Nashville-Style Hot Fried Chicken Recipe (2024)

I modified! I omitted the brine and the dredge. I substituted lettuce for chicken. I did not use the hot spice, but I did use ranch dressing. Amazing fried chicken recipe.

Made this a second time, using sous vide to cook the chicken (155 degrees F, 3 hours for the dark meat and adding the white meat at the 2 hour point) after marinating for 24 hours. Fried the chicken in peanut oil at 375 degrees for 2-3 minutes until the crust was golden brown. Excellent results and less time spent over a pot of hot oil.

Yes, this isn't my recipe but I have fried a LOT of chicken and having the chicken at room temp makes for a crispier crust

This was, without exaggeration, the best chicken recipe I have ever cooked. The chicken was juicy and flavorful on the inside and crispy and flaky on the outside. The spicing (including that delectable bit of sugar) made for fantastic flavoring.Before dredging, I let my chicken rest at room temperature for an hour which allowed me to cut frying down to 4 minutes a side. Like many other reviewers, I skipped the dried ghost-chile powder. I also brined for 24 hours which worked wonders.

Smoked ghost-chili powder is not necessary, between the hot paprika and cayenne it's plenty hot.

There was a time of I'd have agreed Ruth, but these days learning most anything about history, source, retail availability, is just a click away. Unless it's incredibly obscure, in which case I don't want to see it in a recipe at all.

As a southern girl, I suggest grits to soak up some heat. Most people prefer cheese grits, or cheese grits souffle!

Remember, there is a difference between kosher salt and regular salt. If you use table salt then you need to reduce the amount by HALF.

This recipe prompts a more general idea/request. You list "smoked ghost chile"; I pride myself on knowing lots of cooking trivia but this is one I'd never heard of, and on occasion your recipes list others similarly off beat. Can you keep this in mind when proffering recipes and guide us to how to obtain, e.g. ethnicity, nationality. Thanks.

Don't go to peaches hot house if you find the cayenne and paprika plenty hot. This dish is about mouth-searing intensity that brings tears to your eyes and a rush of endorphins. And the ghost chilis (naga jolokia) are absolutely essential. Otherwise you just have fried chicken.

Hot dang this recipe rocks. Altogether it takes quite a bit of prep time (we brined for the max 24 hours), but none of the steps in themselves are complicated or difficult. We opted for only thighs and drumsticks instead of a whole chicken and got great results. My husband and I both agreed it was the best fried chicken we had ever had — better than Hattie B’s!

This packs some seriously delicious heat! I used both the smoked ghost chile powder and the smoked hot paprika as I had the paprika previously homemade on hand. As a fried chicken and spicy food fan, this is a winner recipe!

Ghost peppers not needed. The cayenne and paprika make it plenty hot. I used whole onion and garlic for the brine instead of powder and it tasted great.

There's a big difference between ghost peppers and smoked paprika.

OMG! Best fried chicken ever. I followed all of the steps and this chicken comes out moist on the inside and crispy on the outside. I’ve never made chicken like this before. It is a bit time consuming, but so worth. Just be careful about the cooking times 4 to 5 minutes each side was not enough to cook through for me. Mine cooking time was closer to 8-9 min each side for bigger pieces.

Have now made this recipe about a dozen times now and it is always very well loved. Have learnt my lesson to NOT over brine the chicken as it will take on a saltiness that can be overpowering. A 4-6 hour brine is better than leaving it overnight where it gets closer to 24 hours. It is a great recipe. I usually through a few boneless pieces into the brine to make sandwiches for the kids

I made this for Thanksgiving this year instead of turkey. Couldn’t find ghost chile powder so used hot paprika. Cooked in a fry daddy on our deck. Way better than turkey. Everyone loved it so very few leftovers. Will definitely make again!!

Properly disappointed in this receipe. So "dusting" should be better defined. I like heat and I found this no better than shaking a little Tabasco on a so so piece of fried chicken. The brine is a lot of work that frankly doesn't infuse the chicken at all. I've brined a lot of turkeys with great success, this brine basically sinks and adds little flavor. I'll prepare this again with a lot of changes as I like spicy foods!

Delicious, but NOT Nashville style except in heat. True Nashville hot chicken gets a final toss in a paste of hot cooking oil and the finishing spices. It should be drippy with the spice mix and served over bread to soak that goodness up.

Wonder if this could be completed in the air fryer rather than oil??

Very good fried chicken. Not very spicy by my lights. I don’t brine. Don’t believe in it. Otherwise made as written. I’m lucky enough to have big, meaty, fresh-killed farm chicken, so it took a bit longer to fry. About 17 minutes in all.

Boneless breasts made terrific chicken sandwiches, with pickles and honey and a side of cole slaw.

One of the best fried chicken recipes I've ever made! I brined outside of the fridge for more like 6 hours and didn't dust with the very hot spice at the end. Other than those modifications, my entire family (including kiddos) love this recipe as written!

To me, a Nashvillian, the pickles (shown on the picture) are just about as important as the chicken or the bread..

Brined the bird and didn’t feel like frying so I put it on the grill. My family’s new favorite! Hubby asks for it weekly.

This was pretty good. I was worried it was going to be too hot, so I dialed back the heat and I wish I had not. It tasted delicious but I oversold it as spicy, which it was not really at all. Also, it took MUCH longer to cook than 5-6 minutes. Cooking for about 10 minutes gave a yummy crunchy crust and the meat was cooked through.

Where are the preparation directions. I know how to make fried chicken, I just thought this cook might have some special technique

This was great. Excellent flavor, moist, not too spicy. Made as instructed and did smoked paprika option for hot spice. Spicy enough for my family. Wife said it was even better than her fried chicken, which is the gold standard at our house.

This is a keeper! Made exactly as written (minus the ghost pepper spice) and it was a hit w/the entire family. Will definitely make again.