Add This Classic Pantry Seasoning To Fried Chicken For 10x The Flavor

Of all the mistakes people make when cooking fried chicken, not seasoning properly is a biggie. You can have the most perfect, shattering crispy exterior ever concocted in a kitchen, but if the flavor is nonexistent and the chicken is bland, you've wasted both time and valuable groceries. Seasoned home cooks (pun fully intended) tend to have a spice blend they swear by for their fried chicken dredge, but allow us to introduce the idea of bottled Italian seasoning – something you likely already have sitting on your spice rack or in your pantry. We've seen social media denizens crowing about the superior taste of fried chicken jazzed up with this ubiquitous seasoning blend, and we have to say that the idea has merit. Why? Well, Italian seasoning blend is actually a world of flavor in one bottle.

Like other foods that aren't actually Italian, "Italian" seasoning isn't something that actual residents of Italy tend to use in their cooking. As best as we can figure out, ancient Greeks or Romans (who, technically, were Italians) may have introduced the idea of combining amenable spices to make a blend used in various dishes. The contents of an Italian blend vary depending on the manufacturer, but it generally includes basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram, all dried. The internet is stuffed with recipes for "Italian chicken" that utilize at least a couple of those spices to tremendous effect.

We've seen different types of breading used for superior fried chicken — recently, we covered the idea of utilizing another pantry staple, pancake mix, for crispy chicken. To steer your chicken in an Italian direction, however, many internet cooks swear by panko breadcrumbs. Don't be afraid to mix some grated parmesan cheese in there as well. Not only will the granules add body to your breading, but the nutty, umami-rich flavor of the cheese will bring out an amazing taste in your cooked chicken.

Garlic is a gotta-have-it accompaniment for most fried chicken dishes, but dare we suggest the tiniest dashes of cinnamon and nutmeg to amplify the nuanced Italian character of the chicken? You may be used to seeing these spices in sweet recipes, but they are actually magic touches when it comes to savory dishes, provided you balance your ingredients. To upgrade Italian seasoning in fried chicken, we say "go for it!" — and turn your dish into a complex flavor bomb.