This page may contain affiliate links. So, I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link. Here is a post about Nashville Hot Chicken - a food that you ABSOLUTELY MUST TRY!
They say that a glass of milk helps to cool your mouth from spicy food. Well..get that glass of milk ready! It's time for some super spicy Nashville Hot Chicken! Totally delicious and totally fiery, this will hurt so good!!
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What is Nashville Hot Chicken?
Hot Chicken is a local speciality of Nashville, TN. It is a fried chicken, and as the name implies it is spicy. The chicken is typically marinaded, dredged in seasoned flour, fried, and then coated with a spicy sauce. Cayenne is the spice that is used to make it "hot" and it is typically served on a slice of white bread and topped with pickle chips pierced with a toothpick.
So who invented this delicious Hot Chicken? From Wikipedia: "It is generally accepted that the originator of hot chicken is the family of Andre Prince Jeffries, owner of Prince's Hot Chicken Shack. She has operated the restaurant since 1980; before that time, it was owned by her great-uncle, Thornton Prince III. Although impossible to verify, Jeffries says the development of hot chicken was an accident. Her great-uncle Thornton was purportedly a womanizer, and after a particularly late night out his girlfriend at the time cooked him a fried chicken breakfast with extra pepper as revenge. Instead, Thornton decided he liked it so much that, by the mid-1930s, he and his brothers had created their own recipe and opened the BBQ Chicken Shack café."
Prince's Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville
I was introduced to Nashville Hot Chicken when I visited Prince's Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville.
Our family LOVES HOT HOT food. So we were absolutely thrilled to see the menu!
My husband Steve opted for the XXXHOT version, and I went for XHOT. Long story short, Steve enjoyed eating his hot chicken (pouring sweat all the while), and I couldn't even finish mine it was so HOT!
Steve declared it just about the BEST food he has ever had, and told me that he would pick this for his last meal on earth if he had a choice in the matter!
Let's Make Some Nashville Hot Chicken!
As we're not able to hop over to Nashville anytime the Hot Chicken craving strikes, it makes sense that we need to be able to make this ourselves! Therefore, I'm super happy to share a most decent recipe for this great Nashvillian speciality, which you can customize to your level of tolerance for heat. If you follow my recipe, consider this a Medium to Hot. Simply adjust the amount of hot sauce and cayenne to suit you!
What Ingredients Do You Need To Make Nashville Hot Chicken?
Most of the ingredients you need for this dish you probably already have in your pantry! The list looks a bit lengthy, but most of the ingredients are common spices. So here's the full list of ingredients:
- Chicken (I used chicken breast but you could use thighs)
- Vegetable oil (for frying)
- Buttermilk (for marinading to help keep the chicken tender and moist)
- Tabasco sauce (or your favorite hot sauce)
- An egg
- Flour
- Butter and/or lard
- Salt
- Pepper
- Cayenne
- Paprika
- Garlic powder
- Brown Sugar
- White bread and dill pickle chips to serve
I'll bet you have most of this in your pantry ready to go! Now let's discuss the method...
The Method To Make Nashville Hot Chicken!
There are six main steps to making this dish. They are:
- Dry brining overnight
- Marinading
- Dredging in seasoned flour
- Frying the chicken
- Making the basting sauce
- Basting the chicken and serving
Seems like a lot but let me break this down into totally easy steps!
Dry Brining Overnight
This involves adding salt and pepper to a large plastic sealable bag, mixing, and then adding the chicken and mix together so that everything is combined. Refrigerate overnight. Super simple!
Marinading
The marinade is simply buttermilk, hot sauce, cayenne, and egg! Combine, then add the chicken to this mixture and marinate for around 4 hrs. Again super easy!
Dredging in Seasoned Flour
Add the spices from the Seasoned Flour For Dredging part of the recipe to flour, and then dredge the chicken twice. Full details in the recipe below. After double dredging we let the coating set and get the oil hot and ready for frying!
Frying the Chicken
Fry the chicken, and then drain on paper towels. Keep warm while making the basting sauce!
