You Can Now Make Your Favorite Fried Foods At Home

Fried food can come in all shapes and sizes, but one thing never changes: it's always delicious. And the really good news is that if you can fry one food, you can fry anything. Whether you've got your own deep fryer, an air fryer, or even just a big pan and a lot of oil (be careful and avoid these common mistakes, though!), it's easy to explore whole new worlds in the kitchen.

Even better, a skilled fryer will be able to replicate their favorite foods — even restaurant-quality dishes and fast food icons — with very little effort. As such, our list of the finest fried foods you can make from home is a long one indeed. Fancy rustling up a batch of mozzarella sticks? Go for it. Craving coconut shrimp? Easy peasy! Want some KFC chicken, but can't get out of the house? No problem. Follow these recipes, and you'll fry up a storm.

Chicken tenders are a great starting point for anyone who's still learning how to fry, or who just wants to keep things as basic as they can. They're a timeless favorite for fans of fried food, and this chicken tenders recipe is about as simple as it comes. Season the chicken strips, egg them, flour them, bread them, and fry them — it really is as simple as that. Served them up with a little sauce and some fries, and you're good to go. 

Mozzarella sticks may just be the ultimate party food, and serving up a homemade batch to your friends or family is bound to impress even the most persnickety of eaters. Luckily, they're not all that difficult to make, either — just take a look at our 30-minute mozzarella sticks recipe, for example. It's probably worth mentioning that you'll need a little more time than that, since the sticks have to be frozen for a few hours before frying, but aside from some early prep, the only limit here is how many you can physically bring yourself to make. We recommend a good dozen. Or two. Or three. Or....

A perfect food for hot summer days, outdoor barbecue, or even just as a mid-afternoon snack, coconut shrimp is about as succulent and moreish a fried food as any you'll ever find. And our easy coconut shrimp recipe is just that: easy. As long as you've got the basic ingredients for frying (oil, eggs, flour, etc.), some shredded coconut, and a nice ol' heap of shrimp, you're pretty much good to go. The recipe also recommends a little cilantro and some sweet chili dipping sauce on the side, and, hey — who are we to argue?

Ah, Buffalo wings. There's nothing quite like a nice batch of wings, a heap of sauce, and a good beer on the side. Sadly, it's not all that easy to find really good wings outside of your nearest bar or restaurant, but fear not: Once you've had this Buffalo wings recipe, you'll never want to have them from anywhere else. The recipe includes a homemade blue cheese dressing and Buffalo sauce as well, meaning you'll have everything you need to nail down this delicious all-American staple.

Sesame chicken is one of the most recognizable dishes you'll find at your local Chinese takeout. There's a good chance it'll be one of the most popular, too — and with this homemade sesame chicken recipe, it's easy to see why. The trick here is getting the sauce right, and this particular recipe calls for a mixture of soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, and cornstarch. Once you've got that down, frying the chicken (twice!) is a cinch, and then it's only a matter of tossing the chicken in the sauce for a yummy treat.

Of course, all that shrimp and chicken might be a little off-putting to some — but the good news is that there are plenty of veggie fried food recipes out there, too. Our easy fried zucchini recipe, for example, can be made in under 30 minutes and requires just a few zucchini, a little Parmesan cheese, and the standard concoction of breadcrumbs, eggs, and flour. Served up with a batch of marinara sauce, this classic of Italian cooking will  please meat-eaters and vegetarians alike.

Tempura is a catch-all term most commonly associated with Japanese cooking. Pretty much any seafood, meat, or vegetable that has been battered and deep fried in the tempura style, and with tempura breadcrumbs, can fall under the label.

There's a lot of fun to be had here experimenting with different kinds of tempura, and, as such, our very own recipe includes shrimp, mushrooms, squash, sweet potato, and broccoli. Once you've got the knack down, there are so many other places you can go. The world is your oyster, so have fun with your tempura!

There's something truly strange — and special — about McDonald's fries that, for some reason or another, makes them so difficult to replicate. Luckily for you, our copycat McDonald's fries recipe has the solution, and it just so happens to involve frozen shoestrings, baby formula, and a whole heap of beef stock. And once you know the secret, they're really not that hard to make. Give it a go and see what happens.

KFC has always made a point of bringing up their unique blend of 11 herbs and spices. And while the exact nature of the recipe for their fried chicken may once have been a secret, that's not really the case anymore. Enter our copycat KFC chicken recipe: It utilizes salt, thyme, basil, oregano, celery salt, black pepper, yellow mustard, paprika, garlic salt, ginger, and white pepper (that's all 11!), a special buttermilk marinade, and a little dash of MSG to bring you the ultimate copy of this world-famous recipe. This might be a cliche to say, but it really is finger lickin' good.