The BEST Southern vegan fried chicken recipe can now be found right here, y’all! We’ve created a seitan fried chicken that you and even your non-vegan friends are going to devour. And you can oven or deep fry it.
Hi there! We're Linda and Alex, the mother daughter duo who created Veganosity. Thanks for visiting us, we’re so happy you’re here. Veganosity is all about living your best vegan life and eating delicious vegan comfort food.
If you’re looking for Southern inspired vegan comfort food recipes, you’ve come to the right place.
We love vegan comfort food and we’re really good at making it. Take a tour through our site and you’ll find all of the recipes that scream, stretchy pants required!
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VEGAN FRIED CHICKEN TO LIVE FOR
We live for this deep-fried vegan chicken recipe. Ever since we created it, we can’t stop making it.
The inspiration came from our seitan chicken recipe. We made that so we could add it to tacos, salads, or anything that you’d want to put chicken in, or on.
Then, the craving for my mom’s Southern-style fried chicken came on strong. So this was born.
Y’all, when I say that this is AMAZING, I’m not joking.
It has all of the herbs and spices you’d expect from a crunchy and delicious fried chicken recipe, only this is 100% cruelty-free.
Vegan fried chicken to live for. 😉
WHAT INGREDIENTS DO YOU NEED TO MAKE VEGAN FRIED CHICKEN?
You’re going to need to start by making our vegan chicken cutlets.
- Once you’ve made those, all you’ll need are the ingredients for the breading.
- 1 cup all-purpose flour – we haven’t tried this with all-purpose gluten-free flour, once we do we’ll let you know if it works.
- One teaspoon smoked paprika – this gives the breading a lovely smoky flavor
- 1 teaspoon salt
- One teaspoon dried oregano – herbs are a must for Southern fried chicken!
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Black pepper to taste
- 1 cup egg replacer – we used Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg and it worked great!
HOW DO YOU MAKE VEGAN FRIED CHICKEN?
STEP ONE
Make the seitan chicken cutlets.
STEP TWO
Whisk the flour, spices, and herbs for the breading, and prepare the vegan egg.
STEP THREE
Dredge the cutlets in the flour to cover, then dip in the egg, then once again in the flour to coat.
STEP FOUR
Pour two inches of oil in a heavy frying pan. We think cast-iron works best.
When the oil is hot, carefully place as many cutlets as you can without them touching in the pan. Fry for approximately 8 minutes per side or until golden brown and crispy. Place on paper towel to drain excess oil.
HOW HOT SHOULD OIL BE TO FRY CHICKEN?
The oil should be between 350°F (176°C) and 375°F (190°C). We like to fry it at 375°F because the breading gets super crispy.
The temperature of the oil will drop when you add the chicken, just keep it at the same heat as you started, don’t increase the flame to get it to go back up.
CAN YOU OVEN FRY VEGAN CHICKEN?
Yes you can, but it won’t be as crispy as it is when it’s deep fried.
Follow the same preparation instructions and bake in a 425°F (218°C) oven for approximately 10 minutes per side, or until it’s golden brown and crispy.
RECIPES THAT GO WELL WITH VEGAN CHICKEN
If you’ve ever had Popeye’s fried chicken, then you know that biscuits are a must!
Our Homemade Vegan Biscuits are buttery and flaky, and they’re amazing with our vegetarian fried chicken.
Roasted Rosemary & Sage Home Fries are a great combo.
Sautéed Rainbow Chard is always a good side dish.
Garlic Mashed Potatoes and seitan deep fried chicken are the perfect pair.
Make this Southern-style vegan fried chicken recipe and let us know what you think. We love to hear from you! And, don’t forget to take a picture of your gorgeous creation and tag us @veganosity on Instagram.
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The BEST Southern Vegan Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 seitan cutlets see instructions for link to recipe
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Black pepper to taste
- 1 cup egg replacer see note
Instructions
- Whisk the 1 cup of flour, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon dried sage, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, and black pepper to taste until completely combined.
- Prepare the vegan egg according to the instructions on the package.
- Dredge the cutlets in the flour to coat, then the egg, then once again in the flour to coat.
- Pour two inches of vegetable oil (canola or corn oil is best) in a heavy fry pan. We prefer to use cast-iron. Heat the oil until it’s between 350°F (176°C) and 375°F (190°C). We like to fry it at 375°F because the breading gets super crispy.
- The temperature of the oil will drop when you add the chicken, just keep it at the same heat as you started, don’t increase the flame to get it to go back up.
- Carefully place the cutlets one by one in the oil. Don’t crowd them, there should be some space between each one. If you have to cook in batches, allow the oil to go back to 350-375°F before frying the next batch.
- Fry for approximately 8 minutes per side or until golden brown and crispy. Place on paper towel to drain excess oil.
- TO OVEN FRY
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C)
- Follow the preparation instructions, place the cutlets on a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake for approximately 10 minutes per side, or until golden brown and crispy.
- Enjoy!
Notes
We use Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg for this recipe and it works perfectly. It’s sold in most grocery stores and on Amazon. You can also use JUST egg, also sold in most grocery stores. We do not recommend any other egg replacer.
Nutrition
Andrea says
This is AMAZING! SO crispy and delicious!
I used this recipe to make Buffalo Chicken sandwiches, but used JUST Egg instead of Follow Your Heart for my egg replacement. I also prepped them a day early so the breading and egg wash could have time to freeze to the cutlets. This is my new go-to recipe for plant-based fried chicken!
I've been a vegetarian for life and now vegan, so I can't comment on how closely this recipe mimics real fried chicken (because I've never had meat), but my boyfriend, who is recently vegan, LOVED them! He said they were better than real chicken.
Linda Meyer says
Hi Andrea! WOW, thank you so much for the wonderful feedback. You totally made our day. We're so happy that you and your boyfriend enjoyed our recipe, and we truly appreciate that you took the time to let us know.
JUST egg is our favorite egg replacement, it's so easy to use and works in almost all of our recipes that require an egg substitute. 🙂
Have a wonderful day.
Bernae says
Hello! I am preparing to begin the chicken cutlet recipe, and I am grateful for both recipes, however, I have had a bad reaction to Follow Your Heart Egg Replacer, would it be fine to use a cup of flag egg instead?
Linda Meyer says
Hi Bernae, our apologies for not getting back to you earlier, we were out of the office. We haven't tried making the breading with flax egg. If you tried it, please let us know how it worked out. Thanks so much.
Joanna says
Hi ladies,
This sounds wonderful however I do have one question. When making the cutlets do I still need to steam them first or can I batter is straight away and fry?
Linda Meyer says
Hi Joanna, thank you! Yes, you need to make the cutlets recipe first to ensure that they're cooked all of the way through. We like to make a big batch and freeze them so we always have some on hand. 🙂
Christine @ Run Plant Based says
Wow, this looks awesome, must try this for hubby soon. Thanks!
Linda Meyer says
Thank you! We hope you do. 🙂