Smothered Chicken Recipe A Soul Food
This Smothered Chicken recipe will give you the juiciest, most tender pan-fried chicken with an incredibly rich and flavorful gravy.
I fell in love with Soul Food years back, and Southern Smothered Chicken is pure comfort on a plate.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Family-friendly and kid-approved.
- Made in one pan with easy-to-find ingredients.
- Full of bold, comforting Southern flavors.
- Freezer and meal-prep friendly.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Chicken thighs – Bone-in, skin-on for flavor, but boneless works too.
- All-purpose flour – For dredging and thickening the gravy.
- Chicken broth – Use low-sodium to control salt.
- Milk or cream – For a creamy, velvety gravy.
- Seasonings – Paprika, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1.Season and Dredge the Chicken
Pat chicken dry. Season the flour with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, and onion powder. Dredge it lightly in this mix.
2. Pan-Fry the Chicken
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Fry chicken skin-side down first until golden (about 5-6 mins/side). Set aside.
3. Caramelize Onions
In the same skillet, add onions. Cook until soft and lightly golden. Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
4. Make the Gravy
Sprinkle a tablespoon of the leftover seasoned flour into the pan. Stir and cook 1 minute. Slowly whisk in chicken broth and milk. Simmer until thickened.
5. Smother the Chicken
Return chicken to the skillet. Spoon gravy over the top. Cover and simmer on low for 20-25 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
What to Serve with Smothered Chicken
- Serve this Southern comfort food over a bed of fluffy white rice.
- Pair smothered chicken with creamy mashed potatoes and roasted carrots.
- Chicken and gravy taste great with some fluffy homemade Southern biscuits.
- Serve with homemade mac and cheese for the ultimate comfort meal.
PRO TIPS
- It is best to brine the chicken if it is large.
- Cut the onion into thin slices, it will caramelize faster.
- You can use chicken breast; the cooking time will be shorter.
- Adding cold liquids like water or milk to the flour in the pan while whisking will prevent it from forming lumps.
- Smothered chicken with gravy tastes amazing with mashed potato and grilled vegetables.
How to Store Smothered Chicken
- Transfer the leftovers to an airtight container and store it in the fridge for three to four days.
- Freezing leftovers with creamy or dairy-based sauces or gravies is not recommended.
- Reheat the Smothered Chicken on the stovetop or microwave.
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Watch me make this recipe
Smothered Chicken A Soul Food
This Smothered Chicken recipe has authentic flavors that you won't forget! It's a delicious weeknight dinner that will cheer up the whole family.
Ingredients
- 3 chicken legs and 3 chicken thighs with skin
- ½ cup oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 chicken bouillon
- 2 ½ cup cold water
- ½ cup milk
- 3 tablespoon of the seasoned flour mentioned below
SEASONING THE FLOUR:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
- ½ teaspoon all spice powder
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ¼ teaspoon heaped ginger powder
Instructions
- Mix all the flour seasoning together, take three tablespoon from this mix and keep aside.
- Wash the chicken and pat dry. Dredge the chicken in the seasoned flour and keep aside.
- In a pan, heat the oil and add the chicken. When the bottom of the chicken turns golden flip to the other side and cook until golden.
- Remove the chicken from the oil when both sides are golden. At this point, the chicken is not completely cooked.
- Keep around 4 tablespoon of oil in the pan, add the chopped onion and fry until light brown.
- Add three tablespoon seasoned flour to the onion and stir for at least two minutes on medium heat.
- Pour the cold water over the onion and flour mixture in one go and keep on stirring. Add the chicken bouillon and continue stirring.
- Now add the milk and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the chicken to the sauce.
- Cover the pan and let the chicken cook for 20 – 25 minutes or until completely cooked. Stir occasionally.
- Serve with rice or mashed potato.
Notes
- It is best to brine the chicken if it is large.
- Cut the onion into thin slices, it will caramelize faster.
- When using chicken breast, it is better not to cut it into cubes, as it will dry quickly.
- Adding cold liquid like water or milk to the flour in the pan while whisking, will prevent it from forming lumps.
- Keep the heat on medium when cooking the chicken in the gravy. Increasing the heat will dry the gravy and the chicken will overcook.
