Have you guys heard of Nashville Hot Chicken before? It’s a super popular dish in Nashville, Tennessee (obvi) – kind of like what the Philly Cheesesteak is to Philadelphia. Y’ALL (such Southern language is mandatory in this post) – Nashville Hot Chicken is life.

Here’s what makes Nashville Hot Chicken the beautiful creation that it is:

Fried chicken (of course)
A heavily spiced paste versus sauce made from lots of spices, mainly cayenne, and the fry oil.
A toasted slice of white bread served underneath the chicken (I recommend brioche – the hint of sweet from the bread + the spicy chicken is just too good for words)
Dill pickles to top the whole thing off

The three unique things that really characterize this dish are the last three bullets – the spice paste + white bread + pickles are what make this different than a typical fried chicken dish you’d find in the south.

And let me tell ~~you~~ y’all, Nashville Hot Chicken is addicting and delicious and everything that I want in my life.

Let me tell you something, friends. Crispy chicken in all its beautiful forms has been my main craving throughout this pregnancy. It doesn’t need to be fried per se, it can be baked, as long as it’s breaded and crispy. Chick-Fil-A and I have been besties for the past few months. But I mean, if we’re being honest, CFA and I have always been TUYTE. You my main, Chick-Fil-A, you my main. But it’s not just Chick-Fil-A – it’s anywhere with crispy breaded chicken.

Why, I wonder? Who knows. #Pregnancy. If I wasn’t keeping the health of the little peanut growing inside me in mind, I’d probs be takin’ down some fried chicken on a daily basis. But, sadly, I must restrain myself and only have it every now and then.

My particular craving lately has been spicy chicken – like a chicken strips with buffalo sauce type situation. I saw a few food videos online where people were making Nashville Hot Chicken and I was like…hello there, friend. I NEED YOU. Thus my journey began.

Now, let me warn you, dear internet friends, this is not a journey you should take lightly. Firstly, making fried chicken is kind of a massive pain and raaaather messy. Secondly, if you don’t like spicy food, stop reading here, because this chicken is no joke in the heat department. I happen to love spicy food, and my hesistant-to-spicy-food husband looooooved this chicken because, yes, there is spice, but there is also mega flavor. You can control the heat big time based on how much paste/sauce you add, but even if you just add a little, there’s definite spice, so…spice haters beware.

(Then again, you could always make this and skip the sauce, but the sauce is BAE.)

Let’s talk process.

Marinate your chicken. We do a mixture of buttermilk, pickle juice (what? Yes. We went there), salt, and eggs, giving it the combo use of marinade + brine + our liquid step in the breading process. We multitasking SO HARD.
Bread your chicken. Go from marinade to seasoned flour back to the marinade and back to seasoned flour for a second time. AKA a double breading situation. I’m all ’bout that ultra crispy crunchy coating life.
Fry your chicken. It’ll have to happen in batches, and you’ll have to monitor the temp of the oil or your chicken will be either under cooked or the breading will get too brown. You want it around 325 degrees.
Brush your spice paste onto your finished fried chicken when it comes out of the pan.
Assemble: bottom layer – toasted bread, middle layer – chicken, top layer – pickles. This is dreams.

It’s kind of a hot mess to make, and it’s kind of a hot mess to eat (forks and knives will be your friend), but I think that kind of adds to the fun of this whole thing. You kind of end up with a plate full of breading and chicken and bread and pickles all over the place, and you build each bite on your fork, and it’s all just a little bit soul filling, if you know what I mean. Southern food will do that for ya.

The brioche bread is slightly sweet, the chicken is ABSURDLY juicy and flavorful, the breading is ultra crispy/crunchy, the spice paste is super spicy with a hint of sweet from the brown sugar (not to mention delicious and complex thanks to our other additions), and the pickles are bright and tangy. It’s heaven in food form, and that’s all there is to say about that!

I hope your Wednesdays are wonderful! We’re half way to Friday – celebrate with some Nashville Hot Chicken ❤!

Nashville Hot Chicken

Author: Annie Chesson
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 35 mins
Total Time: 55 minutes
Yield: 8 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale

For the chicken + marinade

4 chicken breasts, all sliced in half width wise so each breast makes two thick chunks*
2 cups buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 cup dill pickle juice (from the jar of pickles you will be using for topping)
1 tablespoon salt

For the seasoned flour:

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika

For the spice paste

3 tablespoons cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons butter, melted
6 tablespoons fry oil (taken from the pan the chicken is frying in)

For frying and assembly:

3 cups canola oil
8 slices white bread (I recommend brioche)
Dill pickles (at least three per serving)

Instructions

Whisk all ingredients for the buttermilk marinade together and add the chicken. Cover and let marinate in the fridge for at least an hour
Set up your breading station: mix all seasoned flour ingredients together in one dish, remove the chicken from the buttermilk marinade, and set out a sheet of parchment paper for the breaded chicken to sit on once ready to fry. One at a time, dip your chicken into the buttermilk mixture, letting any excess drip off, and add it to the seasoned flour. Turn over and over until the chicken is evenly coated in flour. Lightly shake off the excess flour and then add back into the buttermilk until coated. Add it back into the flour and turn until coated. Place finished chicken on the parchment paper and repeat process with remaining 7 pieces
Add your canola oil to a large pan (I used a cast iron) and heat to 325 degrees. In batches (I did batches of 3), fry your chicken for 6 minutes a side or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove it to a cooling rack. Make sure you are monitoring the temperature of the oil throughout frying process and adjusting the stove heat accordingly
As your chicken is cooking, make your spice paste. Combine all spices into a medium bowl and stir in your melted butter. Add 6 tablespoons of your fry oil and stir until combined and smooth
As the batches of chicken finish cooking and you’ve placed them on the cooling rack, lightly brush the spice paste onto the top side of your finished chicken with a pastry brush. Go lightly at first, the paste is very spicy – you can always add more, but you can’t take away
Finish frying the rest of your chicken and brushing it with the spice paste. When ready to assemble, place each piece of chicken onto a toasted slice of brioche and top with pickles!

Notes

*When slicing the chicken, don’t slice it in half so it’s two thin pieces of chicken, you want to slice it in half so that there are two thick chunks. It fits on the bread much better this way and is a WAY more realistic serving size.

This makes a TON of chicken, but the recipe can easily be halved. Half everything except the canola oil if you want a smaller batch.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1/2 chicken breast, 1 slice brioche, several pickles
Calories: 458
Sugar: 11 g
Fat: 35 g
Carbohydrates: 29 g
Fiber: 10 g
Protein: 12 g
Cholesterol: 52 mg

If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and hashtag #thegarlicdiaries!

In the mood for more yummy chicken recipes? Check these out:

Spicy Honey Butter Glazed Chicken Tenders

Blackened Chicken with Avocado Cream

Orange Chicken

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