No matter what your position on fast food chicken may be, I’m pretty sure we can all come together and agree that this chicken sandwich is delicious! This chicken sandwich tastes A LOT like a spicy chicken sandwich from either Wendy’s or McDonalds. You can modify the spice level to suit your family’s taste. I made ours moderately spicy, and we all loved it! My four year old who doesn’t really care for meat, gobbled his entire piece of chicken up! Our 20 month old even ate it!
Here is what you’ll need to make this “Fast Food Spicy Chicken Sandwich.”
Ingredients
For the Brine:
Water
1/4 cup table salt
1/4 t – 1t pepper (adjust the amount of pepper in your brine depending on the level of “heat” you would like)
Chicken breasts to feed your family
For the Breading:
(This amount of breading coated 4 chicken breasts. Adjust for more/less.)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 t baking powder (not soda)
1 T pepper (add more if you want a spicier flavor!)
2 t paprika
2 t salt (you could also try using seasoning salt instead of regular salt)
2 t sugar
1/2 t cayenne (if you want a REALLY spicy flavor)
1/2 c. milk (or buttermilk)
1 egg
(Again, if you wanted really spicy chicken, you could add pepper or cayenne to this mixture…just be careful…a little goes a long way!)
Oil for frying (I used canola.)
To Prepare
1. Cover your chicken breasts (thawed) in water, and add the salt and pepper. Allow your chicken to soak 6-8 hours, or overnight. (This is a meal you have to pre-plan.) (*I am always paranoid about serving pink chicken, so I pounded my chicken breasts until they were pretty flat, to ensure quick cooking.)
2. Mix together the dry ingredients. Make sure to stir well, so the spice is well -distributed! (*I mixed my breading in a 13×9 pan, which made it very easy to coat the chicken!) (*Get your oil heating up!)
3. Mix together the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.(*Use a bowl large enough to dunk your chicken breasts in…saves you a dish!)
4. Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry. Dip each chicken breast in the milk/egg mixture, and then coat with the breading. Pack the breading onto each breast as much as you can, making sure to coat both sides.
5. Carefully lower each piece of chicken into a pan of hot oil. Your burner should be on med-high heat, but adjust if the oil is cooking too hot, or starting to burn the chicken. No one wants to eat burnt oil tasting anything.
6. Cook the chicken for about 4 minutes per side. The coating should be a nice golden brown.
7. The chicken will be crispier if you serve it immediately. I had to do mine in batches, and the first pieces that had to sit under foil, were not quite as crispy…still tasty though! Serve on the bun of your choice with desired toppings. (I like ketchup and pickles!)
Enjoy this sizzling little sandwich!
