I was watching an old Food Network show the other day. Bobby Flay was visiting this great little place in Nashville, Tennessee, that was famous for Nashville-style fried chicken. I drooled through the entire episode. The fried chicken looked fantastic. Done right, in cast iron over gas and made it Nashville-style by adding a bunch of cayenne pepper. You just knew it was good (and perhaps painful for some). I decided to take the same approach to a sandwich and make a fried chicken breast sandwich.
Make It Hot
I fried up a couple of coated chicken breasts. By themselves they were absolutely outstanding. Crunchy outside, moist and flavorful inside. I made one Nashville-style and realized I had made the perfect fried chicken breast sandwich. Seriously kicked up chicken on a bun with cooling lettuce, tomato and mayo.
If I’m cooking for a crowd, I’ll break out my big deep fryer. But, if it’s just the two of us, I’ll fire up my Fry Daddy fryer. It’s the perfect size for both of us. It fries everything perfectly. And as an added bonus, it doesn’t use a lot of oil, which saves me money.
I get out my big deep fryer when it’s time to fry a large batch of food. It comes to temperature quickly and it maintains that temperature perfectly. It has a built-in oil filter and storage unit so I can re-use the oil several times.
Can’t take the heat? Tone it down or just make it ‘normal’, but you won’t be disappointed either way.
Also try my fried chicken salad sandwiches.
Fried Chicken Breast Sandwich
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts boneless skinless, halved horizontally
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt plus 4 teaspoons
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons hot sauce
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- vegetable oil for frying
To make it Nashville-Style Hot
- 6 tablespoons cayenne pepper or less, depends on how hot you want it
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
For the sandwiches
- 8 buns
- mayonnaise
- tomato sliced then
- green leaf lettuce
- dill pickle chips
Instructions
- Toss the chicken breasts with black pepper and 2 tablespoons of the salt. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours.
- Whisk the eggs, buttermilk, and hot sauce together in a large bowl.
- Whisk the flour and remaining 4 teaspoons of salt in another large bowl.
- Heat 2″ of oil to 325 F in a deep fryer or Dutch oven.
- Working in batches, dredge chicken in flour.
- Shake off excess then dip into the buttermilk mixture.
- Shake off excess then dip again into the flour mixture.
- Shake off excess then fry until golden brown on both sides, 10-12 minutes.
- Transfer to a rack or paper towel-lined plate to cool.
To make it Nashville-Style Hot
- Whisk cayenne, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, and paprika in a medium bowl.
- Carefully whisk in 1 cup of the deep fryer oil.
- Brush mixture onto both sides of the cooked chicken breasts.
For the sandwiches
- Slather buns with mayo. Add tomatoes, chicken, lettuce, and pickles.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate.