1824 Virginia Fried Chicken with Milk Gravy (Mary Randolph)
The oldest American printed fried chicken recipe we found: chicken dredged in flour and salt, fried light brown in lard, with fried parsley and a simple butter and milk gravy poured over the top.
Nobody invented fried chicken in one kitchen. Wikipedia's fried chicken article traces Southern fried chicken to precedents in both Scottish and West African cooking: chicken fried in fat in the British Isles, and West African traditions of seasoning, battering and frying chicken in palm oil, carried to the American South by enslaved Africans, who did much of the cooking there (citing Rice and Katz-Hyman's "World of a Slave", 2010, and Opie's "Hog and Hominy", 2013). Which tradition came first is DISPUTED (see Rules). The oldest American recipe we found in print is "Fried Chickens" in Mary Randolph's "The Virginia House-Wife", first published in 1824: cut the chicken up, dredge it in flour, salt it, fry it light brown in plenty of boiling lard, and serve it with fried parsley, fried mush and a gravy of rich milk, butter and parsley (Project Gutenberg text:). After the Civil War, Black women in Gordonsville, Virginia, known as waiter carriers, sold fried chicken to train passengers through the open windows, and historian Psyche Williams-Forson describes how that trade helped families buy homes (NPR, July 10, 2015:).
🇺🇸 The original
The oldest American printed fried chicken recipe we found: chicken dredged in flour and salt, fried light brown in lard, with fried parsley and a simple butter and milk gravy poured over the top.
🇺🇸 The American version
Later Southern cooks soaked it in buttermilk, seasoned the flour and fried it in a cast-iron skillet, and every region added its own twist. See the Southern Pan-Fried Buttermilk Chicken recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Flour and salt only
A single dry dredge sticks to the damp skin and fries into a thin, crisp coat without hiding the chicken, which is all Randolph asked for.
A thin gravy on purpose
Milk simmered with butter is not meant to be thick; it soaks into the crust like a sauce, and the fried parsley adds crunch back.
Step by step
- Step 1
Pat the chicken pieces very dry. Toss the flour with the salt in a shallow dish, then dredge each piece well, shake off the excess and set it on a rack.
- Step 2
Melt the lard in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until it is about 1/2 inch deep and reaches 350°F, about 10 minutes.
- Step 3
Add the thighs and drumsticks skin side down, then the breast pieces, without crowding (fry in two batches if needed). Fry 10 to 12 minutes, adjusting the heat to hold the fat between 300°F and 325°F, until deep golden underneath.
- Step 4
Turn the pieces and fry 10 to 12 minutes more, until light brown all over and the breasts read 165°F and the dark meat 175°F. Drain on a rack and keep warm in a 200°F oven.
- Step 5
Lower the heat. Drop the dry parsley into the fat in small handfuls; it hisses and spatters, so stand back. Fry 20 to 30 seconds, just until crisp and still bright green, and lift it onto paper towels.
- Step 6
In a small saucepan, bring the milk, butter, chopped parsley and pepper to a bare simmer over medium-low heat and simmer 3 minutes. Season with salt.
- Step 7
Arrange the chicken on a platter, pour the gravy over it the way Randolph says, and scatter the fried parsley on top.
1824 Virginia Fried Chicken with Milk Gravy (Mary Randolph)
Serves 4 · 8 pieces plus about 1 cup gravy · 1 hr 10 min total
Chicken
- 1 whole chicken (about 3 1/2 lb), cut into 8 pieces, breasts halved crosswise
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, for dredging
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- About 3 cups lard (1 1/2 lb), or vegetable shortening, for frying
Fried parsley
- 1 large bunch curly parsley, leaves and small sprigs picked, washed and dried completely
Milk gravy
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, plus salt to taste
Method
- Pat the chicken pieces very dry. Toss the flour with the salt in a shallow dish, then dredge each piece well, shake off the excess and set it on a rack.
- Melt the lard in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until it is about 1/2 inch deep and reaches 350°F, about 10 minutes.
- Add the thighs and drumsticks skin side down, then the breast pieces, without crowding (fry in two batches if needed). Fry 10 to 12 minutes, adjusting the heat to hold the fat between 300°F and 325°F, until deep golden underneath.
- Turn the pieces and fry 10 to 12 minutes more, until light brown all over and the breasts read 165°F and the dark meat 175°F. Drain on a rack and keep warm in a 200°F oven.
- Lower the heat. Drop the dry parsley into the fat in small handfuls; it hisses and spatters, so stand back. Fry 20 to 30 seconds, just until crisp and still bright green, and lift it onto paper towels.
- In a small saucepan, bring the milk, butter, chopped parsley and pepper to a bare simmer over medium-low heat and simmer 3 minutes. Season with salt.
- Arrange the chicken on a platter, pour the gravy over it the way Randolph says, and scatter the fried parsley on top.
