My Nashville Hot Chicken Flatbreads is a spicy appetizer alternative to the messy original. Perfect for cookouts or weekend entertaining when you want to add a little spice to your life.
Happy almost Memorial Day “A Dish of Daily Life” readers. Quinn here from DadWhats4Dinner.com gracing the pages of Michelle’s wonderful blog as part of her creative team. This month I’m bringing you my recipe for Nashville Hot Chicken Flatbreads. I hope you are enjoying all the great recipes Michelle and the other team members have been dishing up for summer.
Nashville Hot Chicken Flatbreads
How is it possible that my kids are already out of school for the summer? Where did the school year go? I can’t believe I now have a senior in high-school, a freshmen and my baby is now in middle-school. No more kids in elementary school. Ugh, now I am making myself sad.
Even though my kids are older, it is still difficult to work from home in the summer. I will need to find productive activities to keep them busy. Unfortunately they don’t like most of my suggestions. Maybe we will find some good volunteer opportunities like teaching families or single moms, who are on government assistance, how to purchase and cook healthy food within a budget. I need to stop talking about it and actually do it.
Last year I took my older daughter to Columbus, Ohio to play two soccer games in a day. Even though Columbus is about 90 minutes away, these games are league matches. It was nice because we had a decent amount of time between games so we went into the city for lunch. I had heard about this restaurant called Hot Chicken Takeover. It’s a local place that serves Nashville style hot chicken. This was before KFC jumped on the bandwagon. This place was great! Hot spicy fried chicken served with homemade sides and southern desserts. You order and then sit family style at long picnic tables. The food was great and my daughter and I had a great time. So after eating this awesome chicken, I had to make it myself. Now I’m not big on deep frying, but this recipe doesn’t really work without this cooking technique. I decided to make my Nashville Hot Chicken into an appetizer so it would be less messy and easier to make ahead. For the flatbreads, I used mini naan breads I found at Costco. I love naan bread, and it’s also great for quick pizzas for the kids.
Method: Brine your chicken in a buttermilk spice mixture. Allow to marinade for at least 3 hours. Remove chicken, discard brine and pat chicken dry.
Whisk flour and remaining 4 teaspoons salt in another large bowl. Whisk 2 cups buttermilk, eggs and hot sauce in a large bowl. Heat oil over medium-high heat to 325°F.
Dredge chicken in flour mixture, then dip in buttermilk mixture, letting excess drip back into bowl. Then dredge again in flour mixture and place on a baking sheet.Fry the chicken until coating is golden brown and crisp. In a medium bowl, whisk remaining cayenne pepper, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, paprika and 1 cup of frying oil. Coat chicken strips with spicy oil. Place on top of flatbreads and serve with buttermilk ranch dressing.
Nashville Hot Chicken Flatbreads
Nashville Hot Chicken Flatbreads is a spicy appetizer alternative to the messy original. Perfect for when you want to add a little spice to your life.
Ingredients
- 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast cut into 1 inch strips
- 5 cups buttermilk, divided
- 5 tbsp cayenne pepper, divided
- 4 tbsp kosher salt, divided
- 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper, divided
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tbsp vinegar-based hot sauce (such as Tabasco or Texas Pete)
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- Oil for frying; about 8 cups
- 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 8 small flatbreads or mini naan breads
- Buttermilk Ranch Dressing for serving
Instructions
- Whisk 3 cups buttermilk, 2 tbsp. salt, 1/2 tbsp black pepper, 1/2 tbsp. cayenne and smoked paprika in a large bowl.
- Add chicken. Cover and chill at least 3 hours.
- Remove chicken, discard brine and pat chicken dry.
- Whisk flour and remaining 4 teaspoons salt in another large bowl.
- Whisk 2 cups buttermilk, eggs and hot sauce in a large bowl.
- Fit a large heavy bottom pot or a Dutch oven with thermometer; pour in oil to measure 2 inches deep.
- Heat over medium-high heat until thermometer registers 325°F.
- Working with 2-3 pieces at a time, dredge chicken strips in flour mixture, shaking off excess, then dip in buttermilk mixture, letting excess drip back into bowl. (TIP: Always use one hand for wet and one hand for dry mixtures. Wash hands often, if needed.)
- Dredge again in flour mixture and place on a baking sheet.
- Working in batches, fry chicken, turning occasionally, until coating is golden brown and crisp. Return oil to 325°F between batches,
- Transfer chicken strips to a clean wire rack set inside a baking sheet.
- Let oil cool slightly.
- In a medium bowl, whisk remaining cayenne pepper, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, and paprika.
- Carefully whisk in 1 cup frying oil.
- Coat chicken strips with spicy oil.
- Slice chicken into smaller pieces, if necessary, and place on top of flatbreads.
- Cut breads into quarters and serve with buttermilk ranch dressing.
Notes
By Quinn Caudill for DadWhats4Dinner.com © 2016br]First published on ADishofDailyLife.com 05/24/2016
[Recipe loosely based on Nashville-Style Hot Chicken / Epicurious
I hope you have a wonderful summer and remember your kids grow up much faster than you think, so enjoy the time you have with them.
satrntgr
Monday 6th of June 2016
I usually can't handle heat, but my husband and son would LOVE this - pinning to try for them! :) #HomeMattersParty
Audrey@That Recipe
Thursday 2nd of June 2016
Luckily my son doesn't like spicy so more for me and dad. Thanks for partying with us on Creative K Kids Tasty Tuesdays. I always love to see what you share with us.
Helen Fern
Thursday 2nd of June 2016
Makes me hungry just looking at it!! Thanks for sharing on the What's for Dinner party!
Allie R Taylor
Tuesday 24th of May 2016
Hi Quinn - this recipe looks extra delicious! I love the buttermilk brine and that you make in on a naan. So easy!