Shatteringly crisp, flavorful Pioneer Fried Chicken that tastes so nostalgic you will feel like you’ve gone back in time!
Easy to make, only takes five minutes to make the wet batter and straight into the fryer! Serve with corn on the cob and your favorite Cole Slaw to make this meal complete.
Are you by any chance a kid of the 80s? Are you from Southern California? Do you remember Saved By The Bell? Ok ok, the last one doesn’t really apply, but this Pioneer Fried Chicken is legendary and going the way of Latin since the chain began closing shops years ago. Currently there are only a couple of Pioneer Chickens left and those that still exist haven’t been updated in 20 years.
Nothing is worse than craving a nostalgic regional food and not being able to find it. When I lived in DC and had major pregnancy cravings for this chicken, I scoured the internet and found absolutely NO recipes. A lot of people were talking about how much they missed Pioneer Chicken and how it was a food memory they treasured, but no one could decode the dish in a way that would satisfy us all. We grew up with this chicken, we all agreed KFC should’ve gone the way of the dinosaurs instead of Pioneer Chicken, yet here we were with two outdated fledgling locations left.
After much research and recipe testing, JACKPOT. In the strangest of places, some guy had made a youtube video of the recipe where he mixes and fries it with no audio and no recipe to copy. Taking old school pencil and paper notes, I could tell he was on to something when that wet batter come together. Sure enough when it came out of the oil it was gorgeous! The perfect orange brown tinted shade, with a smooth surface. It may not sound exciting to you if you aren’t familiar with Pioneer Chicken, but if you know what I am talking about here you are probably salivating as you read this.
For many who grew up in LA, this chicken is as much a childhood memory as playing Mario and all the wonder of Nintendo. It might be funny when to talk about video games, but I think every one of us has memories of being a kid and playing them! You can make this chicken for your kids while they enjoy today’s video games, and they might carry on the tradition! Next thing you know you’ll be buying them one of those pencil cases with hidden compartments… Or maybe just make more nostalgic copycat recipes like Tommy’s Chili, In-N-Out Animal Style Fries, and Hostess Cupcakes for dessert.
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How to Make Pioneer Fried Chicken
- Mix all the dry ingredients except for the reserved ¼ cup cornstarch. Add the water and whisk.
- Put ¼ cup of cornstarch in shallow pan and coat chicken with it.
- Dip the chicken that has been coated in cornstarch into the wet batter until completely coated. Let drip for a couple of seconds.
- Fry in 350 degree peanut or canola oil. for 8-10 minutes until cooked through in small batches.
- Drain on metal rack, not paper towels, that would make it soggy.
How to Store Pioneer Fried Chicken
- Serve: Don’t leave cooked chicken at room temperature longer than 2 hours before refrigerating.
- Store: Fried Chicken will last up to 4 days in the refrigerator, sealed in an airtight container.
- Freeze: Wrapped tightly in plastic, freeze Fried Chicken up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or reheat from frozen in the oven at 375 degrees for 20-40 minutes. Reheat to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken , cut into 8 pieces
- 1 cup cornstarch , ¼ cup reserved for coating
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 1/2 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon celery salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 cup water
- 3 cups peanut or canola oil
Instructions
- Mix all the dry ingredients except for the reserved ¼ cup cornstarch.
- Add the water and whisk.
- Put ¼ cup of cornstarch in shallow pan and coat chicken with it.
- Dip the chicken that has been coated in cornstarch into the wet batter until completely coated.
- Let drip for a couple of seconds and gently lower into pot of oil.
- Fry in 350 degree peanut or canola oil. for 8-10 minutes until cooked through in small batches.
- Drain on metal rack, not paper towels, that would make it soggy.
Notes
Nutrition
Photo used in a previous version of this post.
Thanks for taking the time to post this. Pioneer chicken was definitely awesome growing up. One thing I had a problem with 3/4 cup water with the dry ingredients. It will give you a thick cakey clumpy batter that you cannot dip into. So I had to at least another 3/4 cup of water. Any advice on this would be appreciated.
The taste definitely wasn’t like pioneer I’m thinking maybe because I did not use peanut oil. Is that critical here?
Ty
I’m sure you reserved 1/4 cup of cornstarch when whisking the dry ingredients with 3/4 cup water. I didn’t encounter thick cakey clumpy batter so not sure what happened there? Canola or Peanut oil is fine. Sorry the recipe didn’t work the way you had hoped for you. We have quite a few fried chicken recipes on the site if you’d rather try another recipe! https://dinnerthendessert.com/?s=fried+chicken
This and Koo koo roo! I’ve tried to the copycat koo Koo roo chicken online but lacks in something. It’s still not quite Koo Koo roo. Decode Koo Koo roo too pretty please!!!
haha…it’s on the list!
This is the best crispy fried chicken the taste of the coating was good but by far the crispy I ever had. That being said I only eat chicken wings and I have a deep fryer so I might need to buy them in flats and drums .
