This Nashville Hot Chicken is tender on the inside and crunchy on the outside with a slightly spicy sauce drizzled on top, served on bread.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Sutter Home Family Vineyards. The opinions and text are my own.
NASHVILLE HOT CHICKEN RECIPE
Hot chicken is a southern favorite. It was made famous in Nashville and now many of us are familiar with this special chicken recipe. This crispy fried chicken is covered with a deliciously spicy sauce and is absolutely scrumptious. And of course, no Nashville Hot Chicken is complete without a couple slices of pickles and a piece of white bread. It really tasted amazing with a sweet, cool glass of Sutter Home Moscato. 
TIPS FOR MAKING NASHVILLE HOT CHICKEN:
- You can use any cut of chicken you prefer. Bone-in chicken thighs are a great, cheaper alternative.
- Also, feel free to add more cayenne pepper to make it even hotter. I am a total wimp when it comes to spice so I am only using a tablespoon of cayenne pepper in my hot sauce. If you go to the famous Hattie B's restaurant in Nashville, they use about 6 tablespoons of cayenne pepper just in their medium sauce! So my advice is to start with a little and add more until you get it to your preferred level of heat.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
for the chicken:
boneless, skinless chicken breasts
all-purpose flour, divided use
salt
pepper
blackened seasoning
buttermilk or whole milk
eggs
Frank's Red Hot sauce
peanut oil, for frying
for the Nashville Hot sauce:
peanut oil
cayenne pepper
dark brown sugar
chili powder
garlic powder
paprika
White bread and sliced pickles (for serving)
Pair with a sweet, chilled wine like Sutter Home Moscato
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST NASHVILLE HOT CHICKEN:
Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Set aside. Make the chicken coating: You'll need three wide, shallow bowls. In one shallow bowl, pour in one cup all-purpose flour and mix it with salt and pepper. In a second shallow bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and hot sauce. In a third shallow bowl, whisk together the other cup of all-purpose flour and blackened seasoning.
Start coating the chicken: Take one piece of dried chicken and place into first bowl of flour (that is seasoned with salt and pepper.) Shake off excess, then dip it into buttermilk mixture, letting excess drip back into bowl. Finally, dredge again into the final flour bowl (that is seasoned with the blackened seasoning.)
Place prepared chicken on a baking sheet. Continue with the rest of the chicken breasts.
Heat up the oil: Using a heavy-bottomed pot or large cast iron skillet, pour in oil so it comes up about 3-4 inches inside the pot. Heat over medium-high heat until a heat-safe thermometer registers 325°.
Fry the chicken: Working in batches, fry 2-3 pieces of chicken at a time, turning occasionally.
The chicken coating should be deep golden brown and crisp and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of pieces registers 160° for white meat and 165° for dark (about 15-18 minutes.)
Transfer cooked chicken to a clean wire rack set inside a baking sheet.
Prepare the Nashville Hot Sauce: Whisk together cayenne, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, and paprika in a medium bowl; carefully whisk in 1 cup frying oil. Cook's Notes: I usually just use the oil that I fried the chicken in after it has cooled slightly. Or you can use fresh oil. I like the added flavor the used oil gives the sauce.
Brush fried chicken with spicy oil or drizzle it on top.
Serve with sliced white bread and pickles.
And, of course, serve with a glass with of cold, sweet Sutter Home Moscato.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES? GIVE THESE A TRY!
THE BEST SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN
MY FAMOUS BUFFALO CHICKEN WINGS
CROCK POT PINEAPPLE BBQ CHICKEN WINGS
CROCK POT BUFFALO CHICKEN SLIDERS
NASHVILLE HOT CHICKEN
Ingredients
for the chicken:
- 4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (divided use)
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp blackened seasoning
- 1 cup buttermilk or whole milk
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp Frank's Red Hot sauce
- 8-10 cups peanut oil (for frying)
for the Nashville Hot Sauce
- 1 cup peanut oil
- 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- white bread and sliced pickles for serving
Instructions
- Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Set aside.
