What’s the Big Deal about Nashville Hot Chicken?
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Nashville Hot Chicken has been around since the 1930s. However, in the last decade, we’ve seen it blow up with hot spots popping up in Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and New York to name a few places. But what’s funny is that a lot of born Nashvillians were unaware of this local dish until places like Hattie B’s started up in the 2010s.
What happened? Where did Nashville Hot Chicken come from, and why didn’t everyone always know about it?
When Revenge Backfires
You’ve likely heard the legend of how Nashville Hot Chicken was invented. It all starts with the fury of James Thornton Prince’s girlfriend. I searched for HOURS to find this woman’s name. If you know it, please comment. She deserves due credit!
According to the Prince’s Hot Chicken page, Mr. Prince had a reputation for spending time with ladies who were not his girlfriend. One morning, she had enough. She attempted to burn the living tar out of his mouth by adding too much spicy pepper to his fried chicken breakfast. However, her revenge backfired when he apparently LOVED the dish and even loaded his plate up with a second helping.
Their relationship didn’t work out, but Mr. Prince worked with his family to perfect that over-the-top, make-you-sweat hot chicken. He and his brothers sold their chicken at the BBQ Chicken Shack. Later, they moved their restaurant closer to the Grand Ole Opry in Hell’s Half Acre. Though the restaurant was segregated, they scalded the tongues of many famous performers of all races.
His great-niece, André Prince Jeffries, took over the family business in 1980. Her dedication and hard work eventually caught the tastebuds of the mayor.
The Spread of Hot Chicken
While Nashville Hot Chicken has been served by the Prince family since the 1930s, that doesn’t mean that every native Nashvillian was raised between a pickle and a slice of white bread. In fact, most white locals weren’t even aware of the dish until trendy hipster joints began to gentrify the historically Black recipe in the late 2000s.
The truth is that hot chicken, like many delicious Southern recipes, was looked down on as “black food” for a long time. It really wasn’t until Mayor Bill Purcell came to Prince’s and encouraged his friends and other politicians to taste Jeffries’ food. Suddenly, Nashville, as a whole, acted like they owned the recipe.
On July 4, 2007, Nashville held its first Hot Chicken Festival. In 2010, Pepperfire joined the fray, closely followed by Hattie B’s in 2012. From there, Nashville adopted the food as part of its heritage (source).
Now, you can find hot chicken on the menu of just about every Nashville restaurant and most trendy places around the United States. Heck, even KFC tried their hand at it (but trust me, it’s not as good as the real deal).
And while it’s awesome that Nashville Hot Chicken is getting its due time in the spotlight, like Shrimp and Grits, its origin and history should always be shown respect as well.
What Makes Nashville Hot Chicken So Spicy
If you were going to attempt to burn a man’s mouth with spicy fried chicken, how would you incorporate the spice blend? The correct answer is AT EVERY STEP OF THE PROCESS. There’s heat in the marinade, every single part of the dredge, and for good measure, you go ahead and add HELLFIRE to some of the fry oil and girl that bird another bath before you put it on the plate.
That sounds like an exaggeration, and okay, I am being a little dramatic. However, if you want the heat to emanate from your fried chicken like the fury of a scorned woman, you won’t skimp.
Decent fried chicken (even if it isn’t Nashville Hot), needs to bathe in sour milk (yogurt or buttermilk). The acid works to tenderize the meat without drying it out. But, of course, you have to spice it.
The spice mix combines a LOT of cayenne with smoky paprika, black pepper, dark brown sugar, salt, and garlic powder. I recommend making lots of it because it’s tasty! Sprinkle some on grilled chicken, add to burgers, try it out on roasted potatoes, and get crazy.
To develop your crust, you’ll want to add the spice mix into the flour with some baking powder. This same spice mix gets added to some of the frying oil in the end for your hot chicken’s final bath. It’s everywhere! And if at any point, you want to tick it up a notch, splash in some hot sauce. Just keep that hot sauce within arm’s reach the whole time you’re cooking, just in case.
The Signature Hot Oil Bath at the End
Some people hesitate when they hear “hot oil bath.” What’s going on here? This is a lot simpler than it sounds. When all your chicken is out of the fryer and set on a wire rack, you’ll collect a scoop of the hot fry oil. Stir in some of the spices. It’s going to sizzle, so be careful. Then spoon the oil over your fried chicken.
