Buffalo Chicken Burger

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Crispy fried buttermilk chicken in a spicy buffalo sauce served on toasted brioche buns with cheese and pickles. Get your napkins ready!

Prep Time20

Cook Time15

marinading time1

Total Time1 35

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American, British

Keyword: Any Time Of the year, Crispy Chicken Sandwich, How to Make a Crispy Chicken Burger

Servings: burgers

Author Nicky Corbishley

Ingredients

Chicken Marinade:

2 large chicken breasts (approx 200g/7oz each)
240 ml (1 cup) buttermilk
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp white pepper
¼ tsp garlic salt

Crispy Chicken Coating:

180 g (1 1/2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp garlic salt
½ tsp celery salt
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp chilli flakes

Buffalo Sauce

120 ml (1/2 cup) hot pepper sauce - I use Frank's hot sauce
80 g (1/3 cup) unsalted butter
½ tbsp cider vinegar
½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp honey
½ tsp garlic powder
1 pinch salt

Also:

oil for deep frying
4 brioche buns toasted
8 pieces crunchy lettuce I used 'O' so sweet' variety but Romaine or Little Gem are great too
4 tbsp ranch dressing or mayonnaise (I like kewpie mayo for this burger)
16 pickled gherkin slices
4 tbsp crumbled feta or creamy Lancashire cheese (Cotija cheese works really well too)

Instructions

Slice the chicken breasts in half horizontally, so you have 4 thin chicken breast steaks.
Place the chicken in a bowl. Add the buttermilk, salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Mix together, cover and place in the fridge to marinade for at least 1 hour (up to over night)
2 large chicken breasts, 240 ml (1 cup) buttermilk, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp white pepper, ¼ tsp garlic salt
Preheat the oven to a low heat (to keep cooked chicken warm).
Heat a large pan of cooking oil (or preheat your deep fat fryer) until hot. The ideal temperature is 175C/350F (you can test by dropping a small cube of bread in there, if it rises immediately to the top and starts to bubble rapidly, it’s hot enough). You’ll need at least 1 litre (4 cups) of oil - but make sure your pan is no more than one third full.
oil
Mix together the crispy coating ingredients in a large bowl.
180 g (1 1/2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground black pepper, ½ tsp garlic salt, ½ tsp celery salt, 1 tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp chilli flakes
Take the chicken out of the fridge. Lift a piece from the buttermilk and allow the excess to drip off. Dredge the chicken in the crispy coating mixture – ensuring it’s fully covered. Place on a tray and repeat until all of the chicken is coated.
Once the oil is hot enough, add in 2 of the chicken burgers. Cook for 5-6 minutes until golden brown and cooked in the middle. You can check this by cutting open a piece of chicken, if it’s no longer pink in the middle, it’s cooked.
Place the chicken on a wire rack, on a tray, in the oven to keep warm whilst you cook the rest of the chicken. The wire rack will help to ensure the chicken stays crisp.
Make the buffalo sauce by placing all of the ingredients into a small saucepan. Heat over a medium heat, stirring a few times, until the butter has melted and the sauce has combined. Turn off the heat and put to one side.
120 ml (1/2 cup) hot pepper sauce, 80 g (1/3 cup) unsalted butter, 1/2 tbsp cider vinegar, 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tbsp honey, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 pinch salt
Now it's time to assemble. Place the bottom of the brioche buns on four plates. Top with the lettuce leaves. Dip the chicken burgers in the buffalo sauce (or spoon buffalo sauce over the chicken burgers, then turn them over and spoon more on) so they're fully coated. Place the chicken burgers on top of the lettuce.
4 brioche buns, 8 pieces crunchy lettuce
Top each chicken burger with a drizzle of ranch dressing or mayonnaise, 3-4 pickled gherkin slices and a tablespoon of the crumbled cheese.
4 tbsp ranch dressing or mayonnaise, 4 tbsp crumbled feta or creamy Lancashire cheese, 16 pickled gherkin slices
Place the tops of the buns on top and serve.

Video

Notes

Making the chicken ahead

If you wanted to cook the chicken ahead of time, you can do. It won't be quite as crisp upon reheating, but it still be very tasty.
Cook the crispy chicken, but don't dunk it in the buffalo sauce.
Cool, cover and refrigerate for up to a day.

Reheat in the oven on a tray, in a single layer, uncovered, at 175C/350F for approx 10-12 minutes (or until piping hot throughout).

Drizzle in the buffalo sauce before serving.

Making the buffalo sauce ahead

Add all of the buffalo sauce ingredients to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate (no need to heat at this point).
When ready to use it, add the sauce ingredients to a small saucepan and heat through, stirring occassionally, for a few minutes, until the butter melts and everything combines.
Turn off the heat and let it cool a little, then drizzle over the chicken burgers.

Swaps

Swap out the chicken breasts for turkey breast
If you don't want to coat and fry the chicken, cook shop-bought ready-made breaded chicken steaks. Once cooked, dip them in the buffalo sauce.
Want to bake the chicken instead of frying? Use my hot honey crispy chicken (swap the hot honey for the buffalo sauce).

Nutrition info is approximate for one chicken burger.

This info is approximate, as all of the flour may not be used up in coating the chicken (I've counted all of the flour as part of the nutritional info though). Also, I've included 1 tbsp of oil per serving to account for the oil that is absorbed during deep drying (this is an *approximate* amount, the chicken may absorb more or less).

Nutrition

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