I attempted to recreate a Popeyes fried chicken sandwich but instead created a cross between that and a Chick-fil-A sandwich. The best of both worlds is thus obtained, and this homemade version never runs out, not even on Sundays.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 5 mins |
| Additional Time: | 2 hrs 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 40 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 sandwiches |
Ingredients
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 dash hot sauce, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon dry ranch dressing mix (such as Hidden Valley Ranch®)
- 4 (5 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoons cayenne pepper (Optional)
- 1 tablespoon dry ranch dressing mix (such as Hidden Valley Ranch®)
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup milk
- canola oil for frying
- 4 soft hamburger buns, toasted and buttered
- 6 tablespoons mayonnaise, or to taste
- 12 dill pickle slices, or to taste
Instructions
- Whisk buttermilk, salt, hot sauce, and ranch dressing mix together in a large bowl. Cut diagonal slits into the thick ends of chicken breasts and toss into marinade until well coated. Transfer to the refrigerator to marinate for 2 to 4 hours.
- Meanwhile, make the breading: Mix flour, cornstarch, salt, pepper, cayenne, and ranch dressing mix together in a shallow dish.
- Make the wash: Whisk egg, buttermilk, and milk together in another bowl until combined.
- Use a fork to pull chicken from marinade, letting any excess drip off. Dip into the breading to coat both sides; shake off any excess. Dip into egg wash mixture to saturate surface; return to breading to coat, shake off excess, and repeat once more. Let sit on a wire rack to dry, at least 15 minutes.
- Heat oil in a deep-fryer to between 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Fry chicken breasts in the hot oil until golden, crispy, and no longer pink in the centers, 4 to 5 minutes, flipping halfway through. Transfer to a plate topped with crinkled up aluminum foil to prevent bottoms from getting soggy.
- Spread mayonnaise over hamburger bun halves. Stuff with pickles and chicken.
- You really want to do this with a smaller, flatter breast than the one I used in the video. The meat-to-crunchy coating ratio should be closer to 2-to-1 than 4-to-1.
- You can also pan-fry this in about 1 inch of oil in a cast iron skillet.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 811 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 75 g |
| Cholesterol | 140 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 37 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 3182 mg |
| Sugars | 6 g |
| Fat | 40 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I made as written except for the hot sauce. I don’t like that flavor. I loved that I can use cold, crisp pickles out of my fridge, instead of the warm and wimpy ones from the fast food places.
I can’t speak to how it compares to the restaurants, but my family absolutely loves these. I didn’t change the recipe at all.
We boycott chick fil a so I can’t compare as I’ve never eaten there. But this was a good sandwich. I didn’t have buttermilk so took a step from another Chef John recipe and marinated the flattened breasts in pickle juice (with brown sugar and cayenne) for about an hour. I made the breading as instructed, dipping 2 or 3 times between the egg/milk and the breading, then fried in a cast iron skillet (not deep fry) 5-6 minutes on each side. Then, I melted some Swiss cheese on them and served on brioche buns with mayo and bunch of pickles. Yummy!
Excellent. Loved the flavor and texture.
This is the best fried chicken I’ve ever made at home, didn’t change a thing.
These were delicious! The only change I made was to use boneless chicken thighs instead of chicken breast. Would definitely make again and wouldn’t change A thing.
Scrumptious !
This is a very tasty sandwich that I will definitely make again. I cut the breasts in half horizontally to make two thinner pieces, then pounded them out to 1/2 inch. They fit the jumbo burger buns perfectly. Slather on the mayo,it is great with the chicken and pickle slices. Wish I would have got a pic, oh well next time. And that will be soon. The coating adhered great too!
I loved the crunchiness of the coating but this was way too salty for us. I think my dry ranch mix was high in sodium. We did not think it was very spicy so I will add more cayenne next time. I dipped a total of 3 times and that was a lot of breading. Next time I will just dip twice. Chicken was really juicy!
Delish very crispy and tasty maybe a bit too much of the Hidden Valley Ranch flavor for me. Will reduce the Hidden Valley Ranch next time by half.,
I made this for my BF who is a fan of the Popeye’s spicy chicken sandwich. The only thing I did differently was to use boneless, skinless thighs. He prefers those cuts vs breasts, and it worked out way juicer! I also found a recipe for the spicy mayonnaise which made the man even happier!
So first off, I’m not certain how much this tastes like either Chick-fil-A or Popeye’s but it was delicious. I followed the entire recipe to a T as far as the marinade, wash and breading but made chicken tenders instead of sandwiches using breast tenderloin filets. We all loved it!! I cut back a tad on the cayenne pepper so probably only used about 1 tsp and I made my own buttermilk using the milk combined with lemon juice. The chicken was super moist and the breading extremely flavorful-it didn’t even need salt or pepper afterwards. I served the chicken fingers will ranch, honey mustard and BBQ dipping sauces. My BF (who’s not a huge fan of chicken) said multiple times during dinner “this chicken is REALLY good” and even mentioned it twice the following day so I’m taking that as a good sign:). These will most definitely be made again! The only issue I had was the chicken stuck to the wire deep fry basket and lost some coating when I tried to use tongs to get them out. We switched to a spatula on the last batch which was more efficient altho that’s a user failure!
I followed the recipe except did not add the ranch to the floor. Tasted really good. I fries in peanut oil, that is what was in the fryer, and they came out a little dark, old oil, but very tasty!
I made this recipe exactly as written and I have to say, I didn’t care for the Ranch flavor at all. I only gave it 4 stars because my husband loved it. If it weren’t for the Ranch, I would have given it 5 stars.
This is labor intensive and I totally trashed my kitchen in the process, but very tasty like it came from from a chicken restaurant. I sliced the chicken breasts in half (thickness wise) to ensure it cooked all the way through. One you get the two layers of breading on and fry it, the size increases significantly. I also used 1 percent milk as I don’t have buttermilk and it tasted great.
My husband loves Chick-fil-a. We tried these as a special treat. He loved them!
wow. we’ve made this as ordered, but we also used the buttermilk marinade for chicken wings and are REALLY pleased with the results. We haven’t been back to that… place since we started making this recipe. If you do it right, it comes out great.
Made this the way Chef suggested (mostly), and split the recipe two ways to make a mild version for me, and a spicy version for my husband. The breading was great, but I think next time I will use slightly less cornstarch, because I think that might be why the breading comes off the chicken when you bite into it. I didn’t really care though, the overall seasoning is awesome.
This had a breading that was similar to a cross between a Mc chicken sandwich and a Chick-fil-A sandwich. I highly recommend you only use one chicken breast to make two sandwiches. If you prefer the bun a Chick-fil-A sandwich comes on, you really need to use brioche buns and be sure to toast it before assembling your sandwich. Do not be afraid to add the cayenne pepper to your breading. it doesn’t really add any heat, just flavor. I also added hot sauce to mayo. At 40 years old, this is the first fried chicken I have ever successfully made. It is super easy if you follow the recipe. Good luck and Enjoy!!
So first off I used a breast that was WAY to thick which made for some very raw chicken in the center, this meant I had to throw it into the oil for a second round. Beyond my own personal failings I actually found the breading itself to be rather basic, not terrible, not great. I generally don’t enjoy frying things since hot oil scares me so needless to say, given all that this won’t be one of the Chef’s recipes I go back to. (Luckily there are plenty of others I love to cook over and over!)
I followed this recipe and it does not have the taste of either Popeye’s or Chick fil a