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.
When I was pregnant with our oldest we were living in DC and I got the worst craving 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we all agreed KFC should’ve gone the way of the dinosaurs instead of Pioneer Chicken, yet here we were with two outdated fledgling locations left.
To top it off I was 3300 miles away from the closest one! So I started playing with recipes. It is hard to decode a recipe for something you can’t currently taste, so I tried and failed.
Recently I had another craving for it when I had finished making Ad Hoc’s Fried Chicken by Thomas Keller (wow talk about low and high brow huh?) and I figured since it had been years since my last attempt, I could possibly find something.
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. Old school pencil and paper writing it down as I watched, I could tell he was on to something when I saw 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.
I also need to take a minute and go completely off on a tangent. I’m having a fit of nostalgia today and it made me think about my childhood. A childhood full of Mario and all the wonder of Nintendo. So today as I was browsing the internet I came across a back to school list someone made (why a video game is on that list is lost on me, but hey to each their own). It also made me think of this website Games Like Zone my husband showed me that tells you other games you would like based on the one game you do like. I’m just waiting on the list for my only other nostalgic game I loved, Zelda!
My friends think it is pretty funny when I talk about video games but I think every one of us has memories of being a kid and playing them! I still remember holding the antenna on the television for my brother to play the original Mario! Okay enough of my kid memories, lets get back to some fried chicken…ok wait one more memory…do any of you remember those pencil cases with hidden compartments? Ok, ok I am really done now…
Mix all the dry ingredients except for the reserved 1/4 cup cornstarch. Add the water and whisk. 
Put 1/4 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. 
Pioneer Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 chicken , cut into 8 pieces
- 1 cup cornstarch , 1/4 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 1/4 cup cornstarch.
- Add the water and whisk.
- Put 1/4 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.
Recipe Notes
Recipe adapted from Youtube.
By the way. Some pioneer trivia. On the TV series Full House. During the intro theme song for every show. When they are at the park having a picnic. There is a box of Pioneer Chicken on the blanket. Happen to see it when my nieces were watching it recently.
Now I have to go watch it, haha! Thanks for the tip!
I use to watch the show back in the day during my late teens. I remember that part of the introduction about the blanket, but never paid attention to the name on the box. Good to know that. Btw, I grew up in Bakersfield and we use to go to Pioneer Chicken. Miss those days. It’s too bad that they can’t branch out again. Thanks for sharing this recipe
I worked at Pioneer Chicken on Sepulveda in Harbor City back in 1980. My first job. The batter came in bags we would mix with water. The batter when wet was pinkish beige. It turned that reddish color hard crispy shell that sealed in all of the juices.
Good stuff. I, too went looking for the chain when I came back to Cali. Disappointed only 2 stores left.
Trying it with slice potatoes tonight-not wedges. Chicken is so good, time to try dunking potatoes in it and frying!!
Followed recipe exactly. Split chicken breasts – (Just two). The batter was very thick and we needed to put them in the oven because they were not cooked enough when we sat down for dinner.I think a lot more water is needed to thin this recipe. My chicken turned out as if it had a thick, cake like, salty crust.
Forgot to give it a rating: FIVE stars for sure, but the cook time of eight minutes can’t be right. Like I said, I went 18 minutes and the meat (thighs) was tender and juicy and the coating was spot-on.
Four thighs – 10 minutes in the deep fryer and my meat thermometer read 110 degrees. Five more minutes got it up to 140. Shouldn’t it be 165?
I tried making this recipe twice..and both times it tasted nothing like Pioneer chicken the only thing that’s close to it is the crust.
Excellent recipe. I did add some Cajun seasoning for some extra kick.
I made this exactly, and got to say it was really too strong on the Paprika, and super salty. It might be close to Pioneer, but was really toooo strong on flavor to match.. so maybe putting less of the ingredients might be the key, not sure. The other recipe I made was Knotts Chicken, and that recipe was too weak on ingredients, next time I will hopefully get it right on both.
Made it tonight. It was very good def will be making it again! Thank you..?
Living in Australia, I’m even further from a Pioneer than you were! I can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing.
looks like this maybe close….only thing that sticks out as different is the dry dredge….it maybe had corn starch…maybe mostly…..maybe entirely…but the dredge we used when cooking had more grit to it than “normal” corn starch. ……I was a cook for pioneer and my step Dad was a regional manager…although I never saw it made…and never knew any of the true ingredients (the batter came in one bag and the dredge in an other)…it must of had something else or been really gritty corn starch.
….all that mentioned I am anxious to see how good this version is…thanks
Man I gotta find out about the Hawaiian Sauce…that stuff was soooo good on everything I put it on.
I made this chicken last week and my family loved it esspecially my husband so I’m making it again tonight thank you for the recipe