Nashville Hot Chicken Recipe

Nashville is famous for being the home of county music and for Hot Chicken. Folks line up down the block for this Hot & Spicy delicacy!

Hot Chicken joints deep fry juicy pieces of chicken and dunk it in a spicy sauce that lights up your taste buds. The heat levels can vary according to your likes. For me I want a little burn but not enough to blow your head off.

Instead of frying the chicken, I wanted to create a grilled version that was just as tasty. For this I needed high heat. I fired up my classic weber kettle set up with a Charcoal Vortex. The vortex is an accessory that concentrates the heat into the dome of the weber (or any similar style grill) and produces extremely high temperatures in an indirect way.

The meat is placed around the vortex instead of directly over the coals which prevents burning and creates a crispier texture. It’s perfect for grilling chicken. You can check out the Vortex here >>

I started with 10 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. Thighs are juicy and full of flavor so they’re excellent choices for grilling, but use whatever pieces you want. Dry each thigh with a couple sheets of paper towel to absorb the moisture.

Next each piece gets a good dose of spicy Nashville chicken seasoning (recipe below). I add cayenne, white pepper, paprika, and chipotle pepper to my Killer Hogs AP Rub to really kick up the flavor.

The skin also needs a little fat to help it brown. Hit it with a touch of vegetable cooking spray, and it’s ready for the grill.

Once the weber is hot (I’m talking pegged out on the temp dial) arrange each piece of chicken around the outside of the cooking grate. It’ll take about 30-40 minutes to grill. Thighs need to cook to at least 175⁰ internal. I like to use a Thermoworks Thermapen for checking internal temps.

Half way through the cook (about 20 minutes) rotate each one to ensure they cook evenly.

The sauce (recipe below) is what truly makes Nashville Hot Chicken. I start with a cup of Killer Hogs Hot Sauce in a small pot over medium heat. Add butter and canola oil until it starts to simmer; then the spices: A heaping Tablespoon of the chicken seasoning followed by more cayenne pepper and paprika. To balance everything out I add a little brown sugar and it’s ready. Just keep it warm until the chicken is done.

Remove the thighs from the grill once you see the internal hit 175⁰. At this point the skin should be brown and crispy.

Dunk each piece in the Hot Sauce mixture. In Nashville they serve it with loaf bread and dill pickles.

I thought that it would pair nice with a good Blue Cheese Biscuit for soaking up some of the spicy sauce. You can find that recipe here>>