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Nashville might be best known as the home of country music, but experiencing the true toe-tapping flavours of Nashville requires trying the local speciality, Nashville hot chicken.
What is Nashville hot chicken?
Think of a hotter and fiercer version of Southern fried chicken, where a cayenne-based spicy hot oil coating does all the talking.
Where is Nashville hot chicken from?
The local speciality is thought to have originated at Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville, when it was created as a fiery-hot breakfast dish of revenge before it swiftly became a beloved staple of late-night music lovers. Traditionally the hot chicken is served up over white bread and garnished with pickles.
Dozens of restaurants throughout the city, like Hattie B's, have since adopted their own takes on the hot chicken, where the heat gets turned up or down depending on the bravery of the diner.
There's even an annual 'Music City Hot Chicken Festival' celebrating the local speciality.
How to make homemade Nashville hot chicken
You don't have to be in Nashville to experience the delights of this crispy-coated fiery chicken. If you want to try making Nashville hot chicken at home it's actually very simple, as outlined step-by-step in the two video recipes below.
Here are all the ingredients you'll need:
Ingredients for Nashville hot chicken
- 1 whole chicken
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1 cup whole milk
- Louisiana hot sauce
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup lard
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp light brown Sugar
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp paprika
- Wonder bread, for serving
- Pickle chips, for serving
Homemade Nashville hot chicken
Learn how to make Nashville hot chicken in the capable hands of Andrew Rea on Basics with Babish in the video recipe below.
Firstly he joints a whole chicken into 8 pieces, which he then dry-brines with salt and pepper for four hours. Next, he makes the breading with a Louisiana hot sauce kick, double dips the chicken in the coating and then fries in a blend of lard and vegetable oil before finishing cooking in the oven.
And then comes the magic. Next up he blends cayenne pepper, sugar, black pepper, garlic powder, paprika and salt combined with some frying oil, before generously brushing the chicken pieces, until all the mix is absorbed into the crunchy crust. If you want to tame the heat, reduce the amount of cayenne in the coating.
For the proper Nashville experience, Rea suggests serving on a piece of wonder bread topped with pickle chips.
Hattie B's recipe for Nashville hot chicken
Learn how to make the famous Louisiana hot chicken just like they make it at Hattie B's casual fast food outlet - founded in Midtown Nashville by Nick Bishop and his son Nick Jr. in 2012 - in the entertaining clip below.
Here the deep-fried chicken actually gets double-coated before frying then dunked headlong into the oil and spice rub to be sure each piece has really absorbed those lip-tingling zingy spices.
