This Nashville Hot Chicken recipe is the best online! The trick to making it the authentic Nashville way is to build a super crispy batter that holds up to the coating of the spicy hot glaze without getting soggy. Nailing the textures and spices are essential, and I will show you how to do it the right way.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
Nashville Hot Chicken Ingredient Tips
- Chicken: You can easily use boneless chicken pieces or choose your favorite type of chicken including, breasts, thighs, tenders, and more! Based on my testing, know that you may need to adjust the cooking time.
- Buttermilk: Swap in a DIY version by mixing 1 cup of milk with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice. Let it sit for about 5 minutes until it thickens slightly before using.
- Hot Sauce: Sriracha can work if you absolutely cannot find hot sauce but it won’t be authentic.
- Flour: You can also substitute with a good 1-to-1 gluten free option here.
- Cornstarch: This helps our chicken get crispier when it fries. You can also leave out.
- Seasoned Salt: Kosher salt also works but I would doctor it up so you don’t miss all the flavors.
- Cayenne Pepper: You can use as much or as little as you can stand.
- Brown Sugar: Granulated can also work or add molasses to granulated to make some homemade brown sugar.
How to Make Nashville Hot Chicken
Make the Breading Mixtures
Step 1: Whisk together the buttermilk and hot sauce in a small bowl.
Step 2: Mix the flour, cornstarch, seasoned salt, paprika, cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder until well combined.
Bread the Chicken
Step 3: Dip each piece of chicken into the seasoned flour.
Step 4: Transfer it to the buttermilk.
Step 5: Dip it the second time into the seasoned flour.
Step 6: Add each piece of chicken to a baking sheet to rest for 15-20 minutes to allow the coating time to set.
Fry the chicken
Step 7: Fry the chicken in 2 inches of oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Fry four pieces at a time on each side. After each side has turned slightly golden, put the top on the skillet to steam the inside of the chicken ensuring doneness. After a couple of minutes, remove the top and continue to fry until the crust is crispy again.
Step 8: Remove the chicken from the oil and place it on paper towels or a rack to drain. Transfer the drained chicken to a warm oven to keep it warm while you continue cooking the remaining pieces of chicken.
Glaze the Chicken in Nashville Hot Sauce
Step 9: Whisk together a cup of the frying oil you used to fry the chicken with the cayenne pepper, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, and smoked paprika.
Step 10: Whisk together a cup of the frying oil you used to fry the chicken with the cayenne pepper, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, and smoked paprika.
Want to Save This Recipe, Boo?
I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Nashville Hot Chicken
Want to Save This Recipe, Boo?
I’ll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Fried Chicken
- 2 cups buttermilk
- ⅓ cup hot sauce
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons seasoned salt
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 10 pieces chicken
- Vegetable oil for frying
For the Nashville Hot Mixture
- ⅓ cup cayenne pepper
- 1 ½ tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- White bread and sliced pickles for serving
Instructions
For the Fried Chicken
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together buttermilk and hot sauce and set aside.
- Next add flour, cornstarch, seasoned salt, paprika, cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to a paper bag and shake to mix well.
- Dip each piece of chicken into seasoned flour and then into buttermilk then back into seasoned flour thoroughly coating each piece. Then add each piece to baking sheet to rest.
- Finish coating all chicken and let sit for 15-20 minutes until coating has set.
- While coating sets, add 2 – 2 1/2 inches of oil to a cast iron skillet or heavy bottom skillet and heat over medium high heat. Also turn on oven to 275 degrees.
- This is my test for knowing when the oil is ready: Big Mama always tossed a tiny bit of flour in the oil and if it began to fry and sizzle, the oil was ready.
- Fry four pieces at a time on each side. Make sure you don’t overcrowd the pan.
- After each side has turned slightly golden, put the top on the skillet to steam the inside of the chicken ensuring doneness. After a couple of minutes, remove the top and continue to fry until the crust is crispy again and completely golden brown.
- Remove chicken from oil and place on paper towels or rack to drain. Once completely drained, place the fried chicken on a parchment paper covered baking sheet add to warmed oven while finishing the other chicken pieces.
- Fry the remaining chicken pieces and repeat steps of draining and adding to oven.
For the Hot Chicken Preparation
- Once you are done frying all chicken and it is in the oven, whisk together 1 cup of the frying oil you already used to fry the chicken, cayenne pepper, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder and smoked paprika until combined.
- Remove chicken from the oven and brush the hot mixture over all of the pieces of chicken.
- To serve, place hot chicken over white bread and serve with pickles on toothpicks.
Video
Notes
-
- Double Dredge! This chicken has a double dredge to ensure that the crust is insanely crunchy and crispy. It is one of the most important parts of making this recipe.
-
- Rest Your Chicken! Once you have breaded your chicken, allow it to sit for a bit. This allows the breading to stick to the chicken. Even better, stick the chicken in the refrigerator to let the coating stick well to the chicken.
-
- Don’t Fry Fridge-Cold Chicken. Don’t start breading your chicken straight from the fridge. Placing cold chicken in the fryer will drop the temperature of the oil and prevent the chicken from frying evenly. Let your chicken sit out at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Then you’re ready to go!
-
- Use Oil with A High Smoke Point: Using oil with a low smoke point will ultimately result in burnt chicken and the annoying sound of smoke alarms going off all over the house. Go for a neutral-tasting oil with a high smoke point, like canola, vegetable or peanut oil. Be sure to use a thermometer to maintain the temperature of the oil, 350 degrees is perfect.
