14 Of The Best Drinks To Pair With Fried Chicken
Fried chicken ranks among the most iconic dishes of the United States. The food's historical threads lead back to West Africa and Scotland, but its identity is unquestionably Southern, and it remains an integral part of American history and culture even as its popularity has spread across the globe. Variations from Japan's crispy, bite-sized karaage to Indonesia's spice-laden ayam goreng showcase the versatility of the bird, and how small differences in seasonings and frying techniques can create a world of unique fried chicken dishes.
The best way to enjoy fried chicken, whichever style you get your hands on, is with a tasty beverage. But what beverage should you choose? There are several elements of fried chicken that you want your drink to work with: flavor intensity, fat, and salt are a good place to start. If your fried chicken has spicy heat or sweetness, those should be taken into account as well. You want a beverage that will complement some elements and contrast others to bring out the flavors of the fried chicken without overwhelming the dish, or becoming overwhelmed itself.
Some basic principles can help you get the most out of your pairing. Acidic drinks cut through oily, fatty foods to lighten your palate. Intense, strongly-flavored food should have a bold, weighty drink to match. Sweet beverages complement sweetness in food, and also balance salt and heat. But the most important pairing rule is to drink what you like.
1. Champagne and other sparkling wines
Fried chicken and Champagne make a match that's hard to beat. They may not seem like the perfect couple at first glance, but the more time you spend with them, the more you understand the attraction — the major elements of each play together to create a beautiful synergy that enhances the enjoyment of both.
First, a bit about Champagne. Due to the northerly latitude and cool climate of the French region that produces this legendary bubbly, the grapes that grow there develop naturally high acidity levels. This lends the wines made from said grapes a crisp, bracing bite that refreshes your palate with every sip. When paired with rich, fatty foods, like fried chicken, this pronounced acidity cuts through any greasiness or heaviness like a laser beam, lightening your palate between bites. The effervescence provides a similar effect. Atop its lean, zesty bubbles, Champagne tends to have a rich, creamy texture, which allows it to stand proudly beside fried chicken without being overshadowed.
While other styles of sparkling wine may not possess the same prestige as true Champagne, they can be just as delightful to drink with fried chicken. Look for Crémant or Cava, which are made in the same style but are more wallet-friendly. Prosecco's bright fruitiness works well with spicy fried chicken.
2. Off-dry Riesling
Riesling wine, similar to Champagne, is known for its bracingly crisp acidity, which is a natural characteristic of the grape. This bright, tart quality lends it well to pairing with rich dishes like fried chicken, as the sharp tang balances the food's fattiness. Riesling is also known for its intense fruity and floral aromas, which tend to enhance spicy and herbal flavors in food, adding another dimension when pairing it with different types of fried chicken.
There are many types of Riesling wines out there, and it can be challenging to maneuver through them all. Some Rieslings are made in a bone-dry style, meaning there is no discernible sugar on the palate. While these can be delicious, especially if you're a fan of leaner, crisper white wines, a little touch of sweetness actually improves Riesling's compatibility with fried chicken. Instead, opt for a Riesling made in an off-dry style — German off-dry Rieslings will often have the term "feinherb" on the label to indicate that it's somewhere between dry and sweet.
Why this style? The touch of sugar gives the acidity in the wine more balance, creating a smoother mouthfeel. Salt and sweetness play well together, so an off-dry wine will better enhance a well-seasoned piece of chicken. And if you have a super-spicy style, like Nashville hot chicken, a sweeter wine will tame its heat.
3. Lambrusco
Like so many Italian wines, Lambrusco is best enjoyed when paired with food. This sparkling red vino is mainly made in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, which is known for its many famed food products including cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano, and cured meats like Prosciutto di Parma and Mortadella Bologna. Lambrusco pairs perfectly with the rich, decadent cuisine of this area thanks to its effervescence, which lightens up hearty food, even as you get the depth of flavor and tannic sensation of a red wine. These characteristics are also what make it a great pairing with fried chicken.
Lambrusco is made in different sweetness levels and comes in all shades of red, from deep dark purple to light pink. Richer, sweeter styles pair well with boldly flavored and spice-heavy fried chicken, while a drier, lighter Lambrusco is a pleasing match with less intensely-flavored dishes. Tannins, which are found in red wines including Lambrusco and are responsible for the grippy feeling in your mouth, are toned down by fatty foods, adding another reason the wine works so well with fried chicken.
4. Rosé
Pairing with pink wine almost feels like cheating. With some elements of both red and white wine, rosé is one of the most versatile categories of wine when it comes to matching with food. It can take on stronger ingredients than many whites, and won't overwhelm as many foods as most reds. With fried chicken, it brings these advantages to the table, able to complement and contrast any style of the dish.
