Last September I went to Nashville (here, here and here) to work for Renaissance Marriott. Luckily, I was in New York just before that and my friend Ben told me every place to hit up. Prince’s Hot Chicken was at the top of the list and right when I landed, I took my nondescript rental car straight there. I ordered the HOT but immediately regretted my choice when a local woman sat down and told me she would never EVER order the HOT, “it’s too hot for me,” she said.
I was like uhhhh ok. I’m screwed. When it came, I ate it and it was totally tolerable for me, delicious in fact. But, I did grow up with a Peruvian mama who loved eating spicy food so my brother and I, like, love heat.
Then, I went to Hattie B’s which is much more new school in the way of hot chicken. I liked the dredge at Prince’s better but I loved the sauciness from Hattie B’s. They both have really good attributes.
I’ve been wanting to make Nashville Hot Chicken for forever but every time I go to make it, a huge feeling of dread comes over me because it’s fried. And that means hot oil. And that means a mess. I wanted it to be something I could make on a whim or on a weeknight.
Enter: Baked Nashville Hot Chicken.
If you are a purest, you probably hate me rn. It’s ok, I understand this sentiment. I do.
But if you, like me, want to the taste of hot chicken with about half of the work and mess, then you’re probably into this.
The chicken has some shake n’ bake vibes.
It’s soaked in buttermilk, pre-baking and then it’s dipped in a spiced dredge.
It bakes in the oven on a lightly greased baking sheet so it sort of “fries” in the oven.
The results are CRISPY AF. All the chicken is brushed with the buttery hot chicken sauce and it’s sublime. Eat it with white bread and pickles.
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade:
- 4 chicken drumsticks
- 3 bone-in chicken thighs
- 2 teaspoons salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 cup shaken buttermilk
Chicken Dredge:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground paprika
- Pinch of pepper
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil sunflower oil, vegetable or grapes oil
Hot Chicken Sauce:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter or mild-flavored oil like sunflower vegetable or grapeseed oil
- 1 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper or more or less depending on your heat tolerance
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, add the chicken. Sprinkle both sides with salt and a few cracks of ground pepper. Pour the buttermilk over the chicken and flip, continuously, until covered in buttermilk. I used tongs for this job. Cover with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge to marinate for 1 hour or overnight.
- Prep the chicken dredge by adding the flour to a wide-rimmed bowl. To another plate, toss the bread crumbs with the salt, pepper and ground paprika. To a medium bowl, beat the 3 large eggs together. This will give you a good assembly line.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. To a clean baking sheet, brush the surface with the the olive oil (or other oil) and transfer to the oven. (The oil will get really hot while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.)
- Using tongs, remove the chicken, piece by piece, from the buttermilk, allowing any extra to run off. Dip the piece of chicken firstly in the flour, then the egg and lastly the bread crumbs. Feel free to sprinkle the tops and the sides of the chicken with the bread crumbs. I found it easier to do it this way. Transfer it to a plate and repeat with the remaining pieces of chicken.
- Place the chicken on the hot baking sheet in the oven and bake on the first side for 30 minutes. Flip and cook on the opposite side for another 30 minutes.
- While the chicken is cooking, let’s make the hot sauce. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Skim the fat solids off the top and discard. This will leave you with clarified butter. Add the cayenne pepper, sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, paprika and salt. Warm until the sugar and salt are dissolved.
- When the chicken is done cooking, brush the tops liberally with the spice/butter mixture. I found that what I really wanted was the paste that sits at the bottom; scoop that stuff out and brush
Recipe sounds good, and taste good but the method is poor. Forget about mixing the marinade the way the directions say because all of the spice ingredients separate from the oil and congeal in clumps and you cannot baste it…. ends up being a frustrating mess . Better to add all the dry spices to the second dredge mix.
I am a Nashville native and hot chicken snob, tried this out last night and really enjoyed it, I hate frying my own chicken, and the hot olive oil pan really did get that crispness down. Will definitely add more cayenne next time as this recipe is pretty mild. That being said it’s perfect for those who want the flavor without the heat! Great idea and thanks for sharing the recipe!
Ahh this is so great to hear! It’s not as good as super crispy fried nashville hot chicken BUT at home it’s a close second because no one likes to deal with a pot of hot oil–it’s annoying! 🙂
can you make this with chicken wings instead of thighs/drumsticks? i want to serve it at a party and have it be easier to eat!
I live in Pakistan and italian bread isnt available….
just use regular bread crumbs then!
just made this but baked boneless chicken and so glad I did! after a week of being sick I can finally breath again!
hahah it’ll clear you out!
White bread and pickles?
Don’t think you’re talking sourdough here…..&
What kind of pickles?
I am obsessed with this chicken!!! Today is my second time making it and I will just say 2 things. 1) it is much easier to do the dredging process with your hands rather than tongs. I felt that the chicken got coated much better this way. 2) The first time I made this I had a lot of yummy crust falling off/stuck to the pan before we got to eat it. I think this was because I took the pan out of the oven BEFORE I started the dredging process. I missed the part where it said to place the coated chicken on a plate and then right before putting it in the oven, transfer it to the sheet pan with the hot oil. Made these two adjustments this time and it has come out perfectly with no crust stuck to the pan. Definitely going to be part of the regular rotation. Thank you!!! <3
YAYYY! This makes me so happy!
Made this last night and it was a success. Totally delicious! Crispy AF indeed.
I feel like it’s all in your hands!!! (SPONSORSHIP!)
Egads this looks so freaking good. And I love shake and bake. Best name ever, and also HOW SO CRISPY. I really want to make this but scared I’ll burn my son’s butt off with spicy…! But I will try, hehe. ^__^
Shake and bake should have a comeback!
This was sooooooooooo good! We did half the cayenne in the sauce and definitely could’ve done more. The flavors were wonderful – we used chicken breasts (cut down slightly on the cooking time ~20 mins on each side) and panko crumbs with added Italian seasoning.
YAYY!!! I actually thought maybe I should do panko but was out of it in my pantry so scratched it. So glad it has good results. I’ll definitely try it with the panko next time! xo
Made this for the family tonight (all the way down here in New Zealand) and it was a big hit! Had to do three different spice levels of hot chicken sauce but it was absolutely worth it
That’s SO awesome. Love this so much. So glad it worked out for you and your fam! xo