Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich

5 from 1 vote

Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich

Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwiches are made in the air fryer with breaded chicken and a homemade Nashville hot sauce that brings the heat! Top 'em off with dill pickles on a buttery bun and it's the perfect sandwich!

Prep Time5

Cook Time15

Total Time20

Course: Chicken, Main Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: sandwiches

Calories: 771kcal

Author: Karly Campbell

Ingredients

For the chicken:

4 breaded chicken breast filets see notes

For the sauce:

½ cup butter see notes
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper more to taste - see notes
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika

For assembling the sandwiches:

4 brioche buns
2 tablespoons butter softened
Dill pickles

Instructions

To make the chicken:

If using frozen breaded chicken filets, air fry according to package instructions.
If using our recipe for air fryer chicken sandwiches (highly recommend - so good), bread and air fry as directed in the recipe.
As soon as the chicken is finished cooking, whisk together sauce to combine as much as possible and use a pastry brush to liberally brush the sauce over both sides of each piece of chicken. Be sure to coat the chicken well.

To make the sauce:

While the chicken is cooking, add the butter to a small sauce pan over medium heat and let melt.
Once melted, add the remaining ingredients and whisk well to combine. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. Do not let the spices burn. The mixture will not be smooth or well combined - the spices will stay separate from the butter and may clump together a bit.
Remove from the heat. Stir well before serving.

To assemble:

While the chicken is cooking, butter the insides of each bun and toast until golden brown on a skillet over medium heat.
Place a saucy chicken filet over each bun and top with dill pickle slices.

Notes

Chicken: We love our air fryer chicken sandwich recipe, but totally understand that it can feel like a lot when you’re also making a sauce. These frozen chicken breast filets are the next best thing.

Sauce: Nashville hot sauce is originally made by pouring the hot oil leftover from frying chicken over the spices. We don’t often deep fry chicken in our house, so we’re using butter in place of frying oil and we prefer this flavor. For a more traditional flavor, use hot canola or vegetable oil in place of the butter.

For extra heat, use up to 4 tablespoons of cayenne. As is, we think this is pretty spicy, but still manageable.

The sauce will never come together into a smooth, traditional style sauce. The spices and butter will separate - this is natural and expected with Nashville hot sauce. Stir well before tossing with fried chicken to incorporate the spices into the butter as much as possible.

You could easily skip the honey and double the brown sugar, but we like the texture the honey gives the sauce.

Assembly: Dill pickles seem to be the classic topping for these sandwiches, but I also like them with a creamy, cool coleslaw on top. Helps tame the heat a bit! If you don’t add slaw, a layer of mayo is always welcome!

Nutrition