Vegan Fried Chicken

Why you’ll love it

So here we go. Drumroll, please! The best vegan fried chicken is oyster mushrooms. Why is it better than any other alternatives out there? 

• They have no mushroom taste, but soak up any seasoning or marinade. It is easy to make them flavorful. Compared to extra firm tofu, you will not even know you are eating mushrooms. 
• The texture is spongy and chewy, as you would expect from a meaty dish. 
• You need approx. 8-9 hours to make seitan chicken. Who has the time for that? You can shred the mushrooms with your hand in 5 minutes, and they are ready to be your vegan chicken. 
• We used crushed corn flakes instead of breadcrumbs to give you the crunchiest breading possible.

Ingredients

• Oyster mushrooms – We used pearl oysters, but you can either choose any of the 7 oyster mushroom types or seek out one of these 13 oyster mushroom substitutes. You can have good results with porcini, chanterelle, or abalone. One of our readers said Lion’s mane is also perfect.
• Fried chicken seasoning – Garlic powder, onion powder, sweet smoked paprika powder, cayenne pepper, ground cumin seeds, oregano, salt, and black pepper. The flavor will be quite similar to KFC’s fried chicken as similar spices are used except celery salt or thyme.
• Breading – Dairy-free milk, yellow corn flour, corn flakes, and corn starch (or tapioca starch). They will get you a better and crispier result than vegan buttermilk and all-purpose flour mixture. You can use other breadcrumbs substitutes, but we recommend trying it first with corn flakes.

Preparing the mushrooms

You need only 3 steps to prepare oyster mushrooms.

• They grow on trees, so it is doubtful that they are dirty. Use a wet paper towel or kitchen cloth to clean them if you find anything.
• We never peel oyster mushrooms, but sometimes cut off the end of the stem if it doesn’t look good.
• To make this recipe, you don’t need to cut or shred them. They are perfect the way they are. Just tear them off one by one from the cluster.

Making the breading

1. 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.
2. Use a small chopping bowl of our immersion blender to crush corn flakes to a fine, breadcrumb-like texture.
3. 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.

3. 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.

4. Dip the oyster mushroom first in the wet batter. Coat it evenly.
5. Transfer them gently to the dry batter. Sprinkle the top and pat it gently. Make sure the mix sticks to the mushroom evenly.
6. 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

1. Pour sunflower oil into a pot and heat it on medium/high heat.
2. 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.

3. Fry them for 2-3 minutes until the coating gets crispy.
4. Transfer them to a paper towel to absorb any excess oil when ready.

Cooking tips

• Don’t double-coat the mushrooms – Unlike the chicken, these mushrooms are smaller, so you don’t need to double-bread them. It will be way too much, believe me!
• Don’t overcrowd the pan – The oil temperature will drop if you add too many breaded mushrooms simultaneously. Since it takes time to get back to the right temperature, the mushrooms will only swim there and soak up the oil. How do you know what the right amount is? If you add too many, the intensity of the sizzling lowers or stops entirely.

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.

Serving ideas

If you plan to serve it as an appetizer or snack, get out all your favorite vegan dips or vegan condiments. Just to name a few: vegan BBQ sauce, vegan ranch sauce, sriracha mayo, honey mustard, jalapeno cilantro, vegan tzatziki sauce, or any hot sauce.

You can also serve it as a main course with classic potato side dishes like fries, vegan mashed potatoes, vegan scalloped potatoes, or baked potato wedges. Or pair it with some yummy vegetable sides or salads like

Equipment

• Deep-frying pan with a strainer basket – The best would be to use a dedicated pan that is deep enough to avoid a lot of splatters. A strainer basket is also helpful if you want to do a larger batch. If you don’t have one, use a deep stockpot or an enameled cast-iron Dutch oven.
• Deep-frying thermometer – It helps to measure how hot the oil is before deep-frying. However, I use a hack described in the “FAQ” section, which has worked for me for several years.
• Strainer ladle or slotted spoon – If you want to deep-fry a larger batch, it is essential to work quickly and take them out as soon as they are ready. I also love to use simple tongs to pick them out one by one.

Storing tips

These vegan fried chickens are best served immediately while they are still warm. They will lose their crispiness as time goes by.

You can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Once you are ready to serve them, first you need to refresh them. Pop them back in the oven or pan-fry them for a couple of minutes in shallow oil to make them crispy again. Re-heating them in a microwave will not give you a great result.

You can store it in a freezer, but the breading will lose its texture. To get it back, you need to reheat them in the oven, deep-fry, or pan-fry them.

More vegan chicken recipes

You can find all our delicious oyster mushroom recipes to give you more ideas to enjoy this awesome ingredient. Here are some of our favorites vegan chicken recipes: