Fried chicken…fried chicken…fried chicken sandwich. Who doesn’t love something deep fried every now and then? This buttermilk fried chicken thigh is unbelievably juicy, tender, and crisp to perfection. That amazing crunch factor is the heart of this chicken sandwich. Served on butter toasted brioche bun with dill pickle slices, butter lettuce, and that homemade dill mayo sauce. This sandwich is everything and a bag of chips!
The Chicken..The Marinade
Type of Chicken
This recipe can be made with either chicken breast or chicken thighs. In fact, both cuts of meat were tested and both make a marvelous sandwich. But, to avoid extra steps such as cutting the chicken breast halved crosswise. We recommend using chicken thighs. Chicken thighs sometimes have darker meat, but produce a better tasty and juicy product. When using either option its important to trim off the access fat. As well as cutting the chicken thighs in half (vertically and/or horizontally). The reason for cutting is to make the fried chicken fit onto the bun and insure its thoroughly cooked. This recipe could be made with either skin-on or skin-less chicken thighs. If using the chicken breast, we recommend using skinless chicken breast.
Marinating the Chicken
Let’s focus now on marinating those beautiful chicken thighs. In a large bowl, add the following ingredients: buttermilk, hot sauce, dill pickle juice, salt, and fresh ground black pepper. The exact measurements can be found in the recipe below. Give the mixture a quick whisk. Then add in the chicken thighs or chicken breast. Make sure the chicken is completely submerged into the liquid mixture. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to marinate for 2-24 hours. But, for a more depth in flavor we recommend marinating overnight.
Why use the ingredients?
The hot sauce was used to provide a little heat. Any kind of hot sauce will work, this recipe used Tabasco. There’s always a bottle of it in our pantry. If you do not have any hot sauce, add about 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper instead. Why is pickle juice added? Pickle juice is rather acidic. In this marinade, pickle juice is tenderizing the chicken. Just like pickle juice, the buttermilk is also slightly acidic. And can also breakdown the collagen on meat to produce a tender flavorful fried chicken thigh.
Frying the Chicken
Now it’s time to cook the chicken. First things first, grab another medium/large sized bowl. Then add the following ingredients: all-purpose flour, salt, black pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Mix well. Then, in a large dutch oven add roughly 8 cups of peanut or vegetable oil. Start cooking the chicken when the deep-fry thermometer reaches 350 degrees F. Remove the marinated chicken from the refrigerator.
As the oil is heating, the chicken thighs will be dipped into the flour. First, remove all the chicken thighs from the buttermilk marinade. Pour some fresh buttermilk into a shallow bowl. Disregard the buttermilk/pickle juice marinade. Now dip the chicken into the flour. Shake off the excess flour. Then, dip the chicken into the buttermilk. Shake off the excess buttermilk. Finally, re-dip the chicken back into the flour mixture, shake off the excess flour. Fry the chicken thighs until golden brown and cooked thoroughly, about 5-8 minutes per batch. Transfer to a wire rack set aside on a cooking sheet. Sprinkle a little salt on top.
Assembling the Fried Chicken Sandwich
On to the final part of these amazing fried chicken sandwiches. If you fancy toasted buns, grab a large skillet. We like to use brioche buns because of its buttery goodness and overall look of the bun. But, really any kind of hamburger bun will work for the chicken sandwiches. To toast the buns add butter to both parts of the bun. Toasted them in the large skillet over medium-high heat, for roughly 30 seconds. When nice and golden brown, remove from the heat. Add a tablespoon of your favorite sauce, we recommend our dill aioli to the bottom half of the bun. Add the butter lettuce on top of the aioli, then add the fried chicken and a few pieces of dill pickle slices. If your a sauce fanatic add an additional tablespoon of the aioli on the top portion of the bun. If you like it spicy, add a few more drops of your favorite hot sauce.
Enjoy!
Ultimate Fried Chicken Sandwich
Equipment
- Deep Fry Thermometer
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 1½ cup Buttermilk
- 1/4 cup Dill pickle juice
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 tsp Fresh ground black pepper
- 2 tsp Hot sauce plus more for serving
- 6 Chicken thighs skinless or skin-on
Assembly and Fried Chicken
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 tsp Fresh ground black pepper
- 2 tsp Cayenne pepper
- 1 Tbsp Garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp Onion powder
- 1 Tbsp Paprika
- 6 Brioche hamburger buns
- 3 Tbsp Unsalted butter
- 8 cups Peanut or Vegetable oil
- 6 pieces Butter Lettuce
- Bread and butter pickles serving
- 1/2 cup Favorite Aioli
Instructions
The Marinade:
- In a large bowl, add the following ingredients: buttermilk, hot sauce, dill pickle juice, salt, and fresh ground black pepper. Give the mixture a quick whisk. Then add in the chicken thighs. Make sure the chicken is completely submerged into the liquid mixture. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to marinate for 2-24 hours. For more flavor we recommend marinating overnight.
Assembly:
- Whisk together flour, paprika, black pepper, kosher salt, onion powder, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder in a shallow bowl. Set aside.
- Pour oil into a large dutch oven fitted with a thermometer to come halfway up the side. Heat over medium-high until the thermometer reaches 350 degrees F.
- In a separate shallow bowl, add half a cup of buttermilk. Working with one piece of chicken at a time. Remove the chicken thigh from the marinade. Dip the chicken into the flour mixture. Shake off excess flour. Then dip the chicken into the buttermilk. Shake off the excess buttermilk. Re-dip the chicken thigh back into the flour mixture, shake off the excess flour.
- Fry the chicken thighs until golden brown and cooked thoroughly. About 5-8 minutes per batch. Transfer to a wire rack set aside on a cooking sheet. Sprinkle a little salt on top. Repeat for remaining chicken thighs.
- Spread butter onto both halves of the brioche buns. Heat a dry large skillet over medium heat. Work in batches. Cook the buns buttered side down until deep golden brown and crisp, approx. 1 minute. Spread the aioli on one side of the bun. Build the sandwiches with pickles, butter lettuce, fried chicken, and hot sauce if desired.