Description
These Nashville Hot Chicken Sliders feature spicy, crispy, and juicy fried chicken tenders served on soft slider buns with tangy coleslaw, sliced pickles, and a flavorful homemade sauce. Perfectly double-fried for extra crunch and coated in a fiery hot sauce, these sliders deliver authentic Southern heat in bite-sized form.
Ingredients
Scale
Chicken Marinade / Dredge
- 6-8 chicken tenders
- 2 egg whites
- 1 cup buttermilk (240 g) (or 1 cup milk + 1 tbsp vinegar/lemon juice)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Flour Coating / Breading
- 1 cup all purpose flour (130 g)
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Deep Frying
- 2 inches vegetable oil for frying
Nashville Hot Sauce
- 2-3 tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 ½ tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ cup hot vegetable oil (from frying skillet)
Coleslaw
- 1 ½ cups shredded cabbage (mix of purple and green)
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp vinegar
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
Slider Sauce
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup ketchup
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of pepper
Assembly
- 12 mini slider buns or 6-8 full sized buns
- 2-4 pickles, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Prepare Marinade: Remove tendons and fat from chicken tenders. If using mini slider buns, cut tenders in half. In a bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg whites, salt, and pepper. Add chicken tenders, coat well, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
- Prep Other Ingredients: While chicken marinates, mix shredded cabbage, mayo, sugar, vinegar, salt, and pepper to make coleslaw. In a separate bowl, combine mayo, ketchup, salt, and pepper for slider sauce. Thinly slice pickles.
- Coat Chicken: Mix flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish. Remove chicken from marinade one piece at a time, shaking off excess liquid. Dip in flour mixture, coat well, shake off excess, dip back in marinade, then coat again with flour mixture. Place coated tenders on a wire rack. Rest for about 20 minutes while heating oil.
- First Fry: Heat vegetable oil to 350F in a large skillet or wok. Fry one-third to half of chicken tenders for 5-6 minutes, turning halfway through. Chicken will be cooked but light in color. Drain and rest on wire rack. Repeat with remaining chicken.
- Second Fry: After waiting 10-15 minutes, reheat oil to 350F. Fry chicken again for 2-3 minutes until deep golden and crispy. Drain on wire rack.
- Make Nashville Hot Sauce: In a bowl, combine cayenne pepper, paprika, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Carefully remove ½ cup hot oil from skillet and whisk into the spice mixture to create the sauce.
- Coat Chicken with Sauce: As each piece finishes second fry, immediately dip into the hot Nashville sauce using tongs to coat evenly. Place back on wire rack over a baking sheet to catch drips.
- Assemble Sliders: Warm slider buns. Spread a generous amount of slider sauce on bottom bun half, add sliced pickles, then a piece of Nashville hot chicken. Top with coleslaw and cover with the bun top.
- Serve: Serve sliders hot and enjoy the perfect blend of spicy, crunchy chicken with creamy coleslaw and tangy pickles.
Notes
- These sliders are best eaten fresh to enjoy their crispy texture.
- You can halve the recipe for smaller batches.
- Chicken can be frozen after coating with flour but before frying for later use.
- To reheat cooked chicken, air fry at 300F until crispy again for best results.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 mini slider
- Calories: 280 kcal
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 12 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 14 g
- Cholesterol: 45 mg
