We are always trying to come up with new recipes for the summer that are crowd pleasing but also fairly easy to put together. Last year Hot Chicken Sandwiches became super popular so we wanted to take a stab at making a baked version that we could enjoy all summer long. Baking the chicken makes it so much easier to make this recipe for a larger group of people. There’s no need to fry only a few pieces at a time, since you’re baking the entire batch at once! These Baked Nashville Honey Hot Chicken Sandwiches still have the awesome crunch and flavor of the fried original, but are a little healthier! These sandwiches are great on their own but are also awesome paired with our Hawaiian Style Macaroni Salad. Enjoy!
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Baked Nashville Honey Hot Chicken Sandwiches
INGREDIENTS
Chicken
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts pounded to ½ inch thickness
- 1½ cup buttermilk
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
honey hot butter
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (1½ sticks) melted and divided
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- 4 burger buns lightly toasted
- 2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
- ½ cup buttermilk ranch
INSTRUCTIONS
- Lightly season chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper and place in a shallow baking dish.
- Pour buttermilk over chicken, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- In another shallow baking dish combine flour, breadcrumbs, garlic powder, turmeric, smoked paprika, baking powder, salt, and pepper.
- Preheat oven to 425˚F.
- Remove chicken breasts from buttermilk, one at a time, and dredge them in the flour mixture until fully coated, shaking off any excess.
- Transfer coated chicken to a well, greased cooling rack placed over a baking sheet, about 1 1/2 inches apart.
- Spoon 1 tablespoon melted butter over each piece of chicken and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until coating has browned and the chicken has cooked through.
- While chicken is baking, combine remaining 1/2 cup butter, honey, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and salt in a small mixing bowl and whisk together.
- Once chicken is done baking, remove from oven and brush spicy-honey butter all over each piece until well coated.
- To assemble: Spread ranch over the bottoms of each bun and top with a piece of honey hot chicken. Top chicken with a handful of shredded lettuce and more ranch. Place top buns over each sandwich and serve.
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This recipe is definitely amazing! I have tried it today because my mom came to visit me for the first time in new flat..She was impressed because we didn’t see for 1 month, she saw my flat for the first time and she flew away while eating these sandwiches! It was a perfect meal to eat for late dinner! What’s more, I added lettuce I have grown on my own on my balcony..It’s small but it can hold a few veggies! https://gardenseedsmarket.com/crisp-leaf-lettuce-regina-dei-ghiacci4.html – this lettuce is co crisp and almost perfect for such sandwiches and burgers. Thanks!
Super good recipe.
Really delicious and simple! Very versatile meal too
Could you substitute buttermilk with heavy whipping cream or milk?
I use buttermilk bc the slight amount of acidity tenderizes the chicken a little bit. If you don’t have buttermilk, I recommend adding a little bit of lemon juice or vinegar to some milk (about 1 teaspoon to 1 cup of milk) and letting the mixture sit for about 5 minutes and using that instead. It’s sort of a makeshift buttermilk!
Stores were out of buttermilk so I did buy heavy whipping cream because I hadn’t read comments. I’d hate to waste it, do you think I could add some lemon juice to it instead of milk? And if so, only soak for 5 minutes? Excited to try this!
I think that should be fine!
These sandwiches were amazing and super easy to make. Do you have any advice on how to keep the coating on when the chicken is done baking?
If you’re having trouble keeping the coating on, it’ll actually help to stick the coated pieces of chicken in the fridge until they chill (about 30 minutes) before baking them
Absolutely amazing. I did make mini chicken pieces to put on the Hawaiian sweet rolls and added slices of polish dill pickles. Soooooo good! And great for appetizers!
Ooh, love Hawaiian rolls! Glad you enjoyed!
Yummmmo ty for sharing so good hubby and I loved them and will definitely be putting these in our dinner rotation! Delicious!!
Hi, I want to make them tomorrow for a family dinner , i was just wondering how hot these really are? we all like a little spice but not where we are drinking water after every bite lol. What ingredient should i decrease if i dont want it too spicy?
Or do you think these arent that spcy. We all love Nashville hot chicken but we had it once where it was just too hot !
Hi Susan! I’d say there’s definitely a kick in these sandwiches! You can adjust the heat by lessening some of the cayenne pepper from the butter mixture. :) Hope you enjoy them!
Absolutely delicious! My husband and I loved them! They are restaurant quality! Will be making these often! Thank you!
These were fantastic! My family and I loved them! Make sure to coat every part of the chicken before putting it in the oven. That is what helps it brown???? . I also love how you can increase the cayenne to get more spice or decrease if you aren’t a fan of spice????
What is a good substitute for the turmeric? My grocery didn’t have any!
you can just omit it! its mainly for the color here, but the taste won’t change! :)
Hi,
Checking back in. The sandwiches turned out great! I recommend adding pickle chips! it was a great addition! Thanks for the recipe!
Awesome! So glad you liked it. Pickle chips sound really great too – such a good suggestion thank you!
A few things, 1. lightly season with what ? I did salt and pepper? 2. I assume the same measurements for the season (smoked paprika) for both the honey mixture and dredge, I also added the garlic to the dredge, it didn’t say. Chicken is in the oven. I will comment after we try it. I’m sure it’s a great recipe. Just please update with the exact directions. Thanks for sharing :)
This was so delicious!! I was wondering if almond flour could be used in replace of all purpose flour?
!I think so!…it may just not stick together quite as well, but should still work! Glad you enjoyed this recipe! :)
What does it mean by lightly season? With what?
We have made these twice so far. Absolutely delicious. We did, however, substitute olive oil spray on top of the chicken instead of drizzling the butter.
Glad you enjoy it!
Super good and fairly easy. Happy to bake them since there’s so much butter anyway!
In step 1 it says to lightly season chicken, what do you season it with? I don’t think I either added enough salt and/or cayenne.
I seasoned it like I would season any other meat I cook. Cajun seasoning Adoboe all purpose and salt and peppe
How long can I keep the chicken in the buttermilk? I’m thinking I want to do this step ahead of time. Thanks!
You can soak them for about 24 to 36 hrs…i wouldn’t soak them any longer as the chicken will begin to breakdown and will have a different texture
OMG This was AMAZING! Mind you, mine didn’t look a thing like the picture and we added pickles, tomatoes and lettuce. But this was so good! I hate chicken – but this recipe will have me eating chicken. We threw the garlic powder in with the dredge since it didn’t say where to put it. YUMMMY
The best spicy chicken sandwich I have had! These were restaurant worthy. I made them exactly like the recipe and they were perfect.
Could you use regular Italian bread crumbs??
Yes, the texture will just be a little different…you won’t get quite the same “crunch” but still delicious!
Made this it was amazing but i thought i might bring up the ingredients ask for garlic powder but it’s not in the directions.
Ah, thanks so much for letting me know! It’s for the “dredging mixture”…will update shortly!
My husband and I absolutely loved these. I love spice and his stomach can’t always tolerate it and this was a perfect medium for both of us. Great recipe!
Oh yay!! So glad you enjoyed them!!
These look seriously awesome! I LOVE hot chicken. The hotter the better. Nicely done.
This is a recipe where you can easily increase the spice too! Just add a little extra cayenne! I love spice too.