The Best Way To Reheat Fried Chicken For First Day Crispiness

Some days it seems like there are very few things most people can agree upon, but if it's possible for there to be a majority consensus on any single statement, it might be that fried chicken is delicious. Whether it's a bucket of KFC's finest with those no-longer-secret 11 herbs and spices, or the equally tasty but slightly different Korean take on fried chicken, it's all good. It's even good the next day, and you don't really need to reheat it. As Pig Beach BBQ co-founder Matt Abdoo tells The Takeout, "The best way of reheating fried chicken for me is not reheating it at all and eating it cold right out of the fridge because I love that." If you prefer hot chicken to cold, though, he says, "I have had great success using my air fryer to reheat fried chicken and having it stay moist and regain its crunchy texture."

The air fryer, which may be right up there with the Instant Pot as the trendiest appliance of the 20-teens and beyond, is generally a good way to warm up your food, as long as you avoid common reheating mistakes such as failing to preheat the appliance or allowing the food to sit for too long. Abdoo advises giving the chicken a slight spritz of fat for extra flavor, then letting the mini convection oven do its thing. The reason it works, he says, is that "The air fryer heats up fast, causing the exterior to get crunchy while still keeping the interior juicy." He goes on to explain that a slower heating process could result in dry chicken.

This may come as a shock to air fryer stans, but over 40% of American households did not own such an appliance as of 2023. (Mine among them — we never used ours and gave it away in 2022.) Matt Abdoo says you can also use a conventional oven for reheating fried chicken, although he advises covering it with foil for the first five to 10 minutes. Once the chicken is warm, he suggests taking the foil off and turning the heat up 25 degrees so it can get crispy. If you're willing to heat another pot of oil, you can also deep fry the chicken a second time, but Abdoo says to do it at a lower temperature than it was originally cooked at (typically between 325 and 375 degrees Fahrenheit). This will help prevent the coating from burning.

No matter how you reheat your chicken, there's no need to let it come to room temperature first. While some may think this will reduce the time the interior takes to heat, thus limiting the chance the exterior will burn, Abdoo points out, "You can also achieve this by starting off your ... [reheating at] a lower temperature, then gradually letting it come up hotter to have the same effect."

There are two methods for reheating fried chicken that Abdoo doesn't endorse, however. If you use the microwave, he warns that the chicken can turn out soggy and rubbery. Additionally, he cautions, "I also wouldn't try grilling previously fried chicken to reheat unless that's your only option — it just doesn't turn out right."