Nashville hot chicken sandwiches! If you like hot and spicy chicken, you are going to love this sandwich! Crispy fried chicken pieces are dipped in spicy chili oil then served on a brioche bun with lettuce and pickle chips.
I had never heard of Nashville hot chicken before I saw it on the menu at one of our local brew pubs, Barnstormer Brewery. Being a lover of all things spicy I knew I had to have it. One bite and I was hooked! In fact, I kept going back there for dinner just to get another taste. Seriously, it was that good. At that point I knew I had to recreate it at home.
Basically, what it boils down to is fried chicken slathered in spicy chili oil then served on a bun with lettuce and pickle chips. It might seem like a bit of a complicated recipe, but I promise you it's not. If you can bread and fry chicken you're already halfway there, and putting the chili oil together is as simple as mixing the hot frying oil in with a few spices and seasonings.
Why you're going to love this
- The homemade chili oil is easy to make than you may think - making the chili oil for this sandwich couldn't get any easier. Just mix a handful of pantry spices in with the cooking oil and your good to go.
- It's a fun twist on a family favourite - everybody loves fried chicken sandwiches, right? Take it a bit further and add some spice into your life and make it a Nashville hot chicken sandwich.
- Buttermilk marinated chicken - marinating the chicken in buttermilk tenderizes it while keeping it nice and juicy.
- Crispy crunchy fried chicken - Using cornstarch with the flour gives the chicken a distinctive crispy crunch.
Ingredients
- chicken thighs - boneless and skinless. You could use breasts here too if you wanted. I would slice them in half horizontally so they are thinner though.
- buttermilk - soaking the chicken in buttermilk tenderizes it while keeping it nice and juicy.
- hot sauce - to mix in with the buttermilk bath and add a bit of heat.
- flour & cornstarch - the crispy coating for our chicken. You could use all flour here, but mixing it with cornstarch gives it a nice crisp crunch.
- eggs - to bind the flour mixture to the chicken.
- seasonings (cayenne, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and brown sugar) - to season our chili oil. Cayenne is the main star here, as well as the brown sugar which keeps the oil from tasting bitter.
- oil - for frying the chicken. And we're going to use the hot oil from frying to make our chili oil too.
- pickles - I used garlic dills because I love them, but bread and butter pickles seem to be the traditional topping.
- lettuce - you can use anything here, but I love using iceberg lettuce on sandwiches like this because it's nice and crisp.
- buns - look for brioche if you can find them. If not, any of your favourite buns will do.
How to make it
Marinate the chicken. Mix together the buttermilk and the hot sauce in a large bowl. Add the chicken thighs to the bowl taking care the all the pieces are covered in buttermilk mixture. Let this marinate for at least 4 hours.
Prepare your breading station. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and place it on a plate. Beat the eggs together with ½ cup of the buttermilk and place in a shallow bowl. Mix together the flour and cornstarch then season it well with sea salt and pepper and place it in a shallow bowl. Grab a large plate for placing the breaded chicken on.
Bread the chicken. Work with one piece at a time. Take a chicken thigh and dredge it in the flour mixture (1) taking care to shake off any excess flour. Place the flour-coated chicken thigh in the egg mixture (2) and cover both sides before returning to cover it with flour (3) again and then on to the plate to rest (4). Continue until all the chicken is breaded.
Fry the chicken. Pour a couple of inches of oil into a high walled skillet then heat to 350ºF. The temperature dial of your burner should be around medium. Gently lower pieces of chicken into the oil using a pair of tongs. Add as many pieces as you can fit without crowding and cook them about 4 ½ minutes per side before removing them to rest on a rack.
Make the chili oil. Place the cayenne powder, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and brown sugar into a heat-proof bowl then carefully remove ½ cup of the cooking oil from the skillet and it it to the bowl along with the spices. Stir to mix well and let the oil cool.
Spice up the fried chicken pieces. Either dip the fried chicken pieces into the bowl of chili oil to cover them or use a brush to brush it over them. Either way make sure to stir the oil up once in a while to keep the spices throughout it as it does settle to the bottom of the bowl.
Put the sandwich together. Pile shredded lettuce on the bottom of the bun, add 2 pieces of the spicy chicken then top with a generous serving of pickle chips.
Tips and Tricks
Play with the cornstarch to flour ratio. I used 50/50 here to get a very crisp crust. You could use also try 25% corn starch for more of a traditional crust.
