Fried Chicken Sandwich

Ronnie and I were in Detroit this year with Charlie and had the time of our stinking lives. It was the first time we stayed with her in a hotel and she was a dream come true. The hotel was also spectacular, which didn’t hurt. Just around the corner from the hotel was this fried chicken spot that had life changing fried chicken sandwiches and honey butter biscuits. I will eventually attempt the honey butter biscuit, but for today, we’re going to focus on the perfect fried chicken sandwich.

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Yields — 4

Cook time — 20 mins-ish

What You’ll Need

For your Fried Chicken

• 4 Chicken Thighs

• 4 Eggs

  • 1-2 tbs hot sauce

• 2 cups of Panko Bread Crumbs

  • 2 tbsps paprika

  • 2 tsps salt

  • 1 tsp garlic powder

  • 1 tsp pepper

  • 1 tsp onion powder

  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper

• 2 cups flour

  • 2 tbsps baking powder

• 4 cups of oil (ish) Note: I use avocado oil, but regardless of the oil you choose, you need enough to cover the bottom of your saute pan and have the oil be about 1/2” deep when it’s in there. For me, that’s around 4 cups, for you it could be more or less.

For your Sammies

• 1-2 tbs Hot sauce — Ronnie has a homemade hot sauce that’s to die for, but when I am not using that, I use Chalula

• 1/4 cup of Mayo — Blue Plate Mayo is what they use at Popeyes, so naturally, I think that’s what you should use

• 4 Buns — Get soft buns! I love these from Trader Joes

• 4-8 Pickle chips — You’ll want at least 1 dill pickle chip per sammy, IMO

• 1 cup Little Gem Lettuce — Freshly washed and dried little gem lettuce from Trader Joes is my go-to, it’s so crunchy and keeps shape so well on a sammy

• (optional) 4 slices of Pepper Jack Cheese — I don’t serve my sammies with cheese, but some people like it, so if you must, I recommend a slice of pepper jack.

How to Make

• In a small bowl, combine your mayo and hot sauce creating a spicy mayo mixture that you’ll eventually put on your sammies.

• In a large Saute Pan, preheat your oil to 350°. Right wrong or otherwise, I dump my oil into my saute pan, making sure the entire pan is coated and has enough oil to be about 1/2” deep. Once this is going, we can focus on prep, knowing that our oil will be ready when we are!

• Now, let’s set up our dredge stations. You’ll need three stations (flour, egg wash, and panko), I find it easiest to use Pasta Bowls for each station. If you’re taking this approach:

  • In one bowl, dump your flour and baking soda, mixing with a fork to combine.

  • In a separate bowl, whisk your four eggs with ~1-2 tbs of hot sauce.

  • In the third bowl, dump your panko mix and spices, mixing with a fork to combine.

• It’s time to prep our chicken for dredging. On a cutting board, dry each thigh off, covering the four of them in plastic wrap. Get out your rolling pin pound the meat to tenderize, as well as to create a consistent thickness across each of the four thighs. The more consistent the thickness, the more evenly they will cook for you.

• Now, let’s dredge. Uncover your chicken thighs, and one thigh at a time, you’re going to:

  • First dredge in the flour/baking powder mix.

  • Then, dredge in your egg/hot sauce wash.

  • Finally, dredge in your panko/spice mix.

  • Repeat this process a second time — more flour, more egg, more panko.

  • Once you’ve completed your second dredge, set this thigh aside on a plate. R

  • epeat this double-dredge for each of your thighs.

• Okay, so your chicken thighs are ready to rock! Bring them over to your hot af oil and let’s check the oil temp before we do anything else.

  • Pinch a little panko off one of your chicken thighs and drop it into the oil.

    • Does it immediately vigorously sizzle fry? If so, that means your oil is hot and ready.

    • If not, turn up the heat and try this again in 5 mins. You want to make sure your oil is HOT HOT HOT.

• Once that oil is up to temp, drop in your first chicken thigh and let it fry for about 5 mins on each side. NOTE: Chicken is cooked through at 165°, so take the temperature throughout the process and once it’s cooked through (or close) pull it from the fry. This might be quicker or slower depending on how hot your oil is and how thick your thighs are.

  • Pro-tip, I cook two thighs at a time. It ensures that my oil stays hot and that I get a good fry for every thigh that I’m frying.

• With your fried chicken done, you’re ready to compile sammies!

• For each sammie —

  • Grab one bun (bonus points if you grill the buns, or give them a quick warm up in the oven), and coat the top bun with your mayo/hot sauce mixture.

  • On the bottom bun layer things this way: Bun, fried chicken thigh, mayo/hot sauce, lettuce, pickle, mayo-coated top bun.

  • Now, while it’s still hot, bite into the most heavenly fried chicken sammy ever.

Enjoy!