Nashville Hot Chicken Recipe - How to Make Nashville Hot Chicken
Nashville Hot Chicken is a spicy fried chicken recipe that is a specialty in Nashville, Tennessee, in the United States of America. This hot chicken is also called Prince's chicken or Nashville-style chicken. The Nashville hot chicken recipe can be made with chicken breast, thigh, or wings. When made as a sandwich, it is usually made with boneless chicken breast. The signature of this chicken recipe is the use of cayenne pepper for making the Nashville Hot Sauce that is rubbed on the chicken after being fried. The chicken is first marinated with a seasoning blend and then coated in a seasoned flour mixture before frying until it is brown in color. There is a technique applied in frying the Nashville hot chicken to ensure the heat penetrates the chicken and cooks it very well. If you are a lover of spicy foods, then the Nashville Hot Chicken recipe will be added to your favorite recipes.
Servings 6 people
Calories 220kcal
Ingredients
- 4 pieces of chicken thighs - you can use chicken wings as well.
- 2 pieces boneless chicken breasts
- 3 cups olive oil - for frying the chicken.
Ingredients for Chicken Marinade
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 whole egg
- 1 tbsp hot sauce
Ingredients for coating the chicken (breading mixture)
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ tbsp salt
- 1½ tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp paprika powder
- 2 tbsp cayenne pepper powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- ½ tbsp garlic powder
Ingredients for Nashville hot sauce
- 6 tbsp cayenne pepper - the main ingredient for this chicken recipe.
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup lard - or any fat.
- ⅓ cup hot sauce
- 1 tsp smoked paprika powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1½ tbsp dark brown sugar
- ½ tsp garlic powder
Instructions
Marinating the chicken
- In a large mixing bowl, add the buttermilk, 1 egg, and 1 tbsp of hot sauce. Stir to combine.
- Bring the chicken parts into the bowl containing the buttermilk and marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- After 2 hours or overnight, remove the chicken and begin coating it in a flour mixture.
Coating the chicken in a flour mixture
- In another bowl, add 3 tbsp of cornstarch, 1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour, 1 ½ tbsp of salt, 1 ½ tbsp of black pepper powder, 1 tbsp of paprika powder, 2 tbsp of cayenne pepper powder, 1 tbsp of onion powder, and ½ tsp of garlic powder. Stir all the mixture together.
- Double-coat the marinated chicken in the flour mixture. Do this by first coating the chicken in the flour mixture, then bring it back into the liquid marinade to wet it the second time, and then coat again in the flour mixture. This way, the flour tends to stick more to the chicken when coated twice. After coating the chicken, place it in a dish. This process of breading the chicken makes it crispy. Repeat this for all the chicken pieces.
Frying the coated chicken
- Place a pan on the stovetop and add about 3 cups of olive oil or any cooking oil, enough to fry the chicken.
- Bring the chicken parts into the oil and fry for about 5 minutes on each side and then cover the pan and allow the chicken to be heated for 15 minutes. Covering the chicken while making Nashville Hot chicken prevents the chicken from burning and allows the heat to properly cook the chicken. 7 minutes into the cooking time, you can uncover and turn the chicken to the other side and then cover it again and cook further for 8 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, remove the cover of the skillet and allow the chicken to fry until it is golden brown on both sides (ensure to turn the other side to fry as well.)
- Remove the chicken from the oil when brown and drain it on a paper towel.
- Line the fried chicken pieces on a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper and transfer it to a preheated oven of about 275 degrees Celsius; keep the chicken in it to keep it warm. Please note: you are not baking the chicken but rather keeping it warm while making the Nashville hot sauce. This means that once the oven is heated, turn off the heat, transfer the chicken, and then close the oven.
Making Nashville Hot Sauce
- In a bowl that can withstand heat, combine 6 tbsp of cayenne pepper, ⅓ cup of hot sauce, 1 tsp of smoked paprika powder, 1 tsp of chili powder, 1½ tbsp of dark brown sugar, and ½ tsp of garlic powder. Stir to combine.
- Melt ½ cup of butter and ½ cup of lard (or you can use oil if you don't like the lard.) Heat fats and allow them to melt completely and then pour into the bowl containing the spices and seasonings for the Nashville hot sauce.
- Stir everything to combine and your Sauce for Nashville Hot Chicken is ready
- Remove the fried chicken from the warm oven.
- Now, dip a pastry brush into the Nashville hot sauce and brush it over the surface of the fried chicken; ensure the hot chicken sauce is completely covered on the chicken. Do this for all the chicken parts.
- And your homemade Nashville Hot chicken is ready! you can serve it with pickled cucumbers and some slices of bread.
Video
Notes
Nashville hot chicken is can be served in between bread slices as a sandwich; in this case, the chicken must be boneless.
For the lard, it can be replaced with oil.