These Nashville Hot Chicken Strips are a riff on the famous spicy bone-in Nashville hot chicken. They're melt in your mouth tender, and guaranteed to add a pleasing kick to your meal.
What is Nashville Hot Chicken?
There's a fun story regarding the origin of the now-famous Nashville hot chicken. It dates as far back as the 1930's, and is said to have its roots in the revenge of a woman whose significant other was a womanizer. The story goes, she doused the fried chicken she prepared for him with cayenne pepper making it impossible to eat. While this recipe for Nashville hot chicken strips does include cayenne, I assure you it's quite edible.
Helpful Tips for Making Nashville Hot Chicken Strips
- This fried chicken recipe does include several steps beginning with the buttermilk marinade. The ingredients, however, aren't difficult to find, and none of the steps are difficult. Plan ahead and you'll be good to go.
- I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into strips for this recipe. Depending on the size of the chicken pieces, yield may vary.
- Should you choose to use chicken tenders, they will cook more quickly so, adjust accordingly.
- I highly recommend buying buttermilk, not fat free, for the marinade and dredge. If you're hard pressed, you could make your own. To do so, add 1 Tbsp vinegar or fresh lemon juice to each cup of whole milk. Let stand on the counter for 5 minutes, then proceed.
- The spices in the chicken can burn if cooked at too high a temperature. Watch the oil temp and adjust while frying.
- Toss the chicken strips with chili oil just before serving to prevent the breading from losing it's crispy fried texture.
- Crispy chicken sandwiches, easy popcorn chicken or chicken fried chicken with gravy are just a few of the other chicken recipes in the MSSK recipe index you may like to try. You may also enjoy this Nashville hot chicken bake from My Recipes.
Special Note Regarding the Chili Oil
The hot chili oil for this chicken must be cooked over low heat to avoid burning the spices. The spices won't completely dissolve, they're purpose is to season the oil. Gently tip the saucepan to separate the oil from the seasonings and brush the oil, not the seasonings, onto the chicken pieces.
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Helpful Kitchen Items:
Nashville Hot Chicken Strips
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 4 long inch strips
- 2 cups buttermilk divided
- ½ cup dill pickle juice
- 4 Tbsp hot sauce divided
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp granulated garlic or garlic powder
- 2 large eggs
- 6 cups vegetable oil for frying reserve ⅓ cup for chili oil
- Chili oil:
- ⅓ cup frying oil
- ¼ cup salted butter melted
- 2 Tbsp cayenne pepper
- 2 Tbsp light or dark brown sugar
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dark chili powder
Instructions
- Place chicken into a non reactive bowl or large plastic storage bag. Add 1 cup buttermilk, pickle juice and 3 Tbsp hot sauce. Mix, then cover and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- To prepare: Remove chicken from buttermilk brine allowing excess to drip off. (Tip: I typically empty into a colander to drain while I prepare the dredge.)
- In a shallow bowl, whisk together flour, corn starch, salt, paprika, cayenne and granulated garlic. In a separate shallow bowl, whisk together reserved 1 cup buttermilk, eggs and 1 Tbsp hot sauce.
- Dredge chicken strips in flour, then into buttermilk-egg wash and back into flour. Repeat until all chicken pieces are breaded. Have nearby a pan fitted with a rack, placing breaded chicken strips on rack.
- Let chicken sit on counter for 20 minutes, or place into the fridge to chill for 1 hour to help coating adhere.
- To fry: In a deep heavy pot or dutch oven, heat oil to 325-335°F. Fry chicken strips in batches for a total of 2-3 minutes per side, adjusting depending on the size of the pieces. Place on a paper towel lined pan to drain. Keep warm.
- To make chili oil: In a small saucepan, whisk together ⅓ cup hot oil from frying with melted butter, cayenne, brown sugar, paprika, salt and chili powder. Warm over low heat or melt setting to prevent seasonings from burning. Stir occasionally.
- Brush cooked chicken pieces with hot chili oil. Serve immediately.
Notes
The hot chili oil for this chicken must be cooked over low heat to avoid burning the spices. The spices won't dissolve, they're purpose is to season the oil. Gently tip the saucepan to separate the oil from the seasonings and brush the oil, not the seasonings, onto the chicken pieces.
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My name is Melissa and I'm the Creator of Melissa's Southern Style Kitchen. Cooking, baking, developing recipes and kitchen tips is my passion. I love sharing my dishes and connecting with people through the food that I create.
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Sophie
For the chili oil, do you use the same oil that you have already fried your chicken in? Or do you use clean oil?
Melissa
You use the frying oil. You can make it with fresh oil, if you want.
Alexia Larsen
can you use white sugar or must it be brown for the chili oil ?
Melissa
It should be brown sugar in this instance.
Amanda
Can the chicken be frozen, or does it need to be thawed out?
Melissa
Please use thawed chicken.
Janet Bradley
Could I use boneless/skinless thighs instead? Would the cooking tie be any different?
Thanks, Jan
Melissa
You can use thighs, the cooking time will need to be lengthened as they make take just a little longer to cook. Otherwise, no adjustments.