After travelling to Nashville and learning from the best, here is my recipe for Nashville hot chicken so you can make it at home.
Category
Lunch
Servings
4-6
Prep time
20 minutes
Cook time
40 minutes
After travelling to Nashville and learning from the best, here is my recipe for Nashville hot chicken so you can make it at home.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, cut into 2 halves (or 1kg tenders, or both)
- around 30g (1.05 oz) salt in total
- ground black pepper, around 12g (0.42 oz) total
- garlic powder, around 6g (0.21 oz) total
- cayenne pepper, around 20g (0.70 oz) total (more if you want it spicier)
- brown sugar, around 12g (0.42 oz) in total
- 600ml (20 fl oz) buttermilk
- 40ml (1.4 fl oz) hot sauce (vinegar-based like Tabasco)
- 2 eggs
- 200g (7 oz) lard (or beef tallow or rendered bacon fat)
- 180g (6.3 oz) flour
- 3L (101 fl oz) peanut oil for frying
- sliced white bread, pickles, and fries to serve
Directions
Buttermilk marinade spice mix
Mix 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground black pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder and 1 tsp cayenne pepper.
Flour spice mix
Mix 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder and 1 tsp cayenne pepper.
Spicy oil mix
Mix 8 tsp cayenne pepper, 3 tsp brown sugar, 3 tsp ground black pepper and 3 tsp smoked paprika.
Hot chicken
Start by marinating the chicken. In a large bowl, mix together the buttermilk, hot sauce, 200ml water, eggs, and the buttermilk marinade spice list. Then add your chicken and refrigerate for 12-24 hours.
- For the coating, mix together the flour and the flour spice list. Remove the marinated chicken from the buttermilk, coat well in the seasoned flour, and leave for 20 minutes to hydrate and get as much flour stuck to the chicken as possible.
To cook the chicken halves, preheat your oil to 140°C (284°F). Cook in small batches to avoid overcrowding. Cook each half for 16 minutes, then remove and place onto a wire rack to cool for 20-30 minutes.
- For the spicy oil, heat the lard in a small pot to 160°C (320°F). Place the spicy oil spice list in a heatproof bowl. Carefully pour the hot lard over the spices, stir well, and keep nearby for when your chicken comes out of the fryer.
Increase the oil temperature to 165°C (329°F) and continue to cook your chicken halves for 6-7 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oil, place onto a wire rack, and immediately brush liberally with the spicy oil.
If cooking tenders, cook them at 165°C (329°F) for 6-7 minutes, then follow the same procedure as with the chicken halves.
- Serve the spicy fried chicken on sliced white bread with pickles on top and fries on the side.
- Enjoy!
Recipe video
Recipe notes
You need to start the marinade the day before as you should marinate the chicken for 12-24 hours before cooking.
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Jacob
3 January 2025