- Nothing beats smothered chicken with gravy served with creamy mashed potato, so make sure to follow my recipe for mashed potatoes to enjoy the ultimate dinner.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 ServingCalories: 550kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 22gFat: 47gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 12gMonounsaturated Fat: 25gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 110mgSodium: 1028mgPotassium: 324mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 381IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 56mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know in the comment section below!
That sauce looks really great!
Thanks Angie!
You put a hurting on that chicken dinner I love it the smothered chicken and soul food.
This came out so delicious!!
Thanks Ria 🙂
I am cook I loved the ease of the directions it came out yummy I
Thank you so much, Tracy, I appreciate your feedback 😊
Some of the best chicken I personally made. Thank you.
I’ve gained five pounds just scrolling down through these photos. I want every single thing. Your smothered chicken is calling me – it looks rich and delicious.
LOL! You are so sweet Maureen and I think I heard the Smothered Chicken calling you too 😉
This chicken looks so very good. I think I love smothered southern chicken.
Thanks Tania 🙂
Ahh! I can feel my stomach filling up just looking at this post. Thank you so much for sharing SO MUCH NOM NOMS!
Thanks for stopping by Staci, glad that you liked what you see 🙂
Oh my goodness I definitely know what I’m making for dinner tonight. This looks so good I wish I could eat right off of the screen.
LOL! Wish I could send you some 🙂
OMG, I made this for dinner tonight and my family cleaned their plates. I’m keeping this recipe. thank you for sharing this amazing meal.
Hi Melissa, you are most welcome.
Well, now I’m SUPER hungry! Everything you’ve shown here is so amazing looking. I will be starting with that smothered chicken for sure!
Thank you Jennifer!
I love smothered chicken. This food looks so good. The sweet potatoes looks delish.
This looks absolutely yummy. I can’t wait to give it a try.
That smothered chicken looks great. I have never cooked soul food but my kids say my food is bland they may like this.
Hope your family enjoy it Melissa 🙂
What a delicious recipe! We eat a lot of chicken in our house so I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Thanks Olivia, I hope you enjoy it 🙂
Great looking chicken. I need to make this soon.
Yum, this chicken looks amazing! I don’t think I’ve ever had anything like this but you have my mouth watering now. Might have to try making it soon.
This looks so freaking amazing. I am going to have to make this sometime.
Everything looks so delicious. I can’t wait to try your smothered chicken.
I’m drooling over that chicken – yum! I’ve been cooking chicken at least twice a week lately and this is going on the menu!
I’ve made this recipe for my family and now their hooked, absolutely delicious.
Thanks for letting me know, I love when people like my recipe hope you enjoy making more recipes from my blog 🙂
I made this tonight. At first I was a little skeptical about some of the spices as I am a southern girl and typically cinnamon, allspice, and ginger aren’t in chicken gravy or fried chicken! I went ahead made it exactly by directions with two exceptions. I used boneless skinless breasts (cause that was what I had on hand) and I added mushrooms. I cooked the mushrooms with the onions. It was absolutely amazing! Thank you for sharing this recipe and expanding my palate. 🙂
Thank you Erica, I love the changes you made and I can’t wait to try the recipe your way 🙂
Made this recipe tonight as directed( well I used wings instead) and it was absolutely delicious..
Thanks
Thanks for you feedback Tracy! I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Made this tonight. Followed the directions and made no alterations. It was absolutely delicious. My son and I loved it.
Thank you for this recipe.
You are most welcome 🙂
Absolutely amazing smothered chicken!!! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you 🙂
That looks so tasty! comfort food 🙂
That sounds so yummy! Thanks so much for sharing. Pinned.
This smothered chicken sounds delicious. I like the seasoning that you added. I think that I need to try this. Thank you for sharing at Sugar and Spice Link Party.
This looks absolutely heavenly!!! Thanks for sharing on Friday Frenzy!!!
This dish has me drooling! It looks delicious. I’ll be Pinning this post, I can’t wait to make this dish. Thanks for sharing on Sunday’s Best.
Thank you, Rhonda 🙂
What a great recipe! The chicken sounds amazing, and I can’t wait to give this tasty sounding recipe a try! Thanks so much for sharing on Celebrate It! Your recipe is one of the featured links from last week. Hope to see you at the party again! We open at 7pm tonight!
