Chicago Hot Chicken Sandwiches

Crispy, Spicy Fried Chicken With a Chicago Twist

These Chicago Hot Chicken Sandwiches start with big boneless chicken breasts marinated overnight in buttermilk and sport pepper juice before they’re fried until golden and crispy then brushed with a buttery hot chicken sauce seasoned with cayenne, paprika, celery salt, hot sauce, sport peppers, and giardiniera oil. Serve them on toasted buns with mayo and my fresh cucumber and red pepper relish for a homemade hot chicken sandwich that is spicy, crunchy, juicy, and absolutely worth staying home for.

Before You Skip To Recipe

If you are heading straight for the recipe card, there are a few sections worth checking out first:

Why This Is Chicago Hot Chicken
Why I Marinate The Chicken Breasts Whole
The Butter-Based Hot Chicken Sauce
How To Safely Get Rid Of Frying Oil
How To Reheat And Freeze Hot Chicken

I also have an idea below for turning the leftover chicken into one heck of a salad.

Why Make Hot Chicken At Home?

I got the idea for this recipe after seeing people on the internet going on and on about all of these fast food hot chicken places. The whole time I kept thinking, why are we even eating at all these chain places anymore? Fast food isn’t particularly cheap these days, and a lot of the time it isn’t particularly good either. If you’ve spent years cooking at home, you can make something like a hot chicken sandwich yourself and make it exactly the way you like it.

Now, I have to give credit where credit is due. We have Fry the Coop here in the Chicago area, and I LOVE their hot chicken. They’re fantastic. So if I am going out for hot chicken, I already know where I’m going. But all the talk about hot chicken got me thinking about how I would make my own version at home.

And, of course, I couldn’t just make regular hot chicken. I had to Chicago it up.

What Makes This A Chicago Hot Chicken?

I didn’t want to make Nashville hot chicken and simply pile a bunch of Chicago hot dog toppings onto it. I wanted some of those familiar Chicago flavors worked into the chicken itself.

Sport pepper juice goes into the buttermilk marinade. The buttery hot chicken sauce gets celery salt, finely minced sport peppers, sport pepper brine, and a little hot giardiniera oil. Those flavors are subtle enough that this is still first and foremost a fantastic fried chicken sandwich, but there is definitely something familiar about it if you grew up eating Chicago-style food.

The cucumber and red pepper relish you see in my pictures was a separate recipe I made, and I ended up loving it on this sandwich. I’ll share that recipe separately so you can make it to go along with the chicken. You can also keep things simple with sport peppers, chopped giardiniera, pickles, or even just mayo.

What Are Sport Peppers?

Sport peppers are those little green pickled peppers you probably recognize from a classic Chicago-style hot dog. They are small, tangy, vinegary and have a nice little kick of heat without being overwhelmingly spicy. For this Chicago Hot Chicken, I use both the sport peppers themselves and the brine from the jar. The brine goes into the buttermilk marinade to give the chicken some tang and flavor, and I use finely minced sport peppers along with a little more of their brine in the spicy butter that gets brushed over the fried chicken. You can find jars of sport peppers in many Chicago-area grocery stores, usually near the pickles and other peppers. If you live outside the Chicago area, they are also easy to find online. They are worth seeking out for this recipe because that distinctive vinegary pepper flavor is one of the things that takes this from regular hot chicken to Chicago Hot Chicken.

The Secret To A Really Crispy Coating

The breading is a combination of flour and cornstarch with plenty of seasoning. Cornstarch helps give fried chicken that light, crisp exterior instead of a heavy, doughy coating.

I also drizzle a few tablespoons of the buttermilk marinade into the seasoned flour and toss it around with my fingers. This creates little clumps of breading. When those hit the hot oil, they become all of those wonderful craggy, crunchy pieces you see on good fried chicken.

After breading, let the chicken rest on a rack for about 10 to 15 minutes before frying. This gives the coating time to hydrate slightly and adhere to the chicken instead of falling off in the oil.

My Butter-Based Chicago Hot Chicken Sauce

Traditional hot chicken sauces often use a good amount of the hot frying oil mixed with cayenne and seasonings. I changed mine after testing it.

Instead, I melted 4 tablespoons of butter and added only about 2 tablespoons of the hot frying oil. This gave me plenty of fat to bloom all of those spices and brush over the chicken, but the butter gave the sauce a richer flavor.

The mixture gets cayenne, paprika, chili powder, garlic, onion, celery salt, black pepper, a tiny bit of brown sugar, minced sport peppers, hot sauce, giardiniera oil, and sport pepper brine.

The brown sugar isn’t there to make this sweet. It’s just enough to round out all that heat and acidity.

Brush, Don’t Soak

Once the chicken is fried, I put it on a wire rack and brush the spicy butter mixture all over the crispy exterior.

This is important: brush it rather than dunking it.

You’ve gone to all that trouble to create a crispy crust, so you don’t want to drown it. Brushing lets that seasoned butter work its way into all the nooks and crannies while leaving plenty of crunch behind.

Make sure you stir the butter mixture periodically as you work because the spices naturally settle toward the bottom.

