Crispy Fried Chicken Sandwiches With Slaw and a Crunch You Can Hear
Jump to recipe ↓
It is 6:30 on a Friday, the self-checkout line is already someone else's problem, and you want a sandwich with a crust that crackles when you bite it. Crispy fried chicken sandwiches take 29 minutes, including a 15-minute buttermilk rest, and they taste like the drive-thru you meant to skip, only with a little more swagger. Call it dinner that is playing hard to get until the first bite.
Buttermilk-soaked chicken breasts, fried in seasoned flour until deep golden, piled on a toasted bun with pickles and slaw.
The chicken rests in buttermilk for 15 minutes while you season the flour and heat the oil. The slaw is a bag of coleslaw mix tossed with mayonnaise, the pickles go on top, and the buns get a quick toast. It is a sandwich that feels like an occasion without requiring a reservation.
What you need
- 4 chicken breasts
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 cups flour
- 4 hamburger buns
- 1 pickles
- 4 cups vegetable oil
- 14 oz coleslaw mix
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
How to make it
- Marinate the 4 chicken breasts in 2 cups buttermilk for 15 minutes.
- Season 2 cups flour with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Heat 4 cups vegetable oil in a deep pot to 350°F.
- Dredge each chicken breast in the seasoned flour and fry for 6 minutes per side until golden and cooked through.
- Toast the 4 hamburger buns lightly for 2 minutes.
- Toss the 14 oz bag coleslaw mix with 1/2 cup mayonnaise and season to taste.
- Assemble the sandwiches with fried chicken pickles and coleslaw then serve immediately.
Notes
Cooked leftovers keep three to four days in the fridge, per USDA FSIS. Store the chicken, slaw and buns separately, and reheat the chicken on a sheet pan in a hot oven so the crust gets crisp again. The microwave will turn the coating soft. Slaw is best made close to serving, since it releases water as it sits.
Frying at home is a hands-on job. The recipe calls for 4 cups of vegetable oil in a deep pot at 350°F, and a thermometer is the only reliable way to hit that. Keep a lid nearby, stay beside the pot, and let the oil cool completely before you move it or pour it out.
The 4 chicken breasts fry for 6 minutes per side. Breasts vary in thickness, and a thick one can brown well before the middle gets there. The USDA safe minimum for poultry is 165°F, so insert a thermometer into the thickest part to be sure. If a breast looks very thick, slice it in half horizontally before the buttermilk bath, and it will cook faster and more evenly.
Dredge each breast in the seasoned flour just before it goes into the oil, pressing so the flour clings, and shake off the excess. The buttermilk sits on the chicken for 15 minutes, which is enough to flavor it without getting complicated.
Swaps that actually work
The point of crispy fried chicken sandwiches is the crunch, so keep the buttermilk and the seasoned flour when you make crispy fried chicken sandwiches. Everything else is flexible.
Buttermilk can be replaced with milk soured with a spoonful of vinegar or lemon juice. Let it sit for a few minutes and it will do a similar job. If all you have is plain milk, the chicken still fries up fine, though the tang is a little duller.
The pickles can be dill chips, bread and butter, or pickled jalapeños for heat. Tell the SwipeCart agent which one you are in the mood for and it will add the jar to the cart, no questions asked, which is more than your last situationship ever offered. Coleslaw mix is a shortcut; shredded cabbage and carrot from the produce aisle works the same way, and a splash of vinegar in the mayonnaise makes it brighter.
The buns can be brioche, potato rolls or sesame buns. Toast them lightly for 2 minutes so they hold up to the chicken without going soggy. Oil can be any neutral frying oil with a high smoke point, like the vegetable oil in the recipe.
The swap that costs you the dish: skipping the thermometer and guessing the oil temperature. Oil that is too cool makes the coating heavy and greasy. If you do not own a thermometer, buy one, or switch to a baked version of the dish, because a guess at 350°F is a gamble with chicken.
If it goes wrong
The crust is dark but the chicken is raw inside. The oil was too hot or the breast was too thick. Lower the heat so the crust stops darkening, give the chicken a few more minutes per side, and check that it reads 165°F. Next time, slice thick breasts in half.
The coating falls off. The chicken was too wet when it hit the flour, or it was moved too soon in the oil. Let excess buttermilk drip off before dredging, and leave each breast alone for the first minutes.
The sandwich is greasy. The oil was too cool, or the pot was crowded. Fry in batches, let the oil climb back to 350°F between them, and drain the chicken on a rack, not on paper towels, so the underside stays crisp.
The slaw is soupy. It sat too long. Dress it close to serving, and drain off any liquid before it goes on the bun.
What to serve with it
The default is fries or chips, and a cold drink. Crispy fried chicken sandwiches are the sandwich equivalent of a classic movie, and they need no reinvention.
The better version is a crisp side that cuts the richness: a vinegary cucumber salad, extra pickles, or corn on the cob. Hot sauce on the side is a gentle suggestion for the brave.
The thing in the fridge that lifts it is a squeeze of hot honey or a smear of mayonnaise mixed with a little hot sauce. Leftover chicken makes a decent lunch sandwich the next day with fresh slaw, reheated in a hot oven so the crust returns.
Why this one earns its place
You swipe it when you are in the mood for something crunchy and a little excessive. The agent shops the chicken, buttermilk, buns, pickles and slaw, so your only job is to keep an eye on the oil and say nothing when the first one disappears. Swipe right on crispy fried chicken sandwiches and the question of what to eat on a Friday is settled by 6:31.
It is also a good answer to the question of whether you should go out, since a plate of these at home lets you stay in your sweatpants and still serve something that makes a good impression. It is a dinner for impressing someone who thinks you cannot cook.
If you are in the mood for more, try Fried Chicken Sandwich, Nashville Hot Chicken, or the what's for dinner tonight post for nights when you are still undecided.
More like this: all American recipes in Crave Corner.