Wow, this looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it! Thanks for sharing at Best of the Weekend!
Thanks for sharing at Friday Frenzy link party! I hope you link up again this week 🙂 PINNED!
This looks delicious! I’ve been looking for new chicken recipes so I’m glad I came across this post.
I thought it was kinda of weird with those spices but once I tasted the gravy. WOW. I’m cooking this on a Saturday (10/6/18)night for our Sunday after church meal. I’m going to enjoy this chicken. Thanks for the recipe.
I’m happy that you gave it a try 🙂
I cooked for my family tonight and it was delicious. I was nervous about the allspice and cinnamon but wow the flavor! Thank you for this recipe! Saving for another time…
Thank you so much for the feedback and I’m happy that you gave my recipe a try 🙂
This is good and easy.. it was my first time making this. It will be made alot.. thank you for this recipe!
Glad that you have enjoyed it 🙂
Oh my goodness this is so good,the spices compliment each other will be making more often so quock and easy..
Hi Mona, thanks for trying this recipe, and I hope you give my other recipes a try 🙂
My family tore it up!!! Really good gravy recipe.
Thank you Durante 🙂
This recipe looks so good! I have to pin this to try for Sunday dinner. Thanks for sharing, I think I’ll be using this gravy in a few dishes lol
Glad that you liked my recipe, I hope you like it as much as we did 🙂
That looks absolutely delicious. I love creamy chicken dishes like this. They’re so satisfying. I can’t wait to make it.
Smothered chicken is awesome for dinner and parties, you can’t go wrong with this recipe!
I am so glad I read this before heading to the store!
Thank you Deanna 🙂
This recipe looks really good and tasty, to be honest seeing this makes me so hungry. I will try this, thank you!
You are welcome 🙂
That’s my chicken really like looks good. I’m gonna print recipe.
This looks amazing! It’s the perfect comfort food, especially if you add mashed potatoes.
I agree! Mashed potato makes it heavenly indeed.
this looks like a delicious chicken recipe. thanks so much for sharing.
You are most welcome, hope you enjoy it 🙂
Baked Sweet Potato With Honey Butter Sauce sounds so yummy! I hope to try it soon. Nomnomnom!
Yes, it is a great side dish and goes well with smothered chicken!
This looks perfect, was thinking what to make tonight I guess I’ve got the idea…
Everything you served looks delicious that I could almost taste each dish from the photos. Invite me for lunch sometime. Haha
You had me with the spices in this dish. I made this for dinner last night going exactly by the recipe except I used 8 chicken thighs. My husband and I loved it and served the chicken and gravy with whipped Yukon Gold mashed potatoes. Fabulous. Thank you!
Awesome! I’m glad that you have enjoyed it 🙂
This was a great dinner and I have served it with mashed potato. I will make it again, thank you 🙂
You are welcome, Ruth!
I used chicken legs and this was a big hit that night for dinner. Very delicious!
Thank you so much for trying my recipe, and I appreciate the feedback 🙂
Found this by accident and making this tonight!!! Im salivating just thinking about it!
Hi Anna, hope you enjoy it 🙂
Recipe looks good, but there is no reason to ever wash raw chicken. It does nothing but spread salmonella around your kitchen.
Made this twice and was thoroughly enjoyed. The 2nd time I added fresh sliced mushrooms and sweated them with the onion. I also liked a thicker gravy so added a bit more flour when making the gravy. Served over rice and mustard greens made the plate look nice. Thank you for bringing a bit of the south to Arizona.
Hi Scott, Thanks a lot for your feedback, and the additions you made sound delicious ☺
Made This Tonight & It Was So Easy & Delicious. My Man Wants Me To Make It Again But With Jerk Seasoning, How Would You Recommend I Incorporate It? Dry Or Wet Seasoning? & Should I Put In On The Chicken Or In The Gravy?
Thanks for your feedback 😊. If you want to use Jerk seasoning, I recommend that you go for the dry seasoning and season the chicken with it. I hope this helped.
This recipe came out perfect! Thank you for sharing. It’s a new family favorite for us!
Thanks for your feed back Melissa, I appreciate it!