Rosé comes in many styles and shades of pink, and all of them have a type of fried chicken that matches their flavor profile. A mildly flavored batch of fried chicken, the kind you'd pack for a picnic or a beach day, goes well with a crisp, fresh rosé from Provence. From the Rhône valley in France, Tavel rosé, famous for its deep color and full body, pairs nicely with dark meat chicken that's got lots of herbs and spices in the mix. If you've got hot and spicy chicken, opt for a pink wine with a touch of sweetness and big fruit flavors, like a California Zinfandel.
5. Old Fashioned
Since fried chicken's home is the American South, it makes sense that a spirit from the same place would be a good flavor match. American whiskeys, many of which hail from southern states like Kentucky and Tennessee, fit the bill. And if you're looking for a cocktail to show off their flavors, you can't do better than a classic Old Fashioned. Consisting of whiskey — rye or bourbon, depending on your preference — as well as sugar, ice, water, and bitters, this deceptively simple cocktail makes a satisfying and balanced pairing for fried chicken.
Comparing the two major American whiskey styles, bourbon tends to be sweeter and smoother thanks to its corn-heavy base, while a rye-based whiskey has a bolder, spicier flavor. Either one works in an Old Fashioned as the addition of bitters spices up bourbon, and sugar rounds out rye, leading to balance both ways. A cold, sweet, and spicy Old Fashioned with a hint of citrus from the orange peel garnish enhances the savory, salty, and spicy dimensions of fried chicken in a way no other drink can quite match.
6. Champagne Cocktail
If Champagne is your beverage of choice to pair with fried chicken, but you're looking for something with a little more of a kick, try a Champagne Cocktail. Ancient by cocktail standards, versions of this drink have been around since before cocktails were recorded, a testament to its excellence and the enduring love of all things Champagne. It's a simple recipe: sugar, a few drops of bitters, brandy, and Champagne. No need to stir or shake — the drink is built, bit by bit, in the glass it's served in. The result is a strong, sparkling, complex drink with a bit of sweetness and spice, each element perfectly complementary to fried chicken.
When made with cold ingredients in a pre-chilled glass, this Champagne Cocktail is a cool and refreshing contrast to rich, fatty fried chicken. The acidity of Champagne cuts through its decadence while adding a richness of its own, echoed by the deep, fruity complexity of the brandy. If you're looking for an opulent, almost ridiculously indulgent drink to pair with fried chicken, make it with a fine Cognac.
7. Gold Rush
A contemporary classic, the Gold Rush cocktail has all of the elements in place to be a perfect match for fried chicken. Bourbon, signature spirit of the American south, is the drink's base, accompanied by lemon juice and honey, shaken and served on the rocks. It's a simple cocktail, a riff on a bourbon sour, but the substitution of honey instead of simple syrup highlights the sweetness of bourbon and adds texture and dimension to the drink. Each of the three ingredients here plays well with fried chicken, and together they work even better.
Lemon juice has that magical acidity you want to slice through fat, and the honey balances it out to keep things from getting too tart. Both honey and lemon are natural flavor pairings with chicken, and bourbon adds weight, depth, and complexity to match up with strong flavors. The rich honey syrup in this cocktail makes it a particularly suitable fit for fried chicken with lots of heat and spice.
8. American-style lager
When you think of a generic beer, American-style lager is likely the style that pops into your head. The likes of Budweiser, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Miller High Life all fall under this category. These are not the most flavorful or memorable beers, nor are they meant to be. An American-style lager is brewed to be easy to drink and refreshing, and to appeal to the largest possible segment of the drinking population. While this doesn't make it the most thrilling pairing with fried chicken, it does make it a solid choice.
American-style lagers are balanced and clean with lots of carbonation — these bubbles, along with a crisp finish, make these beers good palate cleansers, especially with fatty and salty foods like fried chicken. The lack of intense hoppy or malty flavors means these beers taste fairly neutral, sometimes a touch sweet. So while they won't cause any flavor fireworks, they won't clash or fight with the food, either. And sometimes there's nothing better after a long day than a basket of fried chicken washed down with an ice cold, freshly cracked American lager.
9. Kölsch
Kölsch is a beer style that defies easy categorization. There are two main styles of beer: lagers and ales. Technically, Kölsch is considered an ale, as it is brewed using top fermenting yeast at warmer ale temperatures. However, its post-fermentation treatment follows the lager playbook, as it's stored in cold conditions. This unique combination of techniques results in a beer that has the crisp cleanness of a lager, but with more depth of flavor, like an ale. These qualities make Kölsch an intriguing beer to pair with food, and a great match for fried chicken.
