Well holy shit, I’m about to write a blog post about leftovers. I made what I considered to be a fantastic Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich, and it was so good, that the leftovers made for the best Chicken Salad I’ve ever had. So good in fact that whenever I want to make chicken salad in the future, I’ll need to go through the process of making the Nashville Hot Chicken, only to resist eating it all and hand shredding the leftovers on day 2. Like seriously, what the fuck?
This is a 2 for 1 special right here. I’m giving you 2 meals with this one. The Nashville Hot Chicken which you can toss on some bread or a bun with pickles and/or slaw…….and the best leftover chicken salad recipe you’ll ever see. Normally I’d say the key to a good recipe is in the process, or in the ingredients, or in the components that make up the dish……but the key to this chicken salad…….is to not eat all of the great fried chicken you’re about to make!
I’m not telling you to not eat the chicken right out of the pan. Do that! Follow the recipe and when the chicken is done frying, you should definitely eat it. I’m just telling you not to eat ALL of it. This recipe will yield you about 8 good pieces of chicken. So, make some sandwiches, and enjoy them thoroughly. But please reserve about 4-6 pieces to be used in this chicken salad on day 2.
It’s a chicken salad. It’s chicken, mayo, celery, parsley and red onion. It’s not fancy. It’s not something hard to comprehend. It’s not even something I meant to make. I made Nashville Hot Chicken…..and then because I got full and couldn’t eat anymore, it turned into a chicken salad. It turned into the best chicken salad, ever.
You’re probably thinking “enough rambling you mother clucker, give me the recipe”!
Nashville Hot Chicken (Salad)
Ingredients
Brine
- 8 pieces of chicken I used 4 large chicken breasts that I cut in half to get to the 8 total pieces. Basically you want 8 pieces about the size of your hand, so mix and match with thighs if you'd like. If you're going to each it on a sandwich first before making the chicken salad, I'd recommend using boneless pieces.
- 10 cups water
- 1 cup franks red hot sauce or any other hot sauce you prefer
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup salt
For frying the chicken post-brine
- 2 cups vegetable oil
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
For the Hot Oil
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 4 tbsp cayenne
- 2 tbsp red pepper flakes
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 4 tbsp butter
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
Salad Components
- 2 stalks of celery sliced thin
- 1/2 red onion diced
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 cup mayonnaise
Instructions
For the Brine
- Combine all brine ingredients except for the chicken into a large stock pot and heat over medium heat until everything is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Once the brine is well mixed, allow to naturally cool to room temperate. When the brine has cooled to room temperature, add the chicken making sure to submerge each piece in the brine. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, or overnight if you're able to.
Hot Oil Mixture
- Heat the 1/4 cup of vegetable oil over medium heat in a small saucepan, and to that, add remaining ingredients. Stir to incorporate, then set aside until all of the chicken has been fried. Pour over the fried chicken in a large mixing bowl and gently stir to coat each piece.
For frying the chicken
- Remove chicken from the brine and pat dry. Place the chicken on paper towels or a drying rack and allow them to come to room temperature and dry out even more, about 30 minutes.
- Add the flour, salt and pepper to a shallow dish to dredge the chicken and mix well.
- Bring the vegetable oil up to 350 degrees. Use a thermometer, it will help you from burning the chicken and to ensure that you don't fill your kitchen with smoke. You want the oil to be around 350 degrees, and not much higher. When you drop the chicken into the oil it will slightly lower the temperature, however you want to bring it back to 350 and keep it there for the duration of the fry. Any higher and you'll burn the outside of the chicken.
- Once the oil has reached 350 degrees and is holding there consistently, take a piece of chicken and coat it in the dredge, shaking off any excess. Slowly place the well coated piece of chicken into the oil. The oil should come up about halfway on the chicken. Fry for 10 minutes and then flip the chicken over, being careful of the hot oil. You will fry for another 10 minutes on the opposite side, so 20 total minutes of frying. You can use a meat thermometer at any point to check the internal doneness of the chicken which should be at least 160 degrees. You do not want to overcrowd the pan so only fry chicken 3-4 pieces at a time.
- Once the chicken has completed it's fry, transfer the pieces to a large mixing bowl, and to that bowl add the "hot oil" mixture. Swirl the pieces of chicken around the bowl while trying to evenly coat all pieces in the "hot oil" mixture.
Chicken Salad
- Combine the shredded chicken, celery, red onion, parsley and mayo in a large mixing bowl and mix until well combined.