-
- Make Sure Your Oil Is Ready! One of the best parts of Nashville Hot Chicken is the crispy exterior of the chicken. To ensure your chicken is fried crispy, it must start with hot oil. How do you know when the oil is hot enough? Dribble sprinkles of water or even flour in the oil, once it begins to dance, it is time to fry some chicken.
How to Store & Reheat Nashville Hot Chicken
Transfer cooled chicken to an airtight container. I like to add a few paper towels to the bottom of the container to soak up condensation so it won’t be too soggy. To reheat, bring to room temperature for 30 minutes then add to a 400° F oven on a lined baking sheet or add to your air fryer so it stays crispy.How long will hot chicken last in the fridge?
Leftover Nashville chicken will keep in the fridge for about 3-4 days when stored correctly.Can I freeze Nashville fried chicken?
Yep for sure boos. Add to a freezer bag for up to three months. Allow the chicken to thaw out in the fridge overnight and then reheat using the instructions above.Nutrition
Recipe Tips
- Double Dredge! This chicken has a double dredge to ensure that the crust is really crunchy and crispy.
- Rest Your Chicken! After breading your chicken, allow it to sit for a bit so it sticks to the chicken and doesn’t come off when frying.
- Don’t Fry Fridge-Cold Chicken. Don’t start breading your chicken straight from the fridge. Placing cold chicken in the fryer will drop the temperature of the oil making it soggy. Let your chicken sit out at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- Use Oil with A High Smoke Point: Go for a neutral-tasting oil with a high smoke point, like canola, vegetable, or peanut oil. Be sure to use a thermometer to maintain the temperature of the oil, 350 degrees is perfect.
What to Serve with Nashville Fried Chicken
- The OG Way: Serve the chicken on top of white bread with pickle slices. Really turn it up with fried pickles.
- Classic Southern Plate: Serve up this chicken with collard greens, velveeta mac and cheese, creamed corn and angel biscuits. And don’t forget the sweet peach tea.
Recipe Help
Your cooking oil is probably too hot so its burning on the outside and not cooking fast enough on th inside. Use a thermometer to test your oil to make sure it’s at 350 before adding that chicken to the skillet.
Your oil may not have been hot enough or you didn’t drain your properly. Be sure to check the temperature of your oil before adding the chicken with a thermometer or a sprinkle of flour — if it sizzles up the oil is ready. Also, don’t overcrowd the chicken in the pan. Too many pieces of chicken will cause the temperature of the oil to drop. And finally drain the chicken after it cooks on paper towels or a wire rack to keep it crisp.
Yep boos! This keeps the breading from sliding off. The extra time helps the breading adhere to the chicken so it stays put. Don’t be in a rush and skip this step!
More Fried Chicken Recipes
- Buttermilk Fried Chicken
- Chicken Fried Chicken
- Air Fryer Fried Chicken
- Oven Fried Chicken Tenders
- Southern Fried Chicken Biscuits
- Sweet Tea Fried Chicken
- Hot Honey Chicken
*Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating and leave comments below!* Post a photo of how your version of the recipe came out on Instagram (using #grandbabycakes)!!
pinterest 
facebook 
twitter 
email
About to make this! What hot sauce did you use?
I love a Louisiana style hot sauce.
This recipe looks amazing! My husband has been craving Prince’s, and I can’t wait to make this for him. I do have one question though: would this recipe work in an air fryer?
I have not tested it in the air fryer, so I am not sure. If you try it, you’ll have to let me in on how it turned out and how you ended up cooking it!
Do NOT use 1/3 cup of cayanne
You absolutely DO use this amount. You are only adding a little of that to each piece with a dip. This is Nashville Hot Chicken so you gotta turn up the heat.
I just stumbled across this recipe and made it today with chicken tenders and OMG, delicious!! Now I’m going to look and your other recipes to see what else I should try
So glad you liked it! You can’t go wrong with Hot Honey Chicken!
Cast iron skillets are only 2 inches deep…impossible to put 2-2.5 inches of oil in it without overflowing.
Otherwise, looking forward to trying this.
It depends on the size you use; 9in is under 2 inches, 12 inches has a depth of over 2 inches, and if you’ve got a 14 incher, you’re lookin’ at a depth of 5.5in.
I hope you enjoy it!!
You obviously don’t know much about iron skillets!! I’ve got several different sizes.
Hello,
Both of my cast iron skillets were handed down from my grandmother. Depending on how much I am cooking use both to fry chicken. The larger is 12 x 2.5, and the smaller is 8 x 3. The smaller has “Chicken Fryer” engraved on the bottom. Both get the job done. This recipe was excellent!
Love that!! Thank you so much!
When I think of Southern recipes, I always come to your site and once again I was not disappointed. This chicken was so crispy and juicy and had the perfect amount of heat! Definitely a labor of love, but so worth the effort!
OOH I could really go for a Hot Chicken sandwich. This looks delicious!
I’ve never had Nashville Hot Chicken but always wanted to try it. Thanks for sharing! I can’t wait to make this one.
Oh yum! This chicken looks absolutely incredible. I love all the tips to help make it perfect and especially all those spices.
Love the addition of buttermilk! Chicken turned out so juicy!