This Nashville Hot Chicken is tender on the inside and crunchy on the outside with a slightly spicy sauce drizzled on top, served on white bread with pickle slices!
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.
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°.
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 of the oil you just fried the chicken in.
Brush fried chicken with prepared sauce (or our it over the chicken).
Serve chicken on sliced white bread and pickle slices.
Video
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.