Making The Basting Sauce
Combine the butter and/or lard and spices, and stir to make the most AMAZING hot and spicy basting sauce EVER!
Baste The Chicken and Serve!
Baste and baste again liberally! Serve over a slice or two of white bread, and top with dill pickle chips skewered with a toothpick! Perhaps have a glass of milk ready just in case you added too much cayenne!
Enjoy this incredible taste of Nashville in your own home! And when in Nashville, be sure to visit Prince's Hot Chicken Shack for the ULTIMATE in Nashville Hot Chicken!
Some Other Recipes You May Enjoy!
Perfect Baby Back Pork Ribs From The Oven
How To Make Delicious Home Made Tater Tots!
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Cheers!
Grace
Absolutely MUST TRY Nashville HOT Chicken!
Equipment
- Deep Fat Fryer
Ingredients
- 2.5 lb chicken breasts the breasts I used were on the thick side
- vegetable oil as much as is needed for frying in your deep fat fryer
Dry Brine (overnight)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 ts pepper
Marinade
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 ts Tabasco I used Tabasco Scorpion Sauce; feel free to use your hot sauce of choice!
- 2 tbsp cayenne
- 1 egg
Seasoned Flour For Dredging
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon cayenne
- 1 ts paprika
- 1 ts salt
- 1 ts garlic powder
- 1 ts pepper
Basting Sauce
- ½ cup butter (and/or lard) melted; you could also sub ¼ cup of lard for ¼ cup butter (so half will be butter and half will be lard)
- 4 tablespoon cayenne using 4 tablespoon will be HOT! So please adjust up or down according to your tolerance for HOT foods
- 2 ts garlic powder
- 2 ts salt
- 2 ts pepper
- 2 ts paprika
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
Accompaniments
- white bread one or two slices per person
- few dill pickle chips 2-4 per person
Instructions
Dry Brine Overnight
- Dry brine the chicken overnight. Add salt and pepper to a large plastic sealable bag, mix, then add the chicken and mix together so that everything is combined. Refrigerate overnight.
Marinade
- Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
- Add the marinade to the dry brined chicken which is in the large plastic resealable bag. Make sure everything is combined well then reseal the bag and allow to marinate for around 4 hrs in your refrigerator.
Dredging In Seasoned Flour
- Combine all of the ingredients for the seasoned flour in a large resealable plastic bag. The ingredients are: flour, cayenne, paprika, salt, garlic powder, and pepper.
- Pour off the marinade from the chicken and place in a large shallow bowl. Pick up each piece of chicken, and allow as much marinade as possible to drip off the chicken into this bowl. Working with one piece at a time, place each piece in the seasoned flour mixture in the plastic bag, and work to coat each piece with the seasoned flour.
- Now we will dredge it once again. Add each piece back into the marinade then allow as much marinade to drip off as possible. Coat each piece once more in the seasoned flour. Once all the chicken has been coated and dredged twice, allow to rest for around 15 minutes.
Frying The Chicken
- While the chicken is resting, heat up your deep fat fryer to around 350F. If you are shallow frying heat oil to medium high. Deep fry the chicken for around 15-17 minutes or so. This is for large and thick pieces of chicken. If your chicken is smaller and thinner, please adjust the time. The interior of the chicken should be around 160F if you insert a thermometer. Drain on paper towels. Keep warm in the oven while you make the basting sauce.
Making the Basting Sauce
- Melt the butter (and lard) if using in a small saucepan on low heat. Add all the spices (cayenne, garlic powder, salt, pepper, paprika) and sugar and stir to combine. Please note: at this point you can reduce or increase the amount of cayenne according to your level of tolerance for spicy foods!)
Baste the Chicken and Serve!
- Remove the chicken from the oven. Using a baster, baste the top and bottom of the chicken liberally. To serve, place a piece (or pieces) of chicken on stop of a slice of white bread, and then secure some dill pickle chips on top with a toothpick, Nashville style! Enjoy!!! Have that glass of milk handy! 😉
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