This recipe comes to us from Reba McEntire’s new cookbook, Not That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots!
Nashville Hot Chicken
Reba McEntire's personal take on Nashville Hot Chicken! The results are worth the wait.
Ingredients
Seasoning
- 2 tbsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsbp granulated garlic
- 1 tbsp brown sugar, packed
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
Chicken
- 12 pieces bone-in skin-on chicken breasts, thighs, legs, and wings (or cut your own whole chicken)
- 2 cups buttermilk plus more if needed
- 1 gallon peanut oil or vegetable oil, for frying
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 tsp kosher salt, divided
- 4 egg whites
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 cup masa harina (also called "corn masa" or "corn flour")
- 1 cup cracker meal or matzo meal
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- Sliced white bread and dill pickle slices, for serving
Instructions
Seasoning Mix
- Place the cayenne, sweet paprika, garlic, brown sugar, and salt in a wide-mouthed glass jar and secure the lid. Shake to combin
Chicken
- Place the chicken in a large mixing bowl and pour in the buttermilk. Make sure the chicken is fully submerged. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours.
- Attach a thermometer to the side of a large Dutch oven and add the peanut oil. Heat the oil to 350°F and maintain the temperature within a range of 25°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it next to the Dutch oven. Set a cooling rack on top of a second baking sheet and place it next to the Dutch oven.
- Place 1 cup of flour and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a shallow bowl. Whisk to combine. In a second bowl, whisk together the egg whites and water until lightly frothy. Place the remaining 1 cup of flour, masa harina, cracker meal, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and pepper in a third shallow bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Lift a piece of chicken from the buttermilk and shake off the excess. Dredge the chicken in the bowl of flour, turning to coat all sides, then submerge in the egg whites. Allow the excess to drip back into the bowl, then transfer to the cracker mixture. Press gently to adhere the breading and flip to coat both sides. Transfer the chicken to the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pieces.
- Fry the chicken 3 to 4 pieces at a time until the coating is deeply golden brown and the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165°F, about 12 to 15 minutes. Carefully lift the chicken from the oil using a deep fryer skimmer and transfer to the cooling rack.
- Once all the chicken is fried, place the seasoning mix in a large mixing bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the hot frying oil to the bowl and whisk to combine. Add the fried chicken to the bowl and toss until evenly coated.
- Arrange sliced white bread in a single layer on a serving platter and place the fried chicken on top. Top with dill pickle slices and serve immediately.
Notes
Recipe from Not That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots by Reba McEntire. Copyright © 2023 by Reba McEntire. Used by permission of Harper Celebrate. Photography by Kris D’Amico Photography.
Nutrition
Calories: 598kcalCarbohydrates: 112gProtein: 21gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.003gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 2511mgPotassium: 542mgFiber: 7gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 3031IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 212mgIron: 7mg
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Alissa Harb