When I met with Mikey over at the Firefly Grill this past February and wrote about his Sweet Potato and Sunchoke Medley, Mikey made me a Fried Chicken Salad that was over the top. It got me thinking… Could I make something like this? The chicken is so juicy, crispy, and hot over buttermilk herb ranch laced bib lettuce. And those crunchy sweet potato straws?!! Love those!!!
Firefly Grill’s Fried Chicken Salad
Even though I’d never fried chicken in my life before, it was worth a shot. In fact, if you have an AIR FRYER, you might like to try Truffle Nation’s recipe instead: Chicken Popcorn in an Air Fryer. It’s super tasty and easy!
I looked through my notes from our interview and gleaned a few nuggets of inspiration from our conversation on how to fry chicken… which I’ve shared below. If you’ve never fried chicken before or if you want a new use for your sous vide, read on!
My Fried Chicken Salad
Continuing the conversation with Firefly’s Mikey Crawford
What do you think is the most useful tool for the home cook?
Definitely, the sous vide*. Basically, it’s a heating rod that you put into a container filled with water. It brings the water temperature up to a designated temp and holds it there.
The food is put into a plastic bag and submerged into the water where it cooks evenly and is then held at that exact temperature. The meat comes out tender and juicy. Perfect every time.
Is that how you get the fried chicken so tender?
That, and we dip it in buttermilk, then we roll it lightly in a seasoned flour mixture, then the buttermilk again, and then a final dredge through the flour before we fry it.
Disclaimer:
*I use and love my Anova sous vide. If you’d like one too, here’s a link to Amazon and you can start playing with yours in a few days. Anova Culinary Bluetooth Sous Vide Precision Cooker, 800 Watts, Black
Also, just so you know, I am not an Amazon affiliate.
Inspired Fried Chicken Salad Recipe
Below is an inspired version of the Firefly Grill’s Fried Chicken Salad. Dress it up with your own vinaigrette or your favorite ranch dressing. Enjoy!
Gluten Free Sous Vide Fried Chicken Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
For the SALAD
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 10 grape tomatoes
- 1 head Boston lettuce
- 3 tablespoons Ranch Dressing
- 2 pinches Maldon sea salt flakes or kosher salt
- fresh ground pepper to taste
BUTTERMILK BATH
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
FLOUR MIX
- 1 cup Gluten Free Baking Flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
FRYING
- 2 cups vegetable oil
EQUIPMENT
- sous vide and water container
- fry pan
- tongs
- gallon zip lock bags freezer* (Hefty is recommended)
- cookie sheet
Instructions
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Set sous vide water bath to 146º F (63.5 C) and preheat oven to 350ºF.
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Rinse chicken breasts and into 1 inch pieces. Place in zip lock with 1 cup buttermilk and buttermilk bath spices. Submerge in sous vide for 1-4 hours. The chicken will be done in 1 hour and will easily hold up to 4 hours.*
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Roasting Sweet Potatoes and Tomatoes
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While chicken is in the sous vide, dice up sweet potato and cut tomatoes in half. Scatter potato cubes on cookie sheet and roast in oven until lightly brown, about 10-15 minutes. Set aside.
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Lower oven temp to 275ºF and roast tomatoes in the oven on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes. You are just trying to dehydrate them slightly and bring out their natural sweetness. Set aside.
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Frying the Chicken
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Once the chicken is done, take it out of the sous vide and zip lock. Dry the chicken. Dip each piece in 1 cup of buttermilk and then light roll in the seasoned flour mixture. Gently knock off excess flour, dip in the buttermilk again, and then dredge through he flour mixture again. Set each piece on the cooled and clean cookie sheet.
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Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour. Heat vegetable oil in fry pan to 375ºF. (I use a probe thermometer).
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Gently place 5-6 pieces in at a time. Careful not to splash the hot oil and not too many. Putting in too many pieces at a time will lower the temperature of the oil and will result in oily chicken, not crispy crunchy chicken!
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Fry chicken for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. Remember, the chicken is already cooked. We're just getting a nice golden crunch here. ? Let chicken cool on paper towels or a cooling rack.
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Assembling the Salad
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Wash and dry the Boston lettuce leaves. With your hands, gently caress each leaf with Ranch Dressing. Divide leaves into 2 piles. 1 for each plate. Make 2 stacks. Start with the largest leaf on bottom and work your way up to the smallest on top. Place 1 stack on each dinner plate.
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Arrange 1/2 of the fried chicken around each stack of lettuce leaves. Scatter the sweet potato cubes and tomato halves between the 2 salads evening. Top with ground pepper and Maldon sea salt flakes.
Recipe Notes
*If you're not using a Food Saver system for bagging your food for the sous vide, use Hefty (or other high quality name brand ziplock). I'm a generic girl from WAY BACK, but in this case use the more expensive brands. I've used the generic ziplock in the sous vide and most of the time the zipper will detach opening the bag and ruining whatever you are making.
If you're not sensitive to gluten, feel free to use regular all purpose flour in place of the gluten free variety. ☺️