Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich
This mouthwatering Nashville hot chicken sandwich is crispy, super spicy, and topped with a crunchy pickled slaw for next-level flavor! Make it for dinner when you’re craving the comfort of southern style fried chicken.
Equipment
- Deep cast iron pan or dutch oven
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 4 potato buns
- Vegetable oil for frying
Chicken Marinade
- 1 pound chicken breast sliced into palm-sized chunks and pounded flat to about half-inch thickness
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons Frank's red hot
- 2 tablespoons pickle brine
Slaw
- ½ medium cucumber julienned
- ¼ cup shredded carrots
- ¼ cup shredded red cabbage
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- ¼ cup water
- ½ teaspoon salt
Dredge
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
Hot Sauce
- 2 ½ tablespoons ground red cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- Frying oil up to ½ cup, aim for a brushable consistency
Instructions
Prep
- Marinate the chicken - Whisk together egg, buttermilk, Frank’s Red Hot, and the pickle brine in a medium bowl. Add the chicken and let it marinate in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Make the slaw - Combine the carrots, cabbage, and cucumber slices in a covered container with the vinegar, water, and salt. Cover, shake to combine, and store in the fridge for at least an hour.
Dredging
- Set up the dredging station by adding flour and salt to a shallow container and whisking to combine. Then set up a wire rack where the dredged chicken can rest.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade and pat it dry with paper towels. Make sure the chicken is really dry, it should be sticky to the touch.
- Coat the chicken in the flour and salt mixture. Make sure to coat it thouroughly by pressing each side and all edges into the flour. Shake off any extra, and then dip the chicken back into the marinade. Finish the dredging process by letting any excess liquid drip off and then flouring the chicken again.
- Let the double dredged chicken rest on the wire rack for 15 to 20 minutes. This will help the coating set.
Frying and Serving
- In a deep-walled cast iron pan or dutch oven, bring about half an inch of oil to 350 to 375 degrees F. Once the oil has come to temp, gently lay the chicken into the oil. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan or the oil will drop too much in temperature (a good rule for this is the chicken shouldn’t be touching each other or the walls of the pan). Fry the chicken for about 8 minutes or until golden brown, gently flipping halfway through. Once cooked, transfer the chicken to a wire rack to drain.
- While the chicken is frying, mix together the dry seasonings for the hot sauce in a small bowl and set aside. Once the chicken has finished frying, take some of the hot oil and add it to the bowl with your seasoning mix. Use up to a half cup of oil, stirring well to combine until the sauce has a brushable consistency.
- Next, gently brush both sides of the chicken with the sauce. You can use as much or as little as you’d like depending on how spicy you want it! Stir the sauce as needed to keep it combined, the seasonings like to settle to the bottom.
- Finally, make your sandwich. Place a chicken patty onto the bottom of a potato bun, top with a handful of slaw, close, and serve!
Notes
Pound the chicken: It’s much easier to fry chicken if it’s not too thick, and if all the pieces are roughly the same thickness so that they cook at the same rate. We like to pound the chicken to about a half-inch thickness before marinating so that we see consistency in cooking times.
Keep an eye on the oil temp: Try to keep the frying oil around 350 to 375 degrees F. This is the sweet spot for achieving a crispy, golden-brown crust while properly cooking the chicken all the way through. An instant read thermometer is super handy for frying and checking the temperature of cooked meats!
Prep ahead: Both marinating the chicken and making the slaw can happen up to 12 hours in advance. If prepping an hour before dinner isn’t good timing for you, get it done before work, during lunch, or whenever is easiest. Both can sit in the fridge for anywhere between 1 and 12 hours. The slaw can sit even longer if desired - just note that it’ll have a softer texture and a stronger pickled flavor the longer it sits.
Serving suggestion: Pair with french fries or onion rings for a decadent comfort food dinner. We love curly fries for a fun treat!
Storing and reheating: Store leftover chicken in the fridge for up to 5 days. We find that it reheats well in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes, but you can also microwave it if you’re short on time. Note that reheated fried chicken won’t be as crispy as it is when served fresh, especially once it’s been brushed with the hot sauce, but it’s still just as tasty!
Nutrition
Serving: 1sandwich | Calories: 447kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 39g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 122mg | Sodium: 1440mg | Potassium: 663mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 2907IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 220mg | Iron: 4mg
