These Nashville Hot Chicken Tenders are crispy and spicy on the outside and juicy and moist on the inside. They are sure to impress your family and friends and taste delicious! Serve with fries, in a burger, sweet potato fries, salad and more.
About this Recipe
You’ve probably seen these Nashville hot chicken tenders floating around Instagram and TikTok along with the infamous TikTok Garlic Bread. Nashville hot chicken tenders are crispy and deep-fried chicken pieces that are marinated in a mix of spices such as cajun pepper, cayenne pepper and garlic powder. Then they are left to soak in buttermilk and hot sauce and, are coated in a seasoned flour mix before frying.
There are lots of different variations of the Nashville hot chicken tenders recipe. You can use Nashville hot sauce or any other hot sauce of your choice and you can also cook the Nashville hot tenders in an air fryer or oven instead of frying.
Once the Nashville chicken strips are done you can serve them however you like as an appetizer or side. Some people coat the Nashville hot chicken strips in hot sauce and others serve the sauce on the side. Hot Nashville chicken tenders go well in burger buns, fries, salads and more.
TikTok Nashville Chicken Tenders Ingredients
- Chicken fillets: Use fresh or frozen chicken fillets for this recipe. If you are using frozen chicken then allow it to thaw before preparing the tenders.
- Cayenne pepper: Cayenne pepper is really important for this recipe so don’t skip it.
- Paprika: Use regular or smoked paprika.
- Cajun powder: Cajun powder is a tasty spice blend that will add a burst of flavor to the chicken.
- Garlic powder: It’s best to use garlic powder for this recipe as it is easier to combine it with the flour mixture.
- Onion powder: The same goes for the onion powder. Use powder insted of fresh onion as it is easier to mix with the flour.
- Black pepper: to taste
- Salt to taste: to taste
- Buttermilk: Soaking the chicken in buttermilk is essential as it is used to tenderize the chicken and make it extra juicy.
- Nashville hot sauce: The seasoned chicken tenders are soaked in Nashville hot sauce or your favorite hot sauce with buttermilk to add extra spicy flavor. It also gives the chicken tenders there notorious reddish-brown color.
- Sunflower or Vegetable Oil: For frying.
How to Make TikTok Nashville Chicken Tenders
1. First cut the chicken vertically and place them in a bowl and then add all the seasoning into the bowl.
2. Next, rub the seasoning into the chicken well. Then pour buttermilk into the bowl.
3. Then, pour in hot sauce and mix the buttermilk and hot sauce with the chicken until well combined. Cover the chicken with cling film and leave the chicken to marinate in the fridge for 1- 4 hours.
4. Next, prepare the flour mixture by adding flour, salt, cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic powder to a bowl and mixing well. Once the chicken has marinated, toss them in the flour mixture
Tip: Do not add too much salt when seasoning the flour as there is already salt in the chicken.
5. Then, deep fry the chicken strips in hot oil for 6-8 minutes or until done and place the chicken tenders on a paper towel to drain the excess oil.
6. Finally, serve KFC Nashville tenders as an appetizer or side alongside, sweet potato fries, wedges, burger buns or salad.
Tips and Tricks
- Buttermilk: The buttermilk is really important in this recipe when marinating the chicken. It softens the chicken and allows the spices to be fully absorbed into the chicken. You can substitute the buttermilk by adding a tablespoon of white vinegar to a cup (240ml/250ml) of milk and allow it to sit for 10-15 minutes.
- Oil: The oil temperature should be hot enough to fry the chicken. However, make sure it is not too hot as you don’t want the chicken pieces to burn. The ideal temperature of the oil should be about 350 and 365 F.
- Frying: Frying time of the chicken should be for 6-8 minutes at 350 – 365 F.
- Deep fryer: This recipe can be made in a deep fryer. You will just need to set the temperature of the deep fryer before frying your chicken tenders.
- Shallow frying: This may not be suitable for this recipe as the chicken needs to be cooked thoroughly and this may not be achieved with shallow frying.
FAQs
Nashville tenders contain some cayenne pepper and sometimes some chili pepper, it is not particularly too spicy. It does have a bit of a kick in terms of spice but it’s bearable. The spice is at a medium level.
KFC Nashville hot tenders are a popular chicken dish served at most KFC stores. They are made by deep-frying chicken pieces which have been marinated in spices and buttermilk and coated with flour. It is usually served with hot sauce or Nashville hot sauce.
Nashville hot chicken tenders are crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. They are a bit spicy as the spice mix includes cayenne pepper and/or chili pepper. The spice level is usually tolerable for most people and it can be adjusted to suit your personal preference.
Nashville hot chicken tenders can be served alongside some delicious sides like coleslaw, potato salad, fries, baked beans and corn on the cob. Alternatively, you can serve the hot chicken tenders on their own, with hot sauce, or with a dip of your choice.
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Nashville Hot Chicken Tenders
Equipment
- 1 Large Bowl
Ingredients
- 500 g of chicken fillets
- 2 tsp of Cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp of Paprika
- 1 tsp of Cajun powder
- 1/2 tsp of Garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp of Onion powder
- 1/4 tsp of Black pepper
- 1.25 tsp or Salt to taste
- 1 cup of buttermilk
- 1/2 cup of Nashville hot sauce
Flour Mixture
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1/2 tsp of Paprika
- 1/2 tsp of Cayenne
- 1/4 tsp of Garlic powder
- 1 tsp or salt to taste
Instructions
- Chop chicken fillets vertically into half then add them to a bowl. Add cayenne pepper, paprika, Cajun powder, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt and rub ingredients into the chicken.
- Next, pour buttermilk and hot sauce into the bowl and mix with the chicken until well combined. Leave the chicken to marinate for 1-4 hours.
- Meanwhile, prepare the flour mixture. Add flour, salt, cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic powder to a bowl and mix well.
- Once the hot chicken tenders have finished marinating, coat them in the flour mixture. Heat oil in a deep fryer or pan and fry on both sides for 6-8 minutes. Place hot chicken tenders on a paper towel to soak up any excess oil. Serve as desired
Notes
- Oil: The oil temperature should be hot enough to fry the chicken. However, make sure it is not too hot as you don’t want the chicken pieces to burn. The ideal temperature of the oil should be about 350 and 365 F.
- Frying: Frying time of the chicken should be for 6-8 minutes at 350 – 365 F.
- Deep fryer: This recipe can be made in a deep fryer. You will just need to set the temperature of the deep fryer before frying your chicken tenders.
These chicken strips are SOO flavorful! I could not get enough. I made these for my family for dinner last night and everyone loved them!
I absolutely loved these chicken tenders! They were packed with flavor. One of the best parts was my kids asking for seconds!
I’m glad the kids approved!
I’ve been wanting to make nashville chicken for awhile and came across this recipe. This was pure perfection! They were so flavorful and not super hot. Will definitely be making these again.
I don’t know how those Nashville chicken tenders from tik tok taste, but I know these were FIRE! So juicy and crunchy at the same time. I’m totally making them again.
These chicken tenders cleared my sinuses right up lol. I turned them into mini sliders for a gathering, adding a little ranch dressing to make that combo of cool heat. So good!
They were good as an entree but even better in a sandwich. My family was ecstatic.
We loved these so much, I’ve already made them twice this week! The flavors and heat level are just perfect.
These chicken tenders were delicious! Juicy inside, crunchy outside and with just the perfect amount of heat. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it Kate!