Vegan Fried Chicken
This vegan fried chicken is made with oyster mushrooms which make it perfectly golden brown and crispy on the outside and meaty on the inside. This is the best plant-based take on a classic Southern dish!
Servings 12 "chicken"
Calories 57kcal
Equipment
- Immersion hand blender with 20 fl oz container
- Food processor
- Cast-iron Dutch Oven 3-quart / 2.8 liter
Ingredients
- 7 oz Oyster mushrooms not king oyster, but pearl oysters
Fried chicken seasoning (3 tsp)
- ½ tsp Garlic powder
- ½ tsp Onion powder
- ½ tsp Sweet smoked paprika powder
- ¼ tsp Cayenne pepper
- ¼ tsp Ground cumin seeds
- ¼ tsp Oregano
- ½ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Black pepper
Wet batter
- ½ cup Dairy-free milk
- ⅔ cup Yellow corn flour
- 2 tsp Fried chicken seasoning from above
Dry batter
- 2 cup Corn flakes
- 2 Tbsp Corn starch
- 1 tsp Fried chicken seasoning from above
Instructions
Preparing the mushrooms
- Tear them off one by one from the cluster. Use a wet paper towel or kitchen cloth to clean them if you find anything. Don't peel them, just cut off the end of the stem if it doesn’t look good.
Making the breading
- Mix all spices for the fried chicken seasoning (garlic powder, onion powder, sweet smoked paprika powder, cayenne pepper, ground cumin seeds, oregano, salt, and black pepper) in a small bowl.
- Use a small chopping bowl of our immersion blender to crush corn flakes to a fine, breadcrumb-like texture.
- Add 1 tsp of the fried chicken seasoning, the crushed corn flakes, and the corn starch in a large bowl. This will be the dry batter.
- Add dairy-free milk, yellow corn flour, and 2 tsp of the fried chicken seasoning to a large bowl. Mix it well. This will be the wet batter. It should have a pancake batter texture, slow-flowing but not too dense. In time, the flour will thicken the batter a bit, so add 1 tsp of water to thin it again.
- Dip the oyster mushroom first in the wet batter. Coat it evenly.
- Transfer them gently to the dry batter. Sprinkle the top and pat it gently. Make sure the mix sticks to the mushroom evenly.
- You can place it on a plate or fry it right away. The coating will hold at room temperature for an hour without a problem if you must wait before frying.
Frying oyster mushrooms
- Pour sunflower oil into a pot and heat it on medium/high heat.
- Gently drop the breaded vegan chicken in the oil. The oil is hot so pay attention to settle it gently without a splash. Don’t overcrowd the pan as the oil will cool down, and they will need a longer time and thus will soak up more oil.
- Fry them for 2-3 minutes until the coating gets crispy.
- Transfer them to a paper towel to absorb any excess oil when ready.
Video
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id="7njVSYzJ" upload-date="2021-03-10T21:18:30.000Z" name="Vegan Fried Chicken" description="This is the tastiest and easiest Vegan Fried Chicken ever! It is crispy on the outside, but meaty on the inside. The chicken itself is only ONE ingredient! No vital wheat gluten or seitan or any other soy product is needed. This delicious vegan chicken is 100% plant-based and allergy-friendly." player-type="collapse" override-embed="true"]
Notes
Air fryer
Even if the air fryer is supposed to be about frying without oil, we recommend spraying a bit of oil to coat the surface. Place the breaded oyster mushrooms on the basket in a single layer. Turn the air fryer on and set the temperature high. Air fry them for a couple of minutes.
Baking
We tested this recipe in the oven as well. Sadly, the breading didn’t turn out to be as crispy as after deep-frying. But that is always the main difference between baking and deep-frying.
If you try it in the oven, place the breaded oyster mushrooms on non-stick parchment paper and spray them with oil. Bake them in a pre-heated oven of 390 F (ca. 199 °C) for approx. 20 minutes, flip midway.