Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich
You're going to love my Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich. The tender, juicy chicken breast, wrapped in a crunchy coating and brushed with the Nashville hot sauce, is legendary and not to be missed.
Servings: 4
Calories: 1212kcal
Ingredients
- 20 oz chicken breasts boneless skinless - to make four 5 ounce chicken cutlets
- 2 cups vegetable oil for frying
Marinade and Breading
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon Frank's hot sauce or your favorite brand
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper more or less to taste
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt more or less to taste
Nashville Hot Sauce
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper more or less to your taste preferences
- 2 tsp coarse sea salt
- 2 teaspoon smoked paprika or regular paprika
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon honey
Assembly
- 4 brioche buns buttered and toasted
- ½ cup bread and butter pickle chips
- 1 ½ cups lettuce shredded - or cole slaw
- 4 tablespoon mayonnaise optional - more or less to your taste
Instructions
Chicken and Marinade
- Cut the boneless chicken breasts into 5-6 ounce cutlets. Pound the chicken breasts lightly. Just enough to have a uniform thickness.
- Add the buttermilk, egg, and hot sauce to a shallow bowl and whisk the ingredients until fully combined.
- Place the chicken cutlets into the bowl with the buttermilk mixture. Mix to coat the chicken, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-4 hours (or overnight).
- Add the all-purpose flour, salt, and black pepper to another bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside until needed.
Breading
- When the chicken is done marinating, remove it from the buttermilk mixture and let it sit for 10 minutes before breading.
- Dredge the chicken breast in flour mixture, shaking off any excess flour.
- Dip the floured breast back into the buttermilk mixture. Letting excess buttermilk drip off.
- Dredge the buttermilk-dipped chicken breast back into the flour mixture for the second coating of flour. Make sure to get a good coating of flour on the chicken.Continue the process until all the chicken has been breaded.
- Add two inches of cooking oil to a deep skillet or dutch oven over high heat. Heat the oil until it has reached 350 degrees F.
- Add the breaded chicken breasts to the hot oil and fry the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side. Cook the chicken breasts until golden brown and crispy and until the internal temperature is at least 165°F. *Cook in two batches if the pan is not big enough for all four.
- Remove the cooked chicken cutlets from the pan and place them on a wire rack to drain.
Nashville Hot Sauce
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan.
- Add the cayenne, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, brown sugar, and honey to the saucepan with the melted butter.
- Whisk the ingredients to combine and heat the mixture over medium heat for one minute or until the brown sugar has somewhat dissolved.
- Add two tablespoons of hot cooking oil from frying the chicken to the mixture and whisk until smooth.
Assembly
- Butter and toast the brioche buns.
- Spread one tablespoon of mayonnaise on the bottom of the bun.
- Place the pickle chips on top of the mayonaise.
- Brush the fried chicken with the Nashville hot sauce, or dip it into the sauce and place it on top of the pickles.
- Add the shredded lettuce (or cole slaw) on top of the chicken, and top with the toasted bun.
- Serve the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich with a small tossed salad, potato chips, and cole slaw. For a real Southern experience, serve the sandwich with potato salad or macaroni salad.
Nutrition
Calories: 1212kcal | Carbohydrates: 89g | Protein: 49g | Fat: 74g | Saturated Fat: 32g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 16g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 354mg | Sodium: 1237mg | Potassium: 820mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 2949IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 176mg | Iron: 4mg