Ina Garten’s Top-Rated Fried Chicken Sandwiches | Barefoot Contessa | Food Network

Ina Garten’s crispy, juicy Fried Chicken Sandwiches will NOT disappoint 🤤
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Ina Garten throws open the doors of her Hamptons home for delicious food, dazzling entertaining ideas and good fun on Barefoot Contessa.

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Fried Chicken Sandwiches
Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten
Level: Easy
Total: 55 min (plus marinating)
Active: 40 min
Yield: 6 sandwiches, plus 1 cup Buttermilk Herb Mayo

Ingredients

For the Chicken:
2 cups buttermilk, shaken
1 shallot, peeled, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 jalapeño pepper, halved lengthwise with seeds
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 oz each)
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon celery salt
Canola oil, for frying (about 2 inches deep in a Dutch oven)
6 potato hamburger buns, toasted
6 Bibb lettuce leaves
Kosher dill pickles, thinly sliced

For the Buttermilk Herb Mayo:
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons buttermilk, shaken
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
1/8 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Marinate the Chicken: In a large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, shallot, garlic, jalapeño, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Pound the chicken between parchment until 1/2 inch thick, then cut each breast in half. Add to the marinade, cover, and refrigerate at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.

Prepare to Fry: Preheat the oven to 300°F. Place a wire rack over a sheet pan and set in the oven. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, paprika, cayenne, celery salt, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper.

Dredge the Chicken: Heat oil in a Dutch oven to 350°F. Remove chicken from the marinade, dredge in the flour mixture, dip back into the marinade, then dredge once more. Shake off excess and set aside.

Fry the Chicken: Working in batches, fry 3 pieces at a time for about 5 minutes, turning once, until golden and cooked through. Transfer to the rack in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Make the Mayo: Whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk, vinegar, scallions, parsley, chives, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Chill until ready to use.

Assemble the Sandwiches: Spread mayo on the bottom of each bun, top with lettuce, pickles, and a piece of chicken. Add more mayo to the top bun and place over the chicken. Serve warm.

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Ina Garten’s Fried Chicken Sandwiches | Barefoot Contessa: Cook Like a Pro | Food Network

