Fried Chicken Sandwich

Name: Fried Chicken Sandwich
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Southern
Ingredients: 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, split hoizontally; 2 quarts peanut oil; 2 teaspoons paprika; 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper; 1 cup buttermilk; 2 eggs; 12 dill pickle chips; 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 tablespoon baking powder; 4 soft hamburger buns or potato rolls; 1/2 cup and a few tablespoons kosher salt, divided; 1/4 cup sugar sugar

May 05, 2019

I found out about J. Kenji López-Alt’s #betterthanchickfila challenge on twitter and I was excited to see that he has deconstructed the fried chicken sandwich recipe in his food lab.

If you make this sandwich at home and post it to twitter or instagram with the hashtag #betterthanchickfila before June 2019, he and several organizations will donate to the Our Family Coalition, which advocates for LGBTQ ffamilies with children.

Actually, let me put my money where my mouth is. Make a fried chicken sandwich at home, shoot a photo, tag it #betterthanchickfila in the next 3 months, and I will donate $10 to @ourfamily, up to $1k total. If you prefer, make any size donation, tag proof, and I’ll donate $10. https://t.co/nmSE92ndQT
— J. Kenji “Individual Fun” López-Alt (@kenjilopezalt) March 21, 2019

The recipe he shares is really easy to do at home and tastes amazing, so you can cook a great meal and support an amazing cause at the same time!

4 servings

50 mins

10 mins

60 mins

Ingredients

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, split hoizontally
2 quarts peanut oil
2 teaspoons paprika
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
12 dill pickle chips
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
4 soft hamburger buns or potato rolls
1/2 cup and a few tablespoons kosher salt, divided
1/4 cup sugar sugar

Equipment

Instructions

Prepare a brine of 1/2 cup kosher salt, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 quart of water. Place the split chicken breasts in a large ziploc bag and cover with the brine. Let refrigerate for several hours, or overnight.
Prepare one bowl of the cayenne, paprika, black pepper, flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
Prepare another bowl of the buttermilk and eggs and whisk together.
In the cast iron skillet, heat the peanut oil or shortening to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Working individually, dip each cutlet into the milk mixture and then into the dry flour mixture. Pile the flour on top of the cutlet and brush the excess off.
Lower the breaded chicken cutlets individually into the hot oil. Adding the chicken breasts will lower the oil temperature- continue to monitor the temperature using an instant-read thermometer to maintain a temperature around 350 degrees.
After 2 minutes, flip the chicken carefully using a metal spatula. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Transfer the fried chicken to a resting rack.
Place 3 pickle slices on each bottom bun and a place a fried chicken piece on each one. Serve immediately.
Place 3 pickle slices on each bottom bun and a place a fried chicken piece on each one. Serve immediately.