Sweet and Spicy Chicken Sandwich

Chicken, Meat Entrees June 21st, 2020
Prep Time
30 Min
Cook Time
30 Min
Serving
6 Pieces

The chicken in this recipe is extra tender and will not come out dry if you soak it in buttermilk. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, remember you can substitute with 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 1 cup of plain milk. The breading is seasoned well but the real flavor comes from the spicy sweet sauce. Consider my homemade buttermilk ranch dressing, which goes amazing with this sandwich.

Ingredients

For the marinade

  • 2 lbs skinless boneless chicken thighs (about 6 thighs)
  • 1 ½ cups buttermilk
  • Salt and pepper to taste

For the dry coating

  • 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 Tbsp panko breadcrumbs
  • ½ Tbsp salt
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp black pepper

For the wet coating

  • ⅔ cups buttermilk
  • 2 eggs

For the spicy sweet sauce

  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and divided
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 1 ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt

For the sandwich

  • 6 buns of your choice
  • ¼ cup ranch dressing
  • 6 pieces of lettuce

Instructions

For the marinade

  1. Lightly season chicken thighs on both sides with salt and pepper and place in a shallow baking dish.
  2. Pour buttermilk over chicken, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

For baking the chicken

  1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, breadcrumbs, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, turmeric, smoked paprika, baking powder, and black pepper.
  2. In a separate shallow bowl, add and whisk the eggs and 2/3 cup buttermilk.
  3. Preheat the oven to 410˚F. Prepare the sheet pan by lining it with aluminum foil and placing a sliver of butter in the foil for each chicken piece, spaced evenly.
  4. Remove chicken thighs from buttermilk marinade, one at a time, and dredge them in the flour mixture until fully coated, shaking off any excess.
  5. Next, dip the same chicken thigh into the egg mixture, making sure the chicken is evenly covered.
  6. Dip the flour mix once more, making sure the chicken is evenly covered, shaking off any excess.
  7. Transfer the coated chicken to the prepared sheet pan, placing it on top of the sliver of butter.
  8. Bake for 20 minutes and then flip each piece of chicken over, adding more butter to the pan.
  9. While chicken is baking, in a small bowl, combine the butter, honey, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and salt.
  10. Once chicken is done baking, remove from the oven and let rest and cool down for 10 minutes.
  11. Drizzle spicy-honey butter on top of each piece as desired.

To assemble the sandwich

  1. Spread ranch on each bun and place a piece of lettuce on the bottom bun
  2. Place a piece of baked chicken thigh on top of the lettuce
  3. Top the chicken with the spicy sweet sauce and the top bun.