Fried chicken was not created by a single person; it evolved over centuries from several cooking traditions, especially in Europe, Africa, and later the American South.

Quick Scoop

  • Early versions of fried chicken go back at least to ancient Rome, where cooks were already frying pieces of chicken in oil.
  • Scottish cooks were known for frying unseasoned chicken in fat, a practice they brought to the American South.
  • West African culinary traditions included deep-frying and bold seasoning, and enslaved Africans in the American South combined these techniques with Scottish frying methods, creating the seasoned Southern fried chicken known today.
  • The first known English-language recipe titled “fried chicken” appeared in 18th‑century cookbooks such as Hannah Glasse’s “The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy” (1747), which helped spread the dish in Britain and America.
  • In the 20th century, Colonel Harland Sanders popularized commercial fried chicken worldwide through Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), but he did not invent the dish itself.

So who “created” fried chicken?

  • No single inventor is recognized; fried chicken is better understood as a fusion dish shaped by Scottish frying, West African seasoning and frying techniques, and centuries of experimentation in home kitchens.
  • When people ask “who created fried chicken,” modern food historians usually point to this blend of cultures in the American South rather than to one chef or restaurant.

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