If you are a fan of Long John Silvers Chicken Planks you will want to try this recipe. I will show you how to make the batter just like the restaurant uses. It’s a copycat chicken tender recipe that you will make again and again.

Long John Silvers batter is unique, full of flavor and results in a crispy, crunchy and puffy coating. Make these famous restaurant quality deep fried chicken planks at home with our CopyCat recipe. Serve them with French Fries, Hushpuppies or Corn on the Cob.

 

Why you’ll love this CopyCat Long John Silvers Chicken recipe

• If you’re a big fan of batter fried chicken, our Copycat Long John Silvers Chicken Batter recipe is a simple and tasty way to make it at home..
• It’s cheaper to make LJS Chicken at home versus going out and picking it up at the restaurant. Swap the chicken tenderloins out for sliced chicken breast and it gets even less expensive!
• Our Chicken Planks recipe pairs with all sorts of sides and sauces. Keep that oil warm and you can even cook up some french fries, onion rings or hush puppies as soon as your chicken is cooked.

Long John Silvers Chicken Ingredients

The ingredients you’ll need for this fried chicken recipe are pretty simple. You might even have most of them already!

• Chicken Tenderloins – Chicken tenderloins are probably the best cut of chicken for this recipe. It’s going to be a bit more tender than something like a chicken breast and usually end up being juicier and moist after cooking them.
• Flour – Basic all purpose flour should work here.
• Cornstarch
• Baking Soda
• Baking Powder – Usually, you’ll see recipes call for either baking soda or baking powder. This is one of those recipes where we’ll use both. The combo is going give our batter that crispy and airy finish that we want.
• Salt
• Sugar
• Onion Powder
• Garlic Powder

You’re also going to need some frying oil to fry the chicken in. To keep your Copycat Long John Silvers Chicken authentic, you’ll want to go with canola oil- this is what LJS says they use. Some people say that beef tallow is also used at some locations so maybe use one, the other, or a combination of the two.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Long John Silvers Chicken

After you get your ingredients together, making Long John Silvers batter for chicken planks is pretty easy. Here’s all you need to do:

1. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl before stirring in water to make a batter.
2. Let your oil heat up to 360-375 degrees before dipping chicken in batter to coat completely. Once coated, carefully set batter-coated chicken into hot frying oil.
3. Allow chicken to deep fry for about 3 minutes per side until batter has reached a golden brown color. Remove from oil once cooked and optionally sprinkle with extra salt while still hot.

Substitutions

Having some trouble finding the ingredients for? Try these substitutions:

• Chicken Tenderloins – Chicken tenderloins can be a bit expensive sometimes so they might not be the best choice for some folks. With that in mind, you could substitute in chicken breast- just cut into smaller strips. We’d avoid using chicken thigh, mostly due to the difference in flavor.
• Frying Oil – Your choice in frying oil isn’t really important in this recipe. As long as you’re going with a neutral frying oil like vegetable oil, sunflower oil, or grapeseed oil, you should be fine. You might even be able to get away with peanut oil or corn oil- note that these oils might flavor your LJS Chicken a little bit, so keep that in mind.

Variations

Need a few ways to mix this recipe up? Here are a couple of ideas for changing our chicken up a bit:

• Long John Silver’s Fish – If you’ve looked at this recipe long enough, you’ll notice that our Long John Silvers Batter is the star of the show. With that in mind, you could easily try making some Fish! In terms of fish, go with cod, pollock, or your favorite white fish.
• Beer Battered Chicken – While Long John Silvers Chicken Batter doesn’t use beer, there’s nothing stopping you from making this into a beer batter. The extra carbonation and beer’s ability to evaporate quicker will create an even crispier batter if done right. Don’t want to use beer? Adding club soda to batter should work well too! Just sub out the water with whatever bubbly beverage you are using.

Storage / Freezing

Storage: Like any other cooked chicken, our Chicken Planks should keep in the fridge for 3-4 days. Keep them in an airtight bag or container to keep them preserved for as long as possible. We’d definitely recommend reheating very quickly in a hot oven or air fryer to keep the chicken from drying out while the batter coating crisps back up.

Freezing: You can also freeze your Chicken Tenders once they’re cooked. Let cool completely before transferring to a freezer-safe container. Kept frozen, they’ll be good for another 6 months. Reheat however you prefer, but quick high heat will help the batter crisp up and the chicken stay moist.

FAQ

Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions about Long John Silver’s chicken.

Other Chicken Recipes

Looking for other chicken recipes? Try these:

CopyCat Recipes

Here are some other restaurant Copy Cat recipes?

If your family likes to dip their chicken planks consider serving with Ranch dressing, Homemade Tartar Sauce, 3 Ingredient BBQ Sauce or even a Chick-fil-A Sauce.