I made Ina Garten's 11-hour fried chicken. It was shockingly mess-free, and my family loved it.

I usually take the easy way out and purchase pre-butchered chicken breasts at the grocery store. However, Garten's recipe called for two whole chickens, each cut into eight serving pieces.

Since my family didn't need that much, I bought one and had my husband divide it into all the basic parts, from breasts to thighs to legs. Luckily, Garten explained the best way to divide a chicken for frying in a helpful video that accompanied the recipe, so we just followed her lead. 

The recipe initially sounded like it would take forever to make, but the "11 hours" in its name is actually mostly for marinating the chicken in buttermilk.

Since I planned to make my fried chicken for Sunday dinner, I had my husband cut our chicken into pieces in the morning and let it sit in a covered bowl of buttermilk all day long.

When it was time to cook my chicken pieces, I preheated my oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and went to work making the dredge — a simple combination of flour, salt, and pepper.

I've made fried chicken before that called for additional spices in the flour or an egg wash between coats.

Garten's method was incredibly simple and still created a decent crust of breading on each chicken piece.

The buttermilk the chicken had been soaking in acted as the perfect medium for getting the flour mixture to stick.

I've fried chicken in everything from peanut oil to vegetable shortening (and made quite a mess), but Garten's recipe called for just 1 inch of vegetable oil or shortening in a frying pan.

I heated the oil to 360 degrees — checking the temperature with a thermometer — and fried each piece for three minutes on each side until golden brown.

I had to work in two batches as all of the chicken wouldn't fit into my pan at once. However, after about 12 minutes, I had golden pieces that looked perfectly fried.

After frying the chicken, I put each piece on a metal rack on top of a baking sheet. I placed the whole thing in the oven for about 30 minutes until it was fully cooked through.

I liked that I didn't have to fry the chicken immediately before serving. It was wonderful to have the chicken off of my stove, so I could focus on side dishes while it continued to cook.

I had plenty of time to make some green beans, mashed potatoes, and corn bread. 

In the meantime, the chicken continued to crisp up and brown in the oven.

Everyone in my family enjoyed this flavorful, moist fried chicken — even the pickier eaters at my dinner table.

It was juicy inside but still crispy and crunchy on the outside. Because it hadn't come straight from a pan of frying oil, it was also much less greasy than versions I've made in the past.

The lack of grease also made the cleanup easier, which I was grateful for.

Garten's recipe was extremely easy to follow and didn't feel laborious.

Giving each piece a quick fry in a shallow pan of vegetable oil gave it the crispiness I wanted, but finishing the chicken in the oven helped finish it off without as much grease. 

As long as I have the time to plan ahead for the 11-hour marinating period, I'll absolutely try Garten's recipe again. It saved a massive cleanup, and it tasted amazing.

This story was originally published in October 2023 and most recently updated on February 5, 2025.