways to Reheat Fried Chicken
1. Reheating Fried Chicken with an Oven
How reheat fried chicken in the oven?
This probably is the best way to reheat your fried chicken and have it retain its original flavor and get a crispy texture, if done the right way.
Procedure
- Remove the fried chicken from the fridge and place it on plate. Leave it on a counter top at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- While the chicken getting to room temperature, preheat the oven setting the heat at 350-400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Use foil to cover your baking sheet.
- Place your fried chicken pieces on the baking sheet, while evenly spacing out the chicken.
- Place the pan with the chicken pieces on the center/middle rack. This is to prevent your chicken from getting soggy at the bottom.
- Set the timer for 10 minutes.
- Check on the chicken pieces from time to time. This is because different pieces like chicken thighs or wings take more time to reheat properly.
- When the time is over, use an instant read meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the chicken pieces.
- Raise the heat to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and let the chicken pieces’ bake for an additional 5 minutes or until they attain an internal temperature reading of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- You can then serve your reheated fried chicken with a sauce or side-dish of your choice.
Ensure that the chicken pieces are at room temperature before you reheat them in the oven. This ensures the chicken pieces reheats evenly.
If the chicken pieces are not crispy enough, you can put them back in the oven but take care not to overcook them as the pieces can easily dry out.
How long can you freeze chicken? Read it here.
Convection Oven for Better Results
You may want to consider reheating your fried chicken in a convection oven. Not only does a convection oven reheat food much faster, but your fried chicken will reheat much more evenly bringing even much better results.
2. Reheating Fried Chicken with a Microwave
How to reheat fried chicken in the microwave?
This method is quite contentious as some will swear the texture of the reheated fried chicken will never be the same. However, it is a safe method to reheat fried chicken and a convenient one at that since compared to reheating using an oven, this method is relatively fast.
Again, use this method at your discretion. You may or may not get the crispy texture you always wanted.
Procedure
- Remove your fried chicken from the refrigerator and let it sit on a plate at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or so. This to ensure the fried chicken reheats evenly and moisture is not lost when reheating the chicken pieces.
- Cover a microwave safe-dish with a paper towel. This will reduce the chicken getting too soggy, but it won’t completely make the chicken crispy.
- Place the microwave safe-dish in the microwave.
- Reheat the fried chicken in the microwave in intervals. 30 second intervals will work just fine.
Once the fried chicken has warmed through to get an internal temperature reading of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, remove the fried chicken from the microwave. Allow it to cool for a while then serve.
3. Reheating Fried Chicken in a Toaster Oven
Ovens and toaster ovens are the ultimate savers when it comes to reheating fried chicken.
Procedure
- First cover the baking sheet using aluminum foil.
- Put the fried chicken in a microwave.
- Set the microwave in medium heat and let the fried chicken microwave for 1 to 2 minutes. Cover the microwave-safe plate using a paper towel.
- As the chicken is still in the microwave, preheat the toaster oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove the fried chicken from the microwave and place it on the baking sheet.
- Put the baking sheet with chicken pieces in the toaster oven and let it cook for 3 more minutes.
- Let the reheated fried chicken cool for a while before digging in.
4. Reheating Fried Chicken by Re-Frying
This is a great way to reheat your fried chicken while retaining the crispy crunchy texture.
Procedure
- First remove the fried chicken from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Getting the chicken pieces to get to room temperature is crucial in getting the crispy texture when you re-fry the chicken pieces.
- After 25 minutes or so, put a heavy pan on a stove, with the burner turned on high.
- Add a lot of frying oil to the pan. The amount should be enough to submerge the bottoms of your chicken pieces.
- Once the oil is well heated up, start adding your chicken pieces to the hot oil. Go about this carefully to avoid hot oil splashing. Alternatively, you can use tongs to add the pieces to the oil.
- Let the chicken pieces’ fry in the oil for a few minutes, 2-3 minutes. Turn the pieces regularly
- Once the chicken pieces are dry and crispy, remove them from the hot oil and dry using a wire rack preferably set over the pan.
Conclusion
There you have it, four wonderful ways to reheat your fried chicken.
Don’t dry the refried chicken pieces using paper towels. Doing so will leave the bottom part of the chicken soggy.
You can use a deep fryer instead of a pan if you have one, although It is not really necessary.
In all methods, ensure the chicken pieces’ cook until they have an internal temperature reading of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the recommended minimum safe cooking temperature for chicken meat.
Did you know you can stir fry chicken? Find out here.
