Fried chicken, as we know it today, grew out of a mix of Scottish frying techniques and West African seasoning traditions that came together in the American South, where it became a hallmark of Southern and African American cooking.

Quick Scoop

  • Scottish cooks were deep-frying chicken pieces in fat (often lard) without much seasoning as early as the 17th–18th centuries.
  • Many West African cuisines already featured well-seasoned chicken and other foods fried in oil (such as palm oil).
  • Enslaved Africans and their descendants in the Southern United States combined these approaches: Scottish-style deep frying plus West African-style spices and technique, creating what became Southern fried chicken.
  • The phrase “fried chicken” in American English starts appearing in the 1800s, and by the 19th century it was a classic Southern dish, often linked with African American cooks.
  • A famous early printed recipe for fried chicken appears in the 1820s–1840s era cookbooks, helping standardize the dish in American home cooking.

In one sentence

Fried chicken doesn’t come from a single inventor or country; it comes from centuries of Scottish frying methods meeting West African flavors in the kitchens of the American South, especially those of enslaved and later free African American cooks.

TL;DR: If you’re wondering “where does fried chicken come from,” the best answer is: Scotland + West Africa → the American South → the global fried chicken you eat today.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.