Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich
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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.
When we lived in California, there was this Nashville hot chicken sandwich spot across the street from our apartment. The first time I tried it, my mouth was on fire – and I think I got their mildest version. Alex, of course, got the extra spicy one and loved every second of it.
This still holds true today. The first time we made this chicken ourselves, I used a thick layer of sauce, not really thinking about just how hot it would be. I could barely get through dinner (even though the flavor was amazing) and Alex went back for seconds. So when we made these sandwiches last week, I was a little more cautious and brushed on a thin, single layer of sauce, and it was perfect for me – just the right amount of heat, but not so much that I couldn’t finish my meal! No surprise, Alex thought it could have used a second layer of sauce.
Suffice it to say that these Nashville hot chicken sandwiches are absolutely fire. They’re crispy, they’re juicy, and the pickled slaw on top provides just the right amount of crunch and acid for balance. You can use as much or as little hot sauce as you’d like to cater the heat levels to your palate. But just be warned – there’s no escaping the heat when it comes to Nashville hot chicken!
What This Recipe Entails
To make a Nashville hot chicken sandwich, you’ll need to marinate the chicken, dredge it, and fry it. We also like to add a quick pickled slaw on our sandwiches, which you can prep ahead of time in just a few minutes.
- Prep time: 40 minutes – 10 minutes before marinating, plus 30 minutes for dredging and resting
- Marinating time: 1 hour
- Cook time: 8 to 10 minutes
Ingredients
- Marinated chicken – You’ll need buttermilk, egg, hot sauce, and pickle brine to make a flavorful marinade for the chicken breast. We like to use Frank’s Red Hot for classic cayenne pepper flavor.
- Dredge – Flour and salt make up the dry component of the dredge, which creates the crispy coating on the outside of the chicken when you fry it.
- Hot sauce – This is what gives Nashville hot chicken its signature fiery flavor! We make our sauce with cayenne pepper, light brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, white pepper, and some of the oil from frying the chicken.
- Pickled slaw – We like to make a quick pickle of sliced cucumber, carrots, and red cabbage with white vinegar, water, and salt. The tangy flavor and crunch pairs so well with the crispy chicken! We recommend buying pre-shredded carrots and cabbage at the grocery store to save yourself some time.
- Potato buns – Nashville hot chicken is traditionally served with white bread, so we chose potato buns for this sandwich. A soft roll gives a nice contrast to the crispy chicken.
How To Make Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwiches
This chicken needs about an hour to marinate, and you’ll want this time for the slaw to pickle too. Make sure to start cooking early enough to account for this!
- 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.
- Dredge the chicken – Set up your dredging station. Add flour and salt to a shallow container and whisk to combine, and set up a wire rack. Remove the chicken from the marinade, pat it dry (really well), and coat in flour, pressing firmly to coat entirely. Shake off the extra flour, submerge the chicken back in the marinade, and then flour again. Place the double dredged chicken on the wire rack to rest for 15 to 20 minutes as this will help the coating set.
- Frying the chicken – 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.
- Make the sauce – While the chicken is frying, mix together the dry seasonings 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. Stir well to combine.
- Sauce the chicken – 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.
- Assemble the sandwich – Finally, make your sandwich. Place a chicken patty onto the bottom of the roll, top with a handful of slaw, and serve!
Equipment Spotlight: Instant Read Thermometer
We use our digital thermometer every time we cook meat. It’s the best way to know if we’ve cooked something to the proper temperature. And for fried chicken, it’s also a handy way to keep an eye on the temperature of the frying oil!
Serving, Storing, and Reheating
Serving suggestion: Enjoy a decadent comfort food dinner by pairing your Nashville hot chicken sandwiches with french fries or onion rings. 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 this chicken 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!
Expert Tips
FAQs
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Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich
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
Nutrition
If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.
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