Not Flour Or Breadcrumbs: Grab This Boxed Pantry Staple For Crispy Fried Chicken

There are lots of ways to cook perfectly crispy fried chicken. Experts gave us their advice on how to avoid mistakes, and we know that using bacon grease can be a winner. But one of the coolest tricks of all has probably been hiding in plain sight in your pantry, well, forever. That box of pancake mix? Forget about breakfast or sweet treats; it's the perfect foundation for a batch of crispy chicken that slaps. Unlike plain ol' flour, cornflakes, or any other kind of dry breading for chicken, boxed pancake mix comes ready-made with everything you need for a light and crispy coating.

Although they're made with mostly flour, boxed pancake mixes also contain leavening agents, such as baking soda, which helps turn the chicken brown and contributes to that much-loved crunch. You do need to bring your own seasoning to the party – try giving this umami-boosting ingredient a whirl – but another bonus of using a boxed pancake mix is you don't have to fiddle around getting the right ratio of flour to baking soda, so you're more likely to get consistently crispy chicken. One Redditor who used it enthused, "It came out tasting somewhat like [Chick-fil-A] nuggets. A slight sweetness to it which was pretty nice."

While a packet of pancake mix is a quick and easy dry coating for fried chicken, it goes without saying that it will make a top-drawer wet batter, too. While it's nice not having to worry about weights and measures (aside from the required liquids), using a boxed mix still means you need to avoid the pancake pitfall that many people encounter with home-made batter: overmixing. Giving the batter too much welly with a whisk does get rid of lumps, but it can also overdevelop the gluten protein present in the flour, leading to chewy pancakes or, perhaps, an overly tough breading.

The consistency of your batter is key to a good coating, and here's another instance where a boxed mix can be a lifesaver. A chicken bite enveloped in a crispy, golden batter is among our top 10 comfort foods, but if the coating is too thick and lacks seasoning, the chicken gets lost in a bland duvet. What you're looking for is a batter that coats the back of a spoon. If you follow the ratios and instructions on the pancake mix box, you should get there.

Just as you can use your boxed pancake mix in many ways beyond breakfast, the batter you create will elevate a host of other savory dishes. If you thin it out a little more than the instructions suggest, you can make an ersatz tempura batter, perfect for dipping shrimp or veggies into before deep-frying. Alternatively, swap the chicken for fish and cook up a family feast of fried fish 'n' chips.