Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich

You’re going to love my Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich. The tender, juicy chicken breast, wrapped in a crunchy coating and brushed with the Nashville hot sauce, is legendary and not to be missed.

The star of the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich recipe is definitely the crispy chicken cutlet. Marinated in a spicy buttermilk mixture, it’s breaded and then deep-fried to a golden brown, crispy perfection. The chicken isn’t merely ‘hot’; it’s a culinary experience.

The Nashville hot chicken sandwich originated at Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville, Tennessee, and has since grown to be one of the most popular sandwiches in the state.

Making this sandwich may seem daunting, but It’s more than just a sandwich; it’s a taste of Nashville’s fiery soul.

Ingredients to make Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich

Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make my Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich recipe. In Chef Speak, this is called the “Mise en Place,” which translates to “Everything in its Place.”

Not only does setting up your ingredients ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.

I used chicken breasts to make the sandwich, but you can also use boneless skinless chicken thighs to make this traditional Nashville fried chicken sandwich.

How to make Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich

• Cut the boneless chicken breasts into 5-6 ounce cutlets.

• Pound the chicken breasts lightly. Just enough to have a uniform thickness.
• Combine buttermilk, egg, and hot sauce in a shallow bowl.
• Whisk the ingredients until fully combined.
• Place the chicken cutlets into the bowl with the buttermilk mixture. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the chicken for 2-4 hours.

Add the flour to another bowl and mix in the black pepper and salt. Whisk to combine. Set aside until needed.

• Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and let it sit in the buttermilk brine for 10 minutes to come to room temperature before breading.
• Remove the chicken from the buttermilk mixture and dredge the chicken breast in the flour mixture, shaking off any excess flour.
• Dip the piece of chicken back into the buttermilk mixture. Letting excess buttermilk drip off.
• Dredge the buttermilk-dipped chicken breast back into the dry flour mixture for the second coating of flour. Make sure to get a good coating of flour on the chicken.

Continue the process until all the chicken has been breaded.

• Melt the butter in a small saucepan.
• Add the cayenne, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, brown sugar, and honey to the saucepan. Adjust the amount of cayenne pepper to suit your preference of heat levels.
• Whisk the ingredients to combine and heat the hot sauce mixture over medium heat for one minute or until the brown sugar has somewhat dissolved.
• Add two inches of cooking oil to a deep skillet or Dutch oven over high heat. Heat the oil until it has reached 350 degrees F. Then add the breaded chicken breasts to the hot oil, deep frying the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side. Cook the chicken breasts until golden brown and crispy and until the internal temperature is at least 165°F.

*Cook in two batches if the pan is not big enough for all four. I prefer using vegetable oil to fry the chicken, but you can also use canola oil or peanut oil.

• Remove the cooked chicken cutlets from the pan and place them on a wire rack (or paper towels) to drain.
• Add two tablespoons of hot cooking oil from frying the chicken to the Nashville hot sauce mixture.
• Whisk the oil in until the mixture is smooth.
• Brush the fried chicken with the Nashville hot sauce or dip it into the spicy sauce.

• Butter and toast the brioche buns. Then spread one tablespoon of mayonnaise on the bottom of the toasted brioche buns.
• Place the pickle chips on top of the mayonnaise.
• Place the coated fried chicken on top of the pickles.
• Add shredded lettuce (or creamy cole slaw) on top of the chicken. Top with the bun and serve.

Although you won’t see it included in many Recipes, I like to add a slice of American cheese to the sandwich.

Serve the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwiches with a small tossed salad, potato chips, cole slaw, or your favorite sides. For a real Southern experience, serve the sandwich with potato salad or macaroni salad.

How to air fry Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich

• Preheat the air fryer to 380 degrees F. For the best results, make sure to preheat the air fryer for at least 5 minutes, it makes a big difference in crisping up the chicken.
• Add the chicken to the preheated air fryer basket. Depending on the size of your air fryer basket, you may have to cook the chicken in batches.
• Spray the top of the breaded chicken with cooking spray to coat the breading.
• Air fry the chicken for 7-9 minutes. Then flip the chicken and spray the the flipped side with cooking spray.
• Continue to air fry the chicken for an additional 7-9 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer reads at least 165 degrees F.
• When fully cooked remove the chicken and let cool on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Make sure to let the chicken cool for the full 5 minutes, otherwise when you apply the Nashville hot sauce, the sandwich will be soggy.

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