Oven-Fried Nashville Hot Chicken

Anyone else crave crunchy spicy chicken on the regular?? Good news!! I have been playing with different recipes in order to avoid having an inner struggle about whether or not to go to Chick-fil-a every time this happens to me and I definitely hit the jackpot yesterday. The spice level can be altered if you're not into the heat, just skip the hot sauce and top with whatever you like! Honey mustard? BBQ sauce? Follow your heart, friends. I topped mine with Nashville hot sauce and some homemade cole slaw and it was drool-worthy. This is the love child of a Nashville Hot Chicken recipe from Carlsbad Cravings and a Skinny Oven-Fried Chicken recipe from Well Plated.

Marinating time: 2-24 hours

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients: 

- 1 medium-sized chicken breast (about 1/2 lb), pounded with a meat tenderizer until 1/2 inch thick and cut in half

- 1/2 C flour, all purpose or white whole wheat

Buttermilk Marinade: 

- 1/2 C buttermilk

- 1/2 tbsp spice rub (recipe below)

- 1 bay leaf

Spice Rub:

- 1/2 tbsp salt

- 1/2 tbsp paprika

- 1/2 tbsp onion powder

- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder

- 1/2 tsp chili powder

- 1 tsp black pepper

- 1/2 tsp oregano

- 1/2 tsp basil

- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Nashville Hot Sauce:

- 1 tbsp hot sauce

- 1 tbsp butter, melted

- 1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper

- 1 tbsp brown sugar

- 1/2 tsp spice rub

- 1/4 tsp paprika

- 1/4 C vegetable oil

Breading:

- 1.5 C corn flakes, crushed into crumbs in a large ziploc bag with a rolling pin

- 1/2 tsp paprika

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/4 tsp black pepper

- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

- 1/4 tsp garlic powder

- 1/4 tsp onion powder

- 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning (or a sprinkle each of thyme, sage, and rosemary)

Directions:

- Place your chicken breast pieces in an air-tight container with the buttermilk marinade and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 24 hours. Save remaining spice rub for cooking.

- When you're ready to cook, preheat the oven to 400.

- Creating an assembly line on the counter makes it nice and easy to get your chicken ready. Chicken is first in line followed by a plate with your flour on it, followed by the container with the buttermilk marinade, followed by another plate or ziploc bag full of your breading, and finally a greased baking sheet (ideally with a wire or silicone rack on top.)

- Dredge each piece of chicken in flour until fully coated, shaking off any excess

- Coat the chicken in the buttermilk marinade again 

- Then dredge in the cornflake breading until fully coated, pressing any loose pieces into the chicken. I like to make my breading in a ziploc bag and then shake the chicken in it so that it's fully covered.

- Arrange the chicken on your prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake for 15 more minutes.

- Prepare your sauce while chicken is baking by melting butter in a microwave safe bowl, adding the rest of the ingredients and stirring well. 

- Place each chicken breast on a whole wheat hamburger bun, spoon some sauce on top and get ready to lose your mind.

I've tried many oven fried chicken recipes before only to find them soggy and disappointing. This was juicy and crunchy and perfect. If you don't like as much (or any) spice, I would recommend leaving out all the cayenne pepper from the breading and the spice rub. You can also lessen or eliminate the chili powder and the black pepper if you're hesitant. I have not tried it this way so you'll have to experiment, but there's enough other spices that the flavor should still be on point!