Spicy Boneless Fried Chicken

I love Frank's Red Hot Sauce and use that stuff on everything! One day on TV I saw someone marinating their fried chicken in a mixture that included buttermilk and 2 Tbsp of hot sauce.  2 Tbsp???  That hardly counts in my book!  So if a little is good, more must be better, right? Don't worry that these will be too spicy, it just gives it a small kick, a little tang and makes extremely moist chicken!

I always have the Costco boneless chicken breasts in the freezer, or thawing in the fridge, so I'm always thinking of easy ways to use them.  I'll admit I've never made fried chicken the traditional way, I'm always worried that it won't get cooked through near the bone, so I thought why not cut up the chicken breasts and do it that way???  These look a bit like chicken 'tenders' but they won't dry out the way those can.

I served these to friends last night as kind of a Southern theme meal.  We've been teasing him for years about something his Southern family liked, creamed corn on rice!  The other three of us cannot put into words how awful this sounds to us, but finally I thought, we need to give it a try.  I served the spicy fried chicken with cornbread muffins, my spicy coleslaw, and yep, rice topped with hot creamed corn.  He wouldn't allow me to "gussy" up his serving up with green onions, but the three of us agreed it wasn't too bad with fresh pepper, green onions and Frank's Red Hot.  I wish I had a picture.... but it wasn't too pretty!

Serves approx 6
Ingredients:
1 cup Red Hot Sauce
1 cup buttermilk
4-5 large chicken breasts, cut into 3 strips each
1 1/2 cup Flour- seasoned with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper
2 Eggs
2-3 cups Panko
Peanut Oil, or other frying oil.


Cut each chicken breast into 3-4 strips, lengthwise.

In a ziploc, combine the cut up chicken, the buttermilk and the hot sauce. Let marinate about 4 hours, or even overnight for more intense flavors.

Set up your plates, or pans, for your breading station. 
You need the following as you will bread each piece of chicken in this order:
1) seasoned flour
2) egg dip (beat up the eggs, adding 1-2 tbsp of water, beating until smooth)
3) panko bread crumbs

I wear latex gloves because I can't stand the way this clumps up on your fingers! Try to do the flour with your left hand and a fork, and the egg wash with a fork, and then the panko with your right hand.  You will stay clean-er  that way... not clean, but cleaner!!!

Here's what they looked like when I was done.  You could do this part up ahead of time and put in the fridge until you were ready to fry.

In a large pot, add about 6 cups of oil. Peanut oil is best, but canola or vegetable works too.  If you have a thermometer that clips onto the side, use that!  You want the oil to be between 375 and 400 degrees.  Fry them up 2-3 pieces at a time, when you add a piece it should bubble up a lot.  If your oil isn't hot enough it absorbs too much oil as it cooks and becomes greasy.  Cook the pieces for 3-4 minutes each, they will get golden brown.  Drain on a rack over paper towels, and pop into a warm ovven (300) while you cook the rest. 

The chicken cooks so quickly because these are boneless pieces.  If you are unsure of if it's cooked, cut one in half and check it out!