My husband Jeffrey pretty much likes everything I make for him, which is one of the reasons why I love him so much. But one of his favorites is a fried chicken sandwich. This is no ordinary fried chicken sandwich. Let’s go make some. So, the thing that’s so amazing about these is the layers of flavors and textures. The chicken has a double crust, so it’s really crispy. And the sauce is made with buttermilk and mayonnaise, so it’s kind of tangy. and fresh herbs. So, it’s really fresh. It’s so good. And then there are pickles involved. So, I’m gonna make the sauce first. So, I’ve got a cup of mayonnaise, 2 tbsps of buttermilk. Want to be sure to shake it first, which I did. Just whisk it in. Teaspoon of white wine vinegar just to give a little tang. I’m going to whisk that together. And then put in lots of fresh herbs. Okay, first the scallions. I need two tablespoons of sliced or chopped scallions, the white and the green parts. I think a lot of people use a knife by just doing it up and down, but it’s really good to use the blade and have it sort of rock back and forth and then you get the best use of it. And the scallions cut really cleanly. Okay, so two tablespoons. That’s about two tablespoons. One tablespoon of minced chives. Got lots of onion flavor. We love chives. Okay, it’s about one tablespoon, 1 tbsp of minced parsley. This recipe actually originally came from Shake Shack, which is Danny Meyer’s fast casual hamburger restaurant. And what’s interesting is I was thinking about making fried chicken with a double coating, but I’d never actually gotten around to doing it. And that’s exactly what they do with the Shake Shack chicken. So, I thought, I think I’ll try that. And it was amazing. So, one tablespoon of parsley. Just stir it in. Okay. A little bit of thyme. All kinds of herbs in this. I’m just going to stir it right in. Just a little bit. Give it another layer of flavor. Half teaspoon of salt. 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. And that’s it. So, that’s the herb mayonnaise. Now, I’m going to show you the chicken, which I’m keeping warm in the oven. Wait till you see this. Now, how good does that look? Wow. Chicken inside is really tender and crispy outside. I’m going to tell you how I made it. This is the best. There are four tricks to the fried chicken. First, a great marinade with two cups of buttermilk. The acidity tenderized the chicken, one sliced shallot, two smashed garlic cloves, one half jalapeno pepper, 2 tsp of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. All stirred together. I put the chicken in the marinade and coated it. It’s six half chicken breasts flattened to half an inch, which tenderizes them and ensures that they cook evenly. Then I put them in the fridge for eight hours for the marinade to get into the meat and to flavor it. Next, I made a flavorful coating mix. I added 4 tesps of baking powder to 3 and 1/2 cups of allpurpose flour along with 2 and 1/2 tesps of smoked paprika, a teaspoon each of cayenne pepper and celery salt, tablespoon of kosher salt, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of black pepper, and whisk them all together. Then the third trick is that I double dip the chicken. I removed each piece of chicken from the marinade, dipped it in the flour, back into the marinade, and then back into the flour. And I promise this makes all the difference in the world. Then the fourth and final trick is how I cook it. I fry the chicken three pieces at a time. You don’t want to overcrowd them. In 2 in of oil, heated to 350°. I cooked them for 5 minutes, flipping them halfway through. Then when they were deliciously crispy, I put them on a rack over a sheetpan and kept them warm in a 250°ree oven while I fried the second batch. I did exactly the same with the last three pieces. I took the fried chicken out of the oil, put it on the rack, sprinkled on some salt, and kept all the chicken warm in the oven. Those tricks really make a difference. Okay, now I’m going to put the sandwich together, which in the business is known as flavor build, as in where you put everything in the sandwich makes a difference in how it tastes. Bet you didn’t know that. So, first I’m going to take the hamburger bun. I’m using potato buns, which I think have great flavor. I toasted them a little 300° for about 10 minutes. Put sauce on the bottom. Next, I’m going to put a piece of lettuce. I’m using Boston lettuce cuz it’s really tender and delicious. Piece of lettuce. And then pickles. These are really good pickles. Like four pieces of pickle. So, it turns out where you put the pickle in the sandwich makes a difference in how it tastes. I don’t know why the order makes a difference in how it tastes, but it just does. Okay. Next is the chicken. Look how good this is. Right on top. Just barely fits. And then more sauce on the bun. and put that on top. And that’s a Shake Shack chicken sandwich. And that one’s got my name on it. Okay, that’s one. I’m going to make five more. Well, you can see why these are Jeffrey’s favorite chicken sandwich. Mine, too. And if you make them, they’re going to be your favorite chicken sandwich. So, traditionally, there are two problems with fried chicken. One is all that grease. And the second one is you have to do it just before you serve it. I’m going to show you how to do it in the oven. Solves both those problems. First thing you sit it up on its little rear end. Take your knife. And there’s a backbone here that I’m going to take out. And you want to run your knife right along both sides of that backbone. Keep your fingers out of the way. Okay, that’s the backbone. Not great in fried chicken. Fabulous in soup. So, I’ll save it for later. So, then you want to have the chicken flat out like this. And there’s this little part in the breast bone. Just want to nick it with your knife. And then run your fingers down both sides of this little bone. And then pull it right out. Just should come out in one fell swoop. Okay. And now it’s real easy to cut up. Just run your knife right down the back. Flip it over. Cut the leg from the white meat. Cut the leg from the thigh. Pull it back. It’s easy to see where the bones connect. So, got eight pieces ready for fried chicken. Now, I’m going to put all the chicken in one bowl. And I’m going to pour buttermilk over it. And it’s going to tenderize it. The acid in the buttermilk really makes the chicken very tender. I’m going to pour a quarter buttermilk over it. This is good for two chickens, but I only have one. So, what you want to do is get the buttermilk in and around the chicken parts. Okay. Wash up. [Music] Okay, I’m going to marinate this for a few hours, but if you have overnight, it’s even better. Time to fry the chicken. So, I’ve got my chicken that’s been marinating in buttermilk, which is going to make it moist and really tender. So, first thing I’m going to season some flour to make the coating. It’s going to make it really crisp. Two cups of flour, 1 tbsp of salt, and 1 tbsp of fresh pepper. I’m just going to mix it all together. And then put the chicken in. So, the secret of this recipe is instead of frying the chicken while everybody’s standing there waiting for dinner, I’m going to fry it really quickly, get the coating really crisp, and then I’m going to bake it in the oven. So, it’s going to be crisp on the outside and incredibly tender and juicy on the inside. It’s a messy job, but really worth doing. Okay, last piece. really messy. Okay, now let’s get some oil really hot. Need the oil about 360°. I use a candy thermometer, which really just sort of hangs on the pot. I think it’s almost there. Okay, chicken in. Just about 3 minutes on each side cuz remember, we’re going to finish cooking it in the oven. They’re browned on one side. I’m going to turn them for another 3 minutes and then put them on a sheetpan to bake in the oven. Smelling like fried chicken. Now, for the flour, I just use salt and pepper cuz I like it simple, but you can always use something spicy like cayenne pepper, whatever you like. Little chili powder. Okay, 3 minutes, ready to come out and go on a sheet pan. I’m going to fry the rest of these up. Then I’m going to put them all in the oven together. 