How to Make Nashville Hot Chicken {Step-by-Step}

This amazing Nashville Hot Chicken recipe (adapted from Hattie B’s famous recipe) results in a crispy, tender, fiery fried chicken with a spicy kick that is positively addictive.

I love fried chicken. I don’t eat it often, but I love it. Back when I was a kid, my BFF’s Gramma Barbara made THE BEST southern fried chicken I’ve ever eaten, or ever hope to eat, in my life. Tender, juicy, crispy, and seasoned just right, Gramma B’s chicken was so finger-licking delicious that it tasted like it had been fried in heaven. It was Perfect.

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My Southern Fried Sensei, Gramma Barbara.

As a young teen, Gramma B kind of adopted me. She was fun and irreverent, and to this day I love her like my own.

Gramma B taught me how to make fried chicken a couple of times, and I think I got the basics down fine, but I could never make it quite as good as she did. I don’t know if was her skillet, or the lard (of course it was the lard) or some other sublime combination of environmental and mystical factors, but her fried chicken was absolutely divine and mine was, at best, pretty darn good.

In my quest to scratch my fried chicken itch, I’ve ordered fried chicken at nearly every place from Portland to Memphis that serves it. While some places turn out a very decent chicken plate, nothing has ever come close to ringing that elusive Gramma B-worthy, southern fried chicken bell for me. There’s always something missing.

Then we went to Nashville and discovered Hot Chicken.

What is Nashville Hot Chicken, and what makes it so awesome?

Nashville Hot Chicken is a hyper-regional specialty with a long, colorful, sordid history involving a philandering man, a jealous woman hell-bent on revenge, and a whole lot ‘a hot pepper juice.

Nashville Hot Chicken is heaven and hell in a one transcendent bite.

The origins of Nashville Hot Chicken is a finely-woven tale that I simply can’t do justice and still keep this post under ten thousand words, so I’m not even going to try. (And I don’t need to, because The Bitter Southerner has done a bang-up job telling the story for us: when you have a minute or ten, I strongly encourage you to read this great post about how Nashville Hot Chicken really came be!)

The minute Mr B and I heard the term “hot chicken,” we were all over it like red beans on rice. We did a little research, and discovered that Nashville’s Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack is the acknowledged home of the original hot chicken, so we made plans to check it out. However, so many of the Nashville locals we asked pointed us toward relative newcomer Hattie B’s that we decided to try it instead. [Like slider-eaters in the Great Southern Slider Debate, hot chicken eaters, we learned, have a fierce loyalty to their chosen chicken fryer!]

Hattie B’s has three locations in Nashville, and reviews said that the lines at West Nashville location (closest to where we were staying) could be very long at peak times. However, we arrived relatively late for a weekday (around 8:30 pm) and had a less than five minute wait: just long enough for us to check out the menu.

After studying the menu for a few minutes, we ordered two small plates, which turned out to be a ton of food! Each plate came with a whole chicken quarter (dark meat for Mr B, light for me) and two sides. Mr B got baked beans and I ordered the potato salad, and we both got coleslaw.

Our chicken arrived in less than ten minutes, stacked in a basket between the traditional slice of white bread, topped with a dill pickle. It only took me one bite to know that Hattie B’s Hot Chicken was absolutely amazing. Possibly addictive.

Hattie B’s Nashville Hot Chicken is the first chicken I’ve eaten in at least twenty years that even comes close to Grandma B’s fried chicken – with one important caveat: instead tasting like chicken sent from heaven, it tastes more like the devil himself cooked up a batch of fried chicken on his day off.

I need that fried chicken recipe!!!

When we got back to our hotel room, I immediately searched for a Nashville Hot Chicken recipe, and was absolutely thrilled to discover Hattie B’s recipe in Lee Brian Schrager’s cookbook Fried & True: More than 50 Recipes for America’s Best Fried Chicken and Sides.

Well, you can bet that it took me less than a Tennessee minute to order it. (Which, come to think of it, is probably substantially longer than a New York minute, but still…)

When my copy of Fried & True arrived, I opened it to find the pages bursting with great recipes, valuable tips and cooking methods, personal stories, and a true love of fried chicken.

How to Make Nashville Hot Chicken – Step-by-Step

The following Nashville Hot Chicken recipe, adapted from the aforementioned recipe in Fried & True, results in a crispy, tender, fiery fried chicken with a spicy kick that will keep you coming back for more.

The recipe itself is relatively straightforward, but after making hot chicken myself, I have some wisdom to pass along that will make the process go more smoothly.

For ingredients and amounts, please refer to the recipe card below.

Step 1: The Dry-Brine

In a medium bowl, toss together the chicken pieces, salt, and pepper. Cover and refrigerate overnight. (Up to 24 hours)

NOTE: The first time I made this chicken, I had a scheduling conflict and ended up dry-brining it for 3 days. (Stuff happens.) It was totally fine.

Step 2: The Dredge-Dip-Dredge

In a 9×9 pan or baking dish, whisk together the milk, eggs, and hot sauce. In a separate 9×9 baking dish, combine the four and salt.

[1] Drag the chicken through the flour mixture, coating evenly.

[2] Dip the floured chicken in the milk mixture.

[3] Drag once again in the flour mixture.
Shake off excess between each step. Allow chicken to rest on drying rack while you prepare the rest of the chicken pieces for frying.

Step 3: The Fry

For this step, you will need either a deep fryer, a large deep skillet, or a deep electric skillet. You will also need tongs, and a deep-fry/meat thermometer. I suggest using using a combination of canola and soybean oil for deep frying.

