Why Paula Patton's Family's Chicken Recipe Got Absolutely Roasted by the Internet

By Brenda Alexander

Paula Patton is trending and it's not for an acting role. In the past few years, the Jumping the Broom star has been in the headlines for major post-marital issues between her and her ex, Robin Thicke. The pair, who'd been together since they were teenagers, split amid rumors of Thicke's alleged drug use and potential infidelity. But now, Patton has been the brunt of many jokes. A video she shared on her social media pages in March of her showing off her family's fried chicken recipe. Despite being over a month old, the video recently went viral. Patton's recipe is more simple than most people are used to. Additionally, critics say she does things out of order. In the video, Patton starts by explaining the origin of the recipe. "I'm going to make my mom's famous fried chicken," she shared in the video that was originally posted on March 4.

Patton starts by cleaning the chicken with cold water. She then adds all-purpose flour in a plastic bag and added pieces of raw chicken into the flour to coat it. In her next step, Patton puts the chicken in avocado oil to fry is, while seasoning it with salt, paprika, and Lawry's seasoning salt. Viewers were stunned that Patton didn't season the chicken before coating it with flour.

@thetrackqueen

y’all come watch paula make chicken 🤦🏾‍♀️

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The reactions poured in, and Patton was notified. She took to Instagram to address the backlash. "I'm in Mexico with my son, and I woke up, and people were like, "Did you see on Instagram and TikTok and Twitter they're talking about the way you fry chicken?" And I was like, "Oh no, what!'" she said in the video. 

She continued: "That's OK, I just wanted to respond and say listen, I get it, it might look crazy, it is the way we do it. My mom taught me it, it's my mom's recipe…It's all good because everybody's got their own way of making things. And I'll take suggestions, I'll make a new kind of fried chicken, but I'm gonna always make my mom's chicken the way she did it. We put the seasoning in the oil and all that. It's just the way we do it,' she added. "I just wanted to send everybody love, and I appreciate the comments, the room for improvement, and to know that this is an old family recipe; that's how we do it."

Olympic track star Ashley Spencer reposted the video to TikTok along with some commentary. And social media users couldn't agree with Spencer more.

One can relate

On behalf of one social media user who is not a person of color, she offered her sincerest apologies. She says she learned how to season food later in life in college, presumably from peers of other ethnicities.

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It's not a Black or white issue

A lot of social media users say Patton's recipe has nothing to do with race. Instead, they joke that she just doesn't know what she's doing, nor did her mother who passed along the recipe.

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What does it taste like?

Patton seasoned everything but the chicken and flour. Many are curious to know what the taste outcome is.

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Some say it's because of her uprbinging

Patton is biracial and is part Black and part white. Many social media users who are of color say she did not learn how to properly season chicken the way many Black households are accustomed to.

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Learn from granny

Many elders have watched Patton's video and are confused. Some have even offered to lend her their recipe.

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Just bad

One Twitter user was so upset about Patton's technique that their day was ruined altogether. Hopefully Patton's promise to try other recipes make this Twitter user happier in the future.

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