But wait… if I spoon hot oil over my chicken, isn’t it going to be messy? Um, yes. And that is exactly why you set a piece of white bread down first. The excess oil will soak into that bread and leave your sides alone.
Oh, and because it’s nice and oily, you need some vinegar to cut through the fat. This is where cold dill pickles come to play. Pile on as many as you like. I genuinely believe you need at least a bite of pickle with every bite. I mean… have you seen my hot chicken pizza recipe? I got nuts for the pickles with my Nashville hot chicken.
How to Battle the Heat
As you’re cooking, you should carefully adjust the amount of hot sauce and cayenne to your own heat tolerance. You won’t enjoy it if it’s too hot for you to eat. Know that the authentic stuff at Prince’s comes in six levels of heat.
However, we have all exceeded our own tolerance before. I once ignored the suggestion to try “just a drop” of a black salsa with unknown peppers in it. That evening, I gulped down glass after glass of milk trying to soothe my destroyed throat.
That said, milk, cream, sour cream, and ice cream are all solid contenders for neutralizing the hot oil on your palate. Plan for a dish of ice cream for dessert. Have a gallon of either 2% or whole milk in the fridge. Skim milk doesn’t work as well because it’s the fat that helps with the capsaicin.
Also, if you are drinking beer hoping it’ll help, it doesn’t. That’s a lie bars tell you to get you to drink more on free hot wing night. Some sources report that carbonation does neutralize the heat. If that’s the case, aim for a low alcohol beer, or just grab a Sprite. Otherwise, after such a spicy meal, you’ll be very drunk. Drink responsibly.
Tools You’ll Need
You’ll probably have these things in your kitchen already, but just in case, here are my recommendations:
- 2 wide bottom bowls for dredging. I have sets from Noritake Colorwave in raspberry.
- Sheet pan
- Wire rack for draining
- Cast iron pan for frying
If you need a vegan version to satiate other members of your party, don’t fret! I have you covered.
Comment below if you have questions, concerns, or opinions. And tag me @ellejayathome on Instagram or Twitter if you share pictures from any of my recipes. I love to hear from you!
Nashville Hot Chicken
Equipment
- 12-inch cast iron skillet
- 2 soup bowls or pie plates for breading station
- Medium mixing bowl with lid
Ingredients
Nashville Hot Chicken Marinade
- 4 pieces of chicken I used 2 breasts and 2 thighs.
- ½ cup non-fat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup water
- 2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 Tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp liquid smoke
Dredge and Breading
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 Tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 cups vegetable oil or canola oil for frying Do not discard oil after frying
Nashville Hot Chicken Oil Dip
- 1 cup reserved fry oil
- 2 Tbsp your favorite hot sauce I used Cholula
- 1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 Tbsp dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp paprika
To Serve
- 4 slices bread
- as many pickle slices as you'd like
Instructions
Nashville Hot Chicken Marinade
- Whisk the yogurt and water together until it's no longer lumpy. Then, combine all the marinade ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Add in the chicken, and flip the chicken around to make sure it's well-coated and submerged. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
Breading and Frying Chicken
- Add your fry oil to a large cast-iron skillet and heat it to 350ºF. Set a wire rack into a rimmed baking sheet. Place on the middle rack of your oven, and preheat the oven to 350ºF also.
- In one of two wide flat bowls or pie plates, whisk together two eggs.
- In the other bowl or pie plate, combine the flour and spices. Whisk well to combine.
- Place each piece of chicken first in the flour mixture, making sure to coat it well.
- Then, dip the chicken into the eggs, coating completely.
- Return it to the flour mixture. Make sure it is very well coated, and place it gently into the preheated fry oil. You can place all four pieces into the fry oil at the same time.
- After 5 minutes, flip your chicken to the other side. Fry for an additional 5 minutes. Remove the chicken from the oil, and place on the wire rack set into the rimmed baking sheet in your oven.
- Bake your chicken for an additional 20-30 minutes or until they each reach 165ºF at the thickest part.
Nashville Hot Oil Dip
- Collect 1 cup of the hot fry oil and whisk in the hot sauce, sugar, and seasonings.
- Dip the chicken into the hot oil and return to the wire rack. You could also pour the oil directly over the chicken, if you'd prefer.
- Place the dipped chicken onto a slice of bread and top with pickle chips.