WARNING: Deep frying can be dangerous! Carefully prepare the area before you begin deep frying. Always make sure that whatever you are deep frying in is stable so that it won’t tip. Always use a tongs, a skimmer, or a deep-fry basket to add and remove chicken pieces from the hot oil. Chicken pieces can slip from forks or spoons and splash hot oil.

REMEMBER! When you add your chicken, it will displace a lot of oil. If you are using a frying pan or electric skillet, it is vital that you DO NOT OVERFILL it with oil or it may or it may overflow when you add the chicken.

KITCHEN TRICK: How to easily figure out the necessary level of the frying oil.

1. Put one batch/fryer full of chicken pieces in a large ziplock bag. Squeeze as much air out of the bag as you can and seal it shut.
2. Lay the bag of raw chicken pieces flat in the bottom of the frying pan.
3. Add water to the level that you want the oil to be when you deep fry.
4. Remove bag of chicken from the pan.
5. Note level of the water.
6. Pour the water out, and carefully dry out pan.
7. Add oil to that same level.
8. Now you’re ready to fry without fear of overflowing your frying pan!

(Thanks, Archimedes!)

IMPORTANT: The oil needs to maintain an optimal temperature of 325° while the chicken is frying. However, the oil temp will drop at least 25° when you add the chicken, so initially you need to heat the oil up to 340° – 350°.

It is important to maintain a consistent temperature for frying chicken of 325° F. If the temperature of oil in the pan drops down below 300°, the chicken will begin to absorb the cooking oil, resulting in greasy, soggy chicken. If it rises above about 340°, the chicken will cook too quickly on the outside, and not get done in the middle. When fried at the correct temperature, the chicken will come out golden brown, having absorbed very little oil.

Heat vegetable oil in a deep skillet or deep fryer until it is between 340°F – 350°F. The oil needs to be deep enough for the chicken to fully submerge. [If you don’t have a deep enough skillet for deep frying, see HELP below.]
Drop the coated chicken into the hot oil.
Turn the pieces as they brown and do not let them touch each other while frying.
The temperature will drop when you add the chicken. Keep the oil at 325°F while the chicken fries.
Working in batches, use tongs to carefully add the chicken to the hot oil and fry until crispy.

↓↓ This is what your chicken should sound like when it is frying. ↓↓

Estimated cooking times: 15-17 minutes for breast quarters; 18-20 minutes for leg quarters.

Nashville Hot Chicken - Fully Cooked: Temp 165°F

Chicken is done when it registers an internal temperature of 165°F. (Yes, I use a candy thermometer. It goes up to 400 degrees, and it works just fine.)
When done, remove chicken from oil and allow to drain on wire rack.

How to test for doneness without a meat thermometer: Cut into the thickest part of a drumstick. The juices should run clear and the meat should be opaque throughout. If necessary, you can pop slightly underdone fried chicken into a preheated 325°F oven until it is fully cooked.

TIP: I aim to take the chicken off the heat when it registers a temperature of 160°, and allow carryover cooking to bring it up to temperature as it sits on the wire rack.

HELP! What if my chicken isn’t completely submerged in the oil when I fry it?!
This is, technically, deep-fried chicken, so ideally the oil for The Fry needs to be deep enough for the chicken to fully submerge. However, sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way.

You may have noticed that my chicken is sticking out at the top in some of the process images. That’s because I don’t own a deep fryer (I only deep fry about twice a year), and prefer to make hot chicken in my electric skillet because I can control the temperature of the fry oil more accurately than in a stovetop skillet. Unfortunately, my electric skillet isn’t quite deep enough to allow most chicken pieces to completely submerge, so I end up turning the chicken pieces a few times in the process, and it takes a few extra minutes to cook.

If this is you, don’t worry – just use your meat thermometer to keep an eye on the internal temp, and you be fine.

Step 4: The Spicy Coating (Wet Application)

Ladle about a cup of hot frying oil into a heatproof bowl or pan. Whisk in cayenne, brown sugar, and spices. The hot oil will activate the spices. (I use a small saucepan for this in case I need to heat the oil up again before basting a second batch.)

Baste the hot spice mixture over the hot fried chicken. You want the hot oil mixture hot enough that when you baste it over the fried chicken, the skin stays nice and crispy.

**Just how Hot is this Nashville Hot Chicken recipe anyway?**

According to the recipe from which this one is adapted, the spice level for this recipe is gauged as MEDIUM HOT; however, in my experience, it is slightly hotter than medium. (I’d rate it about a 6 or 6.5 on a 1-10 heat scale.)

For one test batch, I used two tablespoons of cayenne instead of three, and the results were (for my tastes) perfect – not painfully spicy, but with solid heat and a decided kick. (About a 4.5.)

Step 5: The Serve

If you want to go traditional, serve your Hot Chicken up over a slice of white bread. Garnish with dill pickle slices.

5 from 5 votes

Nashville Hot Chicken

This amazing Nashville Hot Chicken recipe results in a crispy, tender, fiery fried chicken with a spicy kick that is positively addictive.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time40 mins

Dry-Brine Prep1 d

Total Time1 d 1 hr

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Main

Cuisine: Southern

Keyword: chicken, spicy

Servings: large servings

Author: Adapted from Hattie B's recipe in FRIED & TRUE; Lee Brian Schrager

Equipment

Ingredients

For the Dry Brine

1 whole chicken 3 pounds, washed, patted dry, and cut into quarters
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

For the Dip

1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon Louisiana-style hot sauce

For the Dredge

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sea salt
Vegetable oil for frying

For the Spicy Coating

1 cup hot frying oil or hot lard
3 tablespoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Garnish

Dill pickle slices
White bread optional