Bring A Taste of Nashville to Your Kitchen with Hattie B’s Hot Chicken Recipe

Ask anyone who lives in Music City about hot chicken and they will inform you that the food is a staple in many Nashvillians’ diets. With a kick of cayenne and a whole lot of fried chicken goodness, the Southern specialty has become a beloved part of the food culture in town that customers just want to eat up all year round!

Rather than having to travel hundreds of miles to test a taste of the spicy dish, Sounds Like Nashville wants to bring the hot chicken right to your household with a recipe from one of the hot spots in town that made the meal famous. Hattie B’s Hot Chicken boasts itself on piecing together a basket of fiery cluckers that make one’s mouth water (for heat level and taste)!

Although the recipe may require a dash of patience and a sprinkle of love, the hot chicken you’ll be chowing down when the dinner bell rings will make the wait absolutely worth it. Here is the knock-off recipe for Hattie B’s hot chicken, in celebration of Nashville’s Hot Chicken Week:

Hattie B’s Hot Chicken

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 8 hours

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, preferably weighing 3 lbs. and cut
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tbsp. Louisiana-style hot sauce
• 2 cups flour
• Sea salt
• Vegetable oil (to fry)
• ½ cup lard, melted
• 2 tbsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp. packed light brown sugar
• ½ tsp. paprika
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• Pickles

Directions:

1. To dry-brine the chicken overnight, toss in salt and pepper before covering and refrigerating the coated chicken.
2. In a large bowl, combine the whole milk, eggs and hot sauce. In another bowl, mix the flour and sea salt together.
3. Dip the chicken into the flour mixture, followed by the milk mixture and then in the flour mixture once more. Allow any extra excess flour to fall off the chicken.
4. Let the vegetable oil heat up in a deep fryer to 325˚F. Put a wire rack on top of a rimmed baking sheet and put to the side for later.
5. Dunk the chicken into the fryer in pieces, giving about 15-17 minutes for the breast and 18-20 minutes for the legs. Remove the chicken once fried to a crisp onto the wire rack to cool.
6. Get another bowl to place the melted lard into for the coating. Mix the cayenne, brown sugar, ¾ tsp. sea salt, 1 tsp. pepper, paprika and garlic powder together. Cover the fried chicken with the mixed coating and get ready to make your guests happy.
7. Serve with the pickles as garnish, and stuff your face immediately!