Adapted from "Fried Chickens" in Mary Randolph, "The Virginia House-Wife" (1824; Project Gutenberg's text is from an 1860 printing). Randolph gives no amounts, times or temperatures, so every amount, the oil temperature and the timings below are ours. "Half a pint of rich milk" is 1 cup; we use whole milk. Her gravy is not thickened with flour, and we keep it that way. The fried mush is optional (see Tips). gutenberg.org. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- Randolph serves "small pieces of mush" fried alongside. Slice cold, firm cooked cornmeal mush (or store-bought polenta) 1/2 inch thick and fry it in the same fat until golden.
- Parsley must be completely dry before it goes in the fat, or it will spit.
- Lard is the historical fat; shortening or peanut oil works the same way.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- The first fried chicken recipe was Scottish. Disputed: Wikipedia says the Scots were the first recorded to deep-fry chicken in fat and cites a 1747 recipe in Hannah Glasse's "The Art of Cookery" and a 1773 account from the Isle of Skye (via a 2022 BBC article by Adrian Miller), but Glasse was an English writer and Wikipedia also cites an English 1736 dictionary that already mentions fried chicken.
- West African cooks shaped Southern fried chicken. Documented as the view of the food historians Wikipedia cites (Rice and Katz-Hyman 2010; Opie 2013): West African cooks seasoned, battered and fried chicken, and enslaved cooks brought those techniques to the South.
- Randolph's recipe is the first American fried chicken recipe. Disputed wording: it is the oldest American printed recipe we found, and it is widely called the first, but people fried chicken long before anyone wrote it down.
- The first American recipe had no seasoning but salt. Documented for Randolph's text (flour and salt only); Wikipedia notes the first known US recipe lacked the seasonings of the earlier British one.
- Gordonsville was "the fried chicken capital of the world". Folklore: a popular nickname, repeated in local histories, not a title anyone awarded.
Every other fried chicken
Southern Pan-Fried Buttermilk Chicken
Chicken brined in salt water, soaked overnight in buttermilk, dredged in flour and cornstarch, and pan-fried in a skillet of lard and butter flavored with country ham, the Edna Lewis way.
Nashville Hot Chicken
Brined, double-dredged fried chicken brushed with a fiery cayenne oil and served the Nashville way, on slices of white bread with pickle chips.
Maryland Fried Chicken with Cream Gravy
Chicken seasoned with dry mustard and garlic, dredged, browned in a covered pot so it steams as it fries, finished with Old Bay and served with a peppery cream gravy made from the drippings.
Korean Yangnyeom Chicken (Double-Fried Sweet and Spicy Wings)
Chicken wings in a light potato starch and egg batter, fried twice for a shatter-crisp crust, then tossed in a glossy sauce of gochujang, ketchup, syrup and garlic and showered with sesame seeds.
Japanese Chicken Karaage
Bite-size pieces of skin-on chicken thigh marinated in soy, sake, ginger and garlic, coated in flour and potato starch, and fried twice in under three minutes.
Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken (Yan Su Ji)
Bite-size chicken thigh marinated with garlic, ginger, soy and five-spice, coated in coarse sweet potato starch, fried crisp and tossed with fried basil and five-spice salt.
Indonesian Ayam Goreng Kalasan
No batter at all: chicken braised in garlic, coriander, palm sugar and coconut water until the liquid cooks away, then fried briefly until the sweet-savory skin turns deep golden.
Chicken and Waffles
Herb-and-paprika fried chicken, double-dipped for a crunchy crust, served on light, crisp waffles made with whipped egg whites and finished with butter and maple syrup.
Air-Fryer Fried Chicken
Skinless bone-in chicken breasts in a buttermilk and crushed cornflake coat, seasoned with poultry seasoning, paprika and cayenne, air-fried crisp with just a spray of oil.
Kentucky-Style Fried Chicken, Inspired by KFC
Buttermilk-brined chicken in a peppery coating of flour, white pepper, celery salt, garlic, ginger and herbs, fried in one covered batch to mimic a pressure fryer. Inspired by, not official.
Meatballs of the World
Italian-American Meatballs
Big, tender meatballs braised for an hour in red sauce over spaghetti. The one most Americans grew up with.
Pallottine (Abruzzo Meatballs)
Tiny meatballs, smaller than a marble, tossed right through square spaghetti alla chitarra. No bread at all.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
Small, soft meatballs browned in butter, in a cream sauce made from the same pan, with lingonberry jam on the plate.
Danish Frikadeller
Pork meatballs shaped with a spoon and fried slowly in butter, crusty outside and soft in the middle.
Königsberger Klopse
German meatballs that are never fried: poached, then served in a creamy white sauce with capers.
Spanish Albóndigas in Almond Saffron Sauce
The tapas bar classic: small meatballs in a golden sauce thickened with fried almonds and bread.
Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
Soft meatballs with rice and fresh mint inside, simmered in a smoky tomato and chipotle broth.
Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
Small, flat meatballs kneaded hard, rested cold, and charred on a hot grill pan.
Lion's Head Meatballs
Big, soft pork meatballs, stirred into a sticky paste, fried to set, then braised in a savory sauce.
Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.