Nashville Hot Chicken Tenders Recipe

What is Nashville Hot Chicken?
Why I Love This Recipe
Ingredient Notes and Shopping Tips
How to Make Nashville Hot Chicken
Tips For Success
Leftovers
Serve With

Ultra crispy fried chicken smothered in a buttery hot sauce. This KFC copycat recipe takes finger-licking good chicken to the next level! Serve with mashed potatoes, or mac and cheese for the perfect meal.

a chicken drumstick with Nashville hot sauce on a wooden platter.

Nashville is known as the country music capital of the world. But that's not all!. Nashville hot chicken is taking the country by storm. If you go there, you'll be hard-pressed to find a restaurant that doesn't have its own version of this spicy dish.

Origin: Andre Prince Jeffries owner of Prince's Hot Chicken Shack is widely credited with inventing the dish.

There is a reason this chicken is sweeping across the country like wildfire; because it has a unique flavor. KFC seems to keep teasing us with Limited Edition releases so I decided to make a DIY version. If you want a taste of the south just make this recipe and you'll be transported to middle Tennessee with the very first bite. guarantee it.

Get your taste buds ready, this recipe is popping! Serve with white bread and pickles for a traditional Southern dish.

Save this recipe as this sauce is also great on shrimp, crab, and fried pickles!

A fun twist: We also love is making it into a sandwich to use up leftovers (If you have any!).

What is Nashville Hot Chicken?

You may be asking yourself what the heck is this, and why is it so special?

This dish is typically made with a spicy breading and then topped with a buttery hot sauce on top. The decedent sauce is what differentiates it from your typical buffalo chicken that is coated in just hot sauce.

If you want to do it like they do in Nashville, then it would be dunked, into a container of hot sauce. The chicken is often served on top of one to two pieces of white bread and pickles to balance out this heat. This also allows the bread to soak up all the tasty saucy goodness. -praise hands emoji-

Why I Love This Recipe

Tender Chicken: The buttermilk marinade (naturally acidic) breaks down the muscle fibers and leads to juicy tender chicken every time.
Crispy: The double flour dredge makes the coating super crunchy.
Layers of Flavor: We season every layer (marinade, buttermilk, and flour) to ensure flavor in every bite.

Chicken: Look for mixed chicken pieces in your grocery's meat section. Or use your favorite piece for your own customized bucket of chicken!
Hot Sauce: I used Frank's Red Hot, but feel free to use your favorite.
Buttermilk: This leads to super tender chicken. If you don't have buttermilk make your own with 1 tablespoon of vinegar (or lemon juice) per 1 cup of milk.
Oil: Always fry with a neutral oil with a high smoke point. I used vegetable oil. Canola oil, peanut oil, or even lard could also be used.

a chicken breast and a wing drizzled with nashville hot sauce with mashed potatoes in the background.

How to Make Nashville Hot Chicken

Make the spice rub: Combine all spices.
Make the Marinade: Combine buttermilk, bay leaves, and some of the spice mixture. Coat chicken and soak for at least 3 hours.
Set up a breading station: Lay out buttermilk mixture, and flour mixture in separate shallow dishes. Be sure to shake off excess flour so you don't transfer it to your wet mixture.
Bread Chicken: Dip in flour, buttermilk, and then flour again.
Fry: Fry for 7 minutes per side.
Make the Hot Sauce: Combine all ingredients except the butter. Whisk in butter just before serving, and then drizzle over chicken.

Tips For Success

Use room temperature chicken: Allow raw chicken to sit out for 20-30 minutes. This leads to even cooking, and super crispy skin.
Rest chicken: Allow breaded chicken to rest before frying as well. I like to bread chicken, and then heat the oil up while it rests.
Don't overcrowd your pot, or your chicken won't get crispy. Limit yourself to 3-4 pieces at a time max.
Drop away from you: Always add chicken into the pot away from yourself to avoid any potential oil splashback.
Use Thermometers: Ensure your oil remains at the right temp by using a deep-fry thermometer. Always cook chicken until it registers 165 degrees F in the thickest part.
Wet Hand Dry Hand: Use one hand for dry dipping, and one for wet dipping. This will stop you from breading your fingers!
Keep warm: Heat your oven to 200 degrees F. Keep the first batches of chicken warm while you fry the rest.
If your mouth is sensitive to the heat, have a glass of milk with your chicken. The milk will help cool down your mouth, so you can go back for seconds obviously!