What is the difference between pan frying and deep frying?

Answer by  MargotFernandez (169)

You pan-fry food in a shallow depth of hot oil, while deep frying is done by actually immersing the food in enough hot oil to submerge it completely.

Answer by  cuprite (29)

Pan frying is putting food into a shallow pan with hot oil. The food needs to be rotated or flipped in the pan to be cooked through. Deep frying is immersing food in a pot with several inches of hot oil.