Nashville Hot Chicken
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The most perfect crisp, crunchy, saucy fried chicken. Served with a buttery hot sauce, biscuits + dill pickle chips!
What exactly is Nashville hot chicken?
It’s pretty much how it sounds – heat-packed, crisp-fried chicken from Nashville, Tennessee that you can now make right at home with a buttermilk marinade, a very thorough flour coating for optimal crispness, and a buttery-hot-sauce Nashville finish.
For a milder touch, you can cut down on the cayenne pepper to taste. And you can absolutely use your favorite kind of hot sauce here depending on your preferences/flavor profile.
When serving, these biscuits are a great option to soak up all that saucy goodness with a side of cold dill pickle chips.
Nashville Hot Chicken
Ingredients
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 4 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 4 cups self-rising flour
- 8 cups canola oil
for the butter mixture
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ cup hot sauce
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- BUTTERMILK MIXTURE: In a large bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup warm water, 5 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Whisk in buttermilk and eggs.
- In a gallon size Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine chicken and BUTTERMILK MIXTURE; marinate for at least 8 hours to 1 day, turning the bag occasionally. Drain the chicken from the marinade.
- Working one at a time, dredge chicken in flour until evenly coated. Return chicken to the flour, gently tossing; let stand 15 minutes. Gently toss again until evenly coated. Remove and shake to remove excess flour.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Heat canola oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat until it registers 350 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer.
- Working in batches, add chicken, skin-side down, and fry until golden brown, flipping once, about 4-5 minutes per side. Transfer to a baking sheet fitted with a wire rack.
- Place into oven and bake until chicken has completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 175 degrees F, about 10-15 minutes. Brush with butter mixture.
- Serve immediately with biscuits and dill pickle chips, if desired.
for the butter mixture
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, hot sauce and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
Did you make this recipe?
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Can you make this with tenders instead of thighs? Looks delicious!
I’m surprised there aren’t more comments on this recipe! This chicken is my go-to fried chicken recipe now. It’s fantastic with the sauce (for my husband), but also perfectly delicious without it (for me). Thanks for another great recipe! I don’t buy self rising flour, just add baking powder to AP flour.
Can you use a flour alternative like oat if you want to make it gluten free?
Oh my, this fried chicken! Sounds absolutely delicious. It sounds like it may be a little too spicy for my palate though. I may have to tone it down some. Other than that, those biscuits sound perfect to go with it (yum).
Thanks for the recipe, I love Nashville Hot Chicken!