Use my reader-favorite easy brioche buns recipe to make the BEST Fried Chicken Sandwich ever! There are times when you just need a good fried chicken sandwich, and nothing else hits the spot the same way. And I love me a good fried chicken sandwich (the good kind, not the KFC kind). I usually fry my own when the cravings hit, but there’s a great fried chicken place in Ottawa that has soon become one of our favorites. Yet there’s nothing like a homemade fried chicken sandwich. And for this recipe, I prefer to fry my own. That way I can make the chicken as flavorful as possible! 🙂
Fried chicken
If you’ve tried my spicy fried chicken sandwich (Nashville style fried chicken) before, you know we like it hot and spicy! And I mean haaawwwt. This chicken sandwich is a little more shy and reserved in comparison. But the flavors are just as bold and robust. I marinate the chicken here with a simple buttermilk marinade, with added flavors like garlic, onion, hot sauce, paprika, salt and sugar.
I’ve been using potato starch as the coating for fried chicken for awhile now, and it’s been a game changer! It makes the chicken coating super light, yet becomes super crispy when fried!
Even if you don’t have potato starch, you can use cornstarch (cornflour) instead. This makes the fried chicken gluten free too!
If you don’t have either of these, then you can use good ol’ flour. The coating will be a little heavier, but you know it’ll taste just as fantastic!
I highly recommend using a meat thermometer to make sure the chicken is cooked through. It takes the guesswork out of the frying process.
Once the chicken is fried, you can place it on a wire rack and in a warm oven, which keeps it warm and crispy until you’re ready to assemble that glorious sandwich.
Mayonnaise
Though we love mayonnaise, we don’t eat it often. And I always prefer to make my own mayonnaise. But 1 cup of mayonnaise usually lasts us a whole week, and homemade mayo simply doesn’t have the same shelf life as store-bought mayonnaise. So I do understand the allure of store-bought mayo. For my spicy aioli and for this fried chicken sandwich, I use store-bought mayonnaise. But you can certainly make your own. Homemade aioli tastes SO MUCH better, like a lot of other homemade goodies. This aioli is super simple and super tasty! I added hot sauce, black pepper, mustard, garlic and balsamic vinegar to the mayonnaise, and then whisked it until done. To REALLY elevate the flavor of your mayonnaise, you can substitute the garlic with fermented black garlic! The result is a smoky, slightly sweet, tangy mayonnaise that you just might be tempted to eat like pudding… Probably. Not that I’ve ever tried that. Not ever!
Fillings
I keep the other fillings pretty simple. Since we love all things spicy, I added spicy pickles. I also served these sandwiches with a hearty avocado coleslaw. There are times when I’d skip the pickles and add KIMCHI instead. And holy cow, is that good! I’ll be sharing my version of Korean style fried chicken sandwich on the blog in the future too! 🙂 Other options for fillings include sliced tomatoes, lettuce, French fries or potato chips, red onions, caramelized onion, cheese, bacon etc.
The bun
So one thing I’d like to get out of the way is… when I first moved to the US, I used to wonder why these were called chicken sandwiches. Being Kiwi, chicken inside a bread bun is a burger for me. But in North America, it’s a chicken sandwich. But semantics aside, we can all agree that the actual bun is a really crucial part of a kick-ass fried chicken sandwich-burger-thingy. So let’s talk bread options. Here, I used my brioche bun recipe. These were homemade buns, and are incredibly soft, buttery, and just so mmmmm! You can also use milk bread buns, which are also pillowy soft and delicious! Regular homemade burger buns are also perfect for this recipe. You can use my popular hot dog bun recipe (regular hot dog buns or New England style hot dog buns), and make burger buns instead with it. OR you can use store-bought buns too of course. Make ’em white, whole wheat or any other kind you like to eat! Since the fried chicken here is gluten free, you can make this into a gluten free fried chicken sandwich by using gluten free buns. Make sure to toast the bread lightly on a heated pan, so you have a toasty caramelized surface on your buns. Toasty buns are the best buns!
Assembly
Assembling the fried chicken sandwich isn’t rocket science. At least, it shouldn’t be. I like to slap the mayonnaise on the top and bottom buns. The mayonnaise is so good, it deserves a spread on both halves. Since I’m only adding pickles, I add the pickles to the base, and place the chicken on top. I sometimes like to place a slice of cheese over the chicken too, but I didn’t do that for the fried chicken sandwiches in these pictures. I guarantee once you’ve had a bite of these buttermilk marinated, crispy fried chicken sandwiches with spicy aioli, and buttery brioche buns, your KFC trips will be a thing of the past! 😀