Make it a lighter meal. I wanted these sandwiches to be hearty and filling so I used 2 pieces of thighs for each sandwich, but you can definitely use one per sandwich if you're looking for a lighter meal. Either half everything in the recipe except the lettuce, buns and pickle and feed 4, or double the lettuce, buns and pickle and feed 8.
Try chicken breasts. If you're not into dark meat you can try this with chicken breasts. Halve the breasts down there length so it looks like you have two thin chicken breasts then go from there.
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Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwiches
Ingredients:
to marinate the chicken:
- 8 chicken thighs - boneless and skinless
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 Tablespoons tabasco or franks
To bread the chicken
- 3⁄4 cup flour
- 3⁄4 cup corn starch
- 2 eggs
- 1⁄2 cup marinade from first step
For the chili oil:
- 2 Tablespoons cayenne powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
To build the sandwich
- 1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
- ½ cup dill pickle chips
- 4 brioche burger buns
Instructions
to marinate the chicken
- Mix together the buttermilk and hot sauce in a large bowl then add in the chicken pieces taking care to make sure they are esch covered with the mixture. Let the chicken marinate here for at least 4 hours.
To bread the chicken.
- Work with one piece at a time. Take a chicken thigh and dredge it in the flour mixture taking care to shake off any excess flour. Place the flour-coated chicken thigh in the egg mixture and cover both sides before returning to cover it with flour again and then on to the plate to rest. Continue until all the chicken is breaded.
Fry the chicken.
- Pour a couple of inches of oil into a high walled skillet then heat to 350ºF. The temperature dial of your burner should be around medium. Gently lower pieces of chicken into the oil using a pair of tongs. Add as many pieces as you can fit without crowding and cook them about 4 ½ minutes per side before removing them to rest on a rack.
Make the chili oil.
- Place the cayenne powder, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and brown sugar into a heat-proof bowl then carefully remove ½ cup of the cooking oil from the skillet and add it to the bowl along with the spices. Stir to mix well and let the oil cool.
Spice up the fried chicken pieces
- Either dip the fried chicken pieces into the bowl of chili oil to cover them or use a brush to brush it over them. Either way make sure to stir the oil up once in a while to keep the spices throughout it as it does settle to the bottom of the bowl.
Put the sandwich together.
- Pile shredded lettuce on the bottom of the bun, add 2 pieces of the spicy chicken then top with a generous serving of pickle chips.
Notes
- Play with the cornstarch to flour ratio. I used 50/50 here to get a very crisp crust. You could use also try 25% corn starch for more of a traditional crust.
- Make it a lighter meal. I wanted these sandwiches to be hearty and filling so I used 2 pieces of thighs for each sandwich, but you can definitely use one per sandwich if you're looking for a lighter meal. Either half everything in the recipe except the lettuce, buns and pickle and feed 4, or double the lettuce, buns and pickle and feed 8.
- Try chicken breasts. If you're not into dark meat you can try this with chicken breasts. Halve the breasts down there length so it looks like you have two thin chicken breasts then go from there.
* nutritional information is calculated by online tools and may not be 100% accurate.
Alex says
This recipe takes a crispy chicken sandwich to a whole new level - we love spicy food, and oh, the flavour of this is so tasty!
Courtney says
Thanks! We love these sandwiches so much around here.
Irina says
The first picture of the post made my mouth water, and I went ahead and made this sandwich! OMG! It is beyond delicious!
Courtney says
I'm so happy you loved it!
Julie Menghini says
The buttermilk chicken looks crispy and the hot oil is a perfect spice blend. This is one delicious sandwich!
Courtney says
Thank you!
Tara says
What a delicious chicken sandwich! Sounds absolutely amazing with that spicy chili oil and the crispy texture.
Courtney says
Thank you so much!
Wanda says
A local chef put Nashville hot chicken bits on their pizza once and I've been hooked ever since. Thanks for the recipe, now I can make it at home!
Courtney says
You're welcome! It's so addictive, isn't it??
Jamie says
My family loved this chicken sandwich! I made this with the 50/50 flour to cornstarch ratio and it came out perfect. The sauce is amazing too!
Courtney says
I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed it!
Jamie says
Made this last night and my family LOVED it!! The chili oil and pickles add so much flavor and just the right amount of heat. I followed the recipe exactly but used bread and butter pickles instead of dill pickles. So good!
MamaLala says
This was so amazing that we decided to make it for Christmas. What a keeper. We made it with pounded thin chicken tenders and they came out delish.