The Cucumber And Red Pepper Relish

I originally considered making a creamy slaw for these sandwiches, but I ended up using my Cucumber and Red Pepper Relish, and I loved the combination.

The fresh cucumber, sweet red pepper, and onion give you that cold, crisp contrast that hot fried chicken needs. The vinegar in the relish also cuts through the buttery coating.

I’ll have the relish as a separate recipe on the site, and will come back to link it here when it is posted!

Don’t Pour Frying Oil Down The Drain

One thing that keeps people from frying food at home is figuring out what the heck to do with all that oil afterward.

Never pour cooking oil down your kitchen sink. It can cause plumbing problems as it cools and accumulates.

Here’s my easy method. I save an old jar and put used paper towels inside of it. Once my frying oil has completely cooled, I carefully pour it over the paper towels in the jar. They absorb a good amount of the oil and keep it contained so I’m not pouring loose grease directly into my garbage.

Put the lid on the jar and dispose of it with your household trash according to your local waste guidelines. It’s a simple little kitchen habit that makes frying at home much less annoying.

How To Reheat Hot Chicken And Keep It Crispy

This chicken reheats surprisingly well, but I would skip the microwave whenever possible. The microwave heats the chicken, but you’re going to lose that crispy coating.

My favorite method is the air fryer. Refrigerate leftover chicken in an airtight container and reheat it at 350°F for about 5 to 8 minutes, depending on the thickness. Check that the center is thoroughly hot before serving.

For the oven, place the chicken on a wire rack over a sheet pan and heat at 375°F for approximately 10 to 15 minutes. The rack allows hot air to circulate underneath and helps revive the crust.

If you know you’re going to have leftovers, don’t assemble all of the sandwiches ahead of time. Store the chicken, buns, mayo ,and relish separately and assemble after reheating.

Can You Freeze Chicago Hot Chicken?

Yes. I would freeze the fried and sauced chicken by itself, not the assembled sandwiches.

Let the cooked chicken cool, then freeze the pieces individually on a parchment-lined pan until firm. Transfer them to a freezer bag or freezer-safe container. For best quality, I would use them within about 2 to 3 months.

For the crispiest results, reheat from frozen in a 375°F oven, preferably on a wire rack over a sheet pan, until hot throughout, generally about 20 to 25 minutes depending on thickness. An air fryer also works beautifully; start around 350°F and check frequently.

If you have extra hot butter mixture, I would make a fresh little batch rather than freezing it. Give the reheated chicken a light brushing right before serving and it will taste much closer to freshly made.

Here’s another reason I would make extra chicken.

This would be fantastic on my Chopped Blue Cheese Salad.

Slice a reheated piece of Chicago hot chicken into strips and put it right over the cold salad. The spicy, buttery chicken with cool vegetables and tangy blue cheese is exactly the kind of hot-and-cold combination I love.

This gives you an entirely different meal from the same batch of chicken! You can also click the salad images below for other great pairings.

Tips For The Best Chicago Hot Chicken

The biggest thing is to watch your frying temperature. You want the oil around 350°F when you begin. Adding cold chicken will naturally lower the temperature, so don’t overcrowd the pan.

Let excess buttermilk drip off before dredging, but don’t wipe the chicken dry. That moisture is what gives the flour something to grab onto.

Give the breaded chicken that 10-to-15-minute rest before frying, use a wire rack instead of paper towels after frying, and don’t brush on the hot butter until the chicken is finished cooking.

And remember that the hot chicken butter is adjustable. If you’re nervous about heat, start with less cayenne. You can always add more. You cannot take it back out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Chicago hot chicken the same as Nashville hot chicken?

No. Nashville hot chicken was the inspiration for the cooking method, but this version incorporates Chicago flavors including sport pepper brine, celery salt, sport peppers, and hot giardiniera oil.

Can I use chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts?

Absolutely. Boneless, skinless thighs would be delicious and very juicy. Because they are generally smaller than large chicken breasts, adjust the frying time accordingly and cook until they reach a safe internal temperature.

Why marinate the breasts whole?

Because I marinated mine overnight and the marinade contains acidic ingredients, I preferred leaving the large breasts whole and slicing them horizontally after marinating. This reduces the amount of cut surface exposed to the marinade while still giving you thin pieces for frying.

Do I have to marinate the chicken overnight?

No. Several hours will still add plenty of flavor. Overnight is convenient and gave my chicken great flavor.

Is this extremely spicy?

It definitely has heat, but you control it. Reduce the cayenne and hot sauce for a milder version or increase them if you want serious heat.

What can I use instead of the cucumber relish?

Try dill pickles, chopped giardiniera, sport peppers, coleslaw, or simply mayo. I wouldn’t pile every Chicago-style condiment onto one sandwich. You still want the fried chicken to be the star.

Why use butter AND frying oil in the sauce?

The small amount of frying oil carries some of that classic hot chicken flavor, while four tablespoons of melted butter make the sauce rich and easy to brush onto the chicken.

Can I make these ahead?

The chicken is at its absolute best shortly after frying, but you can fry it ahead and reheat it in an air fryer or oven. Keep all sandwich components separate until serving.