I have never had much success with deep frying until I tried this recipe. Okay, I’m still not that good at it, but the taste and crunch that I achieved took me back to my childhood favorite fried chicken.
Yeah I’m so happy to get this recipe I’m cooking this chicken tomorrow.
I grew up in San Francisco and we had a Pioneer Chicken on Mission Street near Geneva Ave. Pioneer chicken was so good, unique flavor, nothing else like it. AT one time, a very busy spot and open late. The building is still there, still looks like the original Pioneer except for the signage, now El Pollo Supremo, sort of a Cuban-style El Pollo Loco. Can’t wait to try this recipe and see how close it is to the original.
Hope you enjoy it Frank!
So I made this chicken yesterday, followed the recipe exactly, did it look like the Pioneer chicken I remember when done, yes! Did it taste like the Pioneer chicken I remember (I ate a heck of lot of it back in the day), unfortunately, no, It was tasty but not what I remember, Maybe it was user error, I’ll try again.
Hands down DELISH. Took me back to my childhood first bite!
This receipe doesn’t make a batter, it’s a watery liquid. Terrible.
OMG My sister worked at one in Ontario, CA. Seriously this was the best chicken I ever had!! Thank you for sharing I am going to try this!
Sabrina,
Thank you so much for this recipe! It was more than I expected and the taste was great. It was not salty which made the taste even better.
Best,
Lonnie
Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this recipe. It is seriously delicious. I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into smaller pieces and pounded thinner and make them into chicken sandwiches. Everyone, and I mean everyone, LOVES them. I completely forgot about Pioneer Chicken until I ran across your post on Pinterest. And I am so happy that I did. Delicious!
Love this recipe use it every other week
This fried chicken looks nothing like what I grew up eating, but it looks SO GOOD! My husband and I are very interested in trying this recipe (We love getting in the kitchen together and trying out new-to-us recipes.) but I was wondering, do you possibly know if gluten-free flour would work to substitute in this recipe? I’m new to the gluten-free lifestyle, and it makes me feel SO much better; however, I understand if this isn’t something you have tried with this recipe, yet. Perhaps my husband and I can give it a go? I mean, after all, it would DEFINITELY be a COMPLETELY new-to-us recipe that way!! 😉
I LOVE your blog! I just found it today, have already bookmarked it, and see so many incredibly yummy recipes I need in my life. 🙂 Thanks so much!!
Pioneer chicken was my very first job it’s funny I found this post today because I was telling my girlfriend about it yesterday so thank you now I can make what I grew up knowing
Oh my, this chicken was amazing! I had completely forgotten about Pioneer Chicken until I happened upon your recipe and saw the logo with the little covered wagon. I followed the recipe exactly except I had the butcher cut up and de-bone a whole chicken. The crust was super crisp and flavorful and the chicken was moist and delicious. It’s been many years since I’ve had Pioneer Chicken but it tasted just as I remembered. It was a hit with the whole family. Great recipe.
I made this with boneless chicken thighs. It was great and delicious.
When I was a kid in the 60’s my mom would bring us Pioneer Chicken somewhere off Sunset Blvd I forget right now but there was also yhe Pioneer Market there too anyway best chicken ever between the 60’s and the 80’s always had Pioneer till I moved away . Thank you for this recipe…
I made this pioneer fried chicken and it didn’t turn out. The chicken didn’t get done by the bone. It failed.
All you do is lower the oil temp and fry longer. Mine turned out great by the third batch. Having a deep fryer also helps. Alot. If you happen to have one, cooking legs for 15 – 18 at 330 – 340 works like magic.
Cook it in the oven at 175* for two hours first, then follow this recipe. You won’t be disappointed
Back when I was 16, in the early 70’s,my friend and I would go to the Pioneer Chicken on Victory Blvd in North Hollywood. The cashier was a real cutie so we would go there and eat tons of chicken just to be in the pleasure of her company! Good memories. I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. Thanks for posting it.
I made this for dinner and it was great chicken was moist and tender the crispy crunch was fantastic
I did add Sage and I marinated the chicken over night in butter milk.
I now live in North Texas and I will not go to any chicken place but Chicken Express. I sure wish we had a Pioneer Chicken here! I always get the large iced tea(a rule here ;)or lemonade) with my chicken order. They have the tiny pebble style ice and giant cups. You made my day posting this recipe! I can now go back in time in my own kitchen!
Oh my goodness! We had one back in the early 80’s we went to in Fontana. THANK YOU! That was better than Kentucky Fried Chicken! Now all we need are the fake pretty lemon scented wet naps they give you with your order 🙂 The mashed potatoes and gravy….I could go on and on!
Hello… I’m from New Zealand and fell in LOVE with Pioneer Chicken when living in Hawaii. One of the best bits was the gravy… it was bright yellow and SO delicious… does anyone know how that was made?