- Make the chicken coating. You'll need three wide, shallow bowls. In one shallow bowl, pour in one cup all-purpose flour and mix it with salt and pepper.
- In a second shallow bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and hot sauce.
- In the third shallow bowl, whisk together the other cup of all-purpose flour and blackened seasoning.
- Start coating the chicken: Take one piece of patted-dry chicken and place into first bowl of flour (that is seasoned with salt and pepper.) Shake off excess
- Then dip chicken into buttermilk mixture, letting excess drip back into bowl.
- Finally, dredge chicken piece again into the final flour bowl (that is seasoned with the blackened seasoning.) Place prepared chicken on a baking sheet. Continue with the rest of the chicken breasts.
- Heat up the oil: Using a heavy-bottomed pot or large cast iron skillet, pour in oil so it comes up about 3-4 inches inside the pot.
- Heat oil over medium-high heat until a heat-safe thermometer registers 325°.
- Fry the chicken: Working in batches, fry 2-3 pieces of chicken at a time, turning occasionally.
- Fry until it is deep golden brown and crisp and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of pieces registers 160° for white meat and 165° for dark (about 15-18 minutes.)
- Transfer cooked chicken to a clean wire rack set inside a baking sheet.
- Prepare the Nashville Hot Sauce: Whisk together cayenne, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, and paprika in a medium bowl; carefully whisk in 1 cup frying oil. Brush fried chicken with spicy oil.
- Cook's Notes: I usually just use the oil that I fried the chicken in after it has cooled slightly.
- Serve chicken on sliced white bread and pickle slices.
Notes
- You can use any cut of chicken you prefer. Bone-in chicken thighs are a great, cheaper alternative.
- Also, feel free to add more cayenne pepper to make it even hotter. I am a total wimp when it comes to spice so I am only using a tablespoon of cayenne pepper in my hot sauce. If you go to the famous Hattie B's restaurant in Nashville, they use about 6 tablespoons of cayenne pepper just in their medium sauce! So my advice is to start with a little and add more until you get it to your preferred level of heat.
Nutrition
That looks fantastic and altho I am not a fan of sweet wines, in general, I agree that serving them with a spicy dish is great! I printed this out and I'm all ready to fry!
Hope you love it Gina! I love sweet wines but I didn't find this over-the-top sweet. It was just enough to balance out the spiciness of the chicken. 🙂
Where do I find the Blackened seasoning ???
Hey Donald! Zatarain's makes a brand of blackened seasoning but there are other brands out there too. But it would be located in the spice section of your grocery store (near the steak and chicken seasonings.) Hope that helps!!
Definitely going to make! Love your recipes, Brandie!!
So sweet! Thanks so much Pansy!
Loved this chicken! Made my own blackened seasoning since I didn’t have any on hand, but other than that, followed this recipe exactly. We decided we wanted the chicken spicier, so we probably tripled the cayenne pepper after taste testing the first piece. It was a hit with the family! Spicy, crispy crust, tender and juicy in the middle- yum! Bonus: used the remaining flour/egg wash and fried some hamburger dill slices. Delicious fried pickles!
If you add some cornstarch to the dredge you'll get a super crunchy skin.
I tried it and it was a hit . Thanks for this amazing recipe
I did a double-take both at the hot chicken and at the mention of the moscato wine. Winner!
I've got a recipe that was originally for salmon poached in champagne (sounds a lot more fancy and complicated than it is -- just some sprigs of fresh tarragon, a cut-up onion, some capers and a twist of lemon juice, plus a bottle of champagne/sparkling wine to cook it in) that I've re-adapted to use a moscato asti. Adds a lovely and slightly sweet flavor that complements the salmon beautifully.
Because of that, I've been on the lookout for other salmon recipes that use white wine so I could try using moscato instead. I'm not sure about white fish or catfish, but two thumbs up for pairing moscato with salmon -- both for cooking and drinking (although tbh, we prefer the sparkling asti moscato with fish.)
IDK if you're looking for other ways to use moscato, but if you run across any with salmon you want to try to adapt, I'd be thrilled and tickled pink and happy to try it!