Its lager-like qualities make Kölsch a refreshing, thirst-quenching brew that's good for contrasting with rich dishes. It is yeastier, fruitier, and hoppier than your standard lager, and while those elements are still on the mild side compared to most other ales, they still imbue it with layers of flavor that add a bit of complexity to food pairing. Kölsch's bright, fresh quality make it a great al fresco summertime beer, perfect to pack on a picnic with fried chicken.
10. Amber ale
Amber ale, sometimes called red or brown ale, is known for its malty flavor profile. This comes across as caramel and nutty tastes and aromas and often a lightly-roasted quality. While some amber ales can be fairly hoppy, the maltiness is typically the most pronounced characteristic of the style. When paired with fried chicken, this ale brings out the richness of the fried exterior rather than cutting through it, as a lighter or more acidic beverage would do. But the beer's carbonation and hints of bitterness still work to give the pairing balance.
Amber ales pair best with fried chicken that's on the savory side as far as flavors go, although the beer's inherent sweetness can take on some spicy heat, too. Dark meat's rich flavor and fatty texture are beautifully enhanced by the malty character of amber ale, so try it with wings and thighs for the best pairing experience.
11. Wheat beer
There are many different styles of wheat beer, but they all share certain similarities. These beers are brewed using a large amount of wheat, in addition to other grains, which gives them a creamy texture and a bright, often fruity flavor. Although there are a few of these beers that fall under the lager category, most wheat beers are ales, meaning they're more aromatic and flavorful. It's these lively citrusy notes that really make these ales shine when paired with fried chicken, as the lemony tang enhances the chicken's savory flavor and cuts through its richness.
Hefeweizen is one of the most familiar types of wheat beer, sporting a bright yellow-orange color and a somewhat hazy appearance. Flavors of banana and clove are common in this style, and relatively low alcohol and bitterness make them easy to drink and refreshing with food. Other wheat styles include Belgian Witbiers, which include the additions of coriander and orange peel, and American wheat beers, which tend to be hoppier than their European counterparts. All of these styles act as a bright, summery counterpoint to rich, savory fried chicken.
12. Cider
Cider is an incredibly versatile category of drinks that can be a lot of fun to pair with food. While it's most often made from fermented apple juice, cider can be made from any kind of fruit, and can be dry, sweet, or anything in between. No matter what style you choose, ciders are usually fresh, tart, and juicy, making them a lively pairing option for fried chicken.
Chicken is a protein that couples nicely with fruit — think of chicken salad with apples. A crisp, refreshing, classic apple cider adds that same fruity component in liquid form, with a tangy acidity that slices through the salt and fat. But don't stop with apple. Any fruit that can be found in a chicken dish works just as well as a cider pairing, from pomegranate to pineapple. Dry ciders make a zippy, bracing pairing, while off-dry or sweet ciders work to mellow out spicier fried chicken, taming its heat.
13. Sweet tea
If you're from the South or have traveled there, you're likely very familiar with sweet tea. If you're not, you might wonder what all the fuss is about. Isn't it just iced tea with sugar? Dismiss this drink like that around a Southerner and you're likely to get an earful, as sweet tea is its own beverage altogether, and something of a sacred tradition throughout the region. Sweet tea must be brewed strong and sweetened while it's hot, then refrigerated to cool, and never put on ice until it's ready to serve. Just the right blend of flavor, caffeine, and sugar served cold makes sweet tea a perfect pairing for southern cuisine, especially fried chicken.
Black tea contains tannins, the same as red wine, which cause an astringent, drying feeling in your mouth. When consumed together, these tannins attach to fat molecules, mellowing out both sensations, so fried chicken doesn't feel as greasy and the tea's tannins aren't as unpleasantly grippy. If you want to go all-out southern, you can even use sweet tea as a marinade for your chicken prior to frying it.
14. Arnold Palmer
The Arnold Palmer, a drink named after and made famous by the legendary golfer of the same name, is one of the best drinks you can pair with fried chicken. Everything that makes sweet tea a match with the dish is here, too: tannins that bind with fat, sweetness that enhances the chicken's richness and mellows out spice, and a cool, refreshing mouthfeel. It's the addition of half lemonade that really takes this pairing to the next level.
Lemonade, especially fresh-squeezed, is full of bright, zesty acidity. This crackling, mouth-puckering acidity slices like a knife through fried chicken's oily, savory richness, cleansing your palate and making the food seem less heavy. While lemonade on its own, especially fresh and lightly sweetened, can be almost too acidic, the addition of tea balances it out. Another great thing about an Arnold Palmer is that you can personalize the ratio of lemonade to tea to suit your own tastes. And don't be afraid to give it a little extra kick, like in this Tipsy Palmer cocktail with bourbon and bitters.
Static Media owns and operates Daily Meal and Tasting Table.