350° for about 30 to 40 minutes until they’re incredibly crisp on the outside and really juicy inside. Boy, are you going to be happy. Just like your mother’s cooking, right? Oven fried chicken, sour cream, mashed potatoes, and to start, blue cheese salad with heirloom tomatoes. And how about a glass of wine? Oh, yes. [Music] tomatoes from your garden. Oh, I wish they were. This looks like thigh. [Music] And I have to have a drumstick to start. That’s fingerprint, right? Exactly. And how about some mashed potatoes? Oh, please. Perfect. How’ they do? Is it okay? Mhm. Okay. I don’t think there’s a restaurant in America that doesn’t have a chicken Caesar salad on the menu. I’d like to take something really traditional and do it with a twist. And I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to take the croutons and put it on the outside? So, I’m going to make a chicken Caesar salad sandwich. So, I’m going to start with chibata and I’m going to put it on a sheet tray and bake it at 350 for about 5 to 7 minutes until it’s just a little toasted. Next thing is the penetta. So, I’m going to take eight slices of penetta and just put them out in a single layer on a sheet tray. [Music] And I’m going to bake it along with the chiata until it’s nice and crisp like bacon. Okay, last two pieces into the oven 350°. This one for 5 to 7 minutes. This one for 15. [Music] I cooked some chicken for the sandwich. Actually, I find this is such a great way to do it. Is on the bone with the skin on, olive oil, salt, and pepper, 350°, 35 minutes. It’s really moist. Perfect. So, the best part of this sandwich is the garlicky Caesar dressing that I’m going to make for it. First, I’m going to start with garlic. Right into the food processor. Okay, next. 2 tablebspoons of chopped parsley. Okay, that’s about 2 tablespoons. Right in the food processor. Next thing is anchovi paste. Critical for Caesar dressing. 1 and 1/2 teaspoons. Anchovi paste gives this really great flavor. One teaspoon of dijon mustard. Just process that until the garlic and the parsley are minced. [Music] Great. Okay. Now, some lemon juice. About one and a half tablespoons. Okay. Half a cup of mayonnaise. Okay. Just make a nice smooth sauce and that Caesar dressing. So, first I’m going to slather this sandwich and the toasted bread really is going to absorb all this great sauce. Okay, time to layer the sandwich. First, I’m going to start with a layer of baby arugula if you can find it. It’s nice and peppery. It’s great with this. Okay, the next thing is sun-dried tomatoes. This going to make about five or six sandwiches. Next thing is Parmesan cheese. I think it’s so much nicer if you have like a whole slice of it right on top. Next is the cooked penetta right down the middle. So the next thing is the chicken. So I’m just going to take the skin off and then I’m just going to slice it and put it right on the sandwich. Okay. Okay. Right onto the sandwich. Just right right down the middle. Okay. A little salt and pepper. Right on top of the chicken. [Music] Pepper. The last thing is some arugula right on top. Put the top on and just slice it in sandwiches. It’s going to be really good. I don’t know if we’ll get any work done. It’ll be delicious. We’re all going to need a nap instead of getting any work done. [Music] We can get this one on. Perfect. I can’t tell you how much mustard chicken salad we made at Barefoot Contessa. mountains of it. There’s nothing like making a thousand pounds of mustard chicken salad a week. Teach you all kinds of ways to make it really easy and really good. [Music] Okay, so that’s about a cup of half cherry tomatoes. The second thing I always put it in is broccoli. So going to cut off the stems. You can save it for later for broccoli soup, but for the salad, I just want the fuettes. and I cut them apart and then just pull them apart so you’re not actually cutting into the fuettes. So I need about two cups of broccoli fuettes. Okay, now I’m just going to blanch it. I’m going put it in a big pot of salted boiling water. Lots of salt. Just put it in really quickly. Remember it’s a salad. It’s not a cooked vegetable. This is my handy dandy Chinese strainer. Sometimes called a spider. Just going to cook it for maybe 30 seconds or a minute, just until it’s a little bit tender and the bright green color is set. You can dump the entire pot of boiling water out or you can just use one of these strainers. It’s so much easier and you don’t end up with all that boiling water. Okay. Into the ice water. It’s called shocking it. What it does is cool it down immediately so you end up with broccoli that’s perfectly cooked, bright green. It really sets the color. Just going to lift it out and put it together with the tomatoes. And then it’s ready for the chicken and the sauce, which I’m going to make next. So, I used to make all these sauces for salads for mayonnaise, which is perfectly delicious, but I don’t like that sort of gloppy mayonnaise texture as much as I like mayonnaise. So, I would always thin it with something, maybe chicken stock, vinegar. But for the chicken salad, I thin it a little bit with white wine. gives it great flavor and you end up with a sauce that’s more like a cream sauce than a mayonnaise sauce. So, little bit of white wine. Whisk. So, I have one and a half cups of mayonnaise and about 2 tablespoons of white wine. Just whisk it all together. And because it’s mustard chicken salad has to have lots of good mustard. So, good Dijon mustard about 1/4 of a cup. And because I liked it to not only taste like mustard, but look like mustard, I always use whole grain mustard. But three tablespoons of whole grain mustard. Just whisk that together. It’s great. The yellow makes it look like mustard. Then because you want to have lots of flavor, salt and pepper. Tablespoon of salt. I always use kosher salt. Seems like a lot, but remember it’s a sauce and chicken doesn’t have all that much flavor. Half a tablespoon of pepper. Whisk it all together. Okay, next the chicken. Resting the chicken in the oven means that you’re always going to have really flavorful and really juicy chicken. I just put four whole chicken breasts, bone in, skin on, on a sheet pan and rub them with olive oil. Then sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. then roasted them 350°, 35 to 40 minutes. So, the chicken’s cooled a little bit, just enough so I can handle it. Chicken salad so much better when the chicken’s warm. It really absorbs the sauce. Cooking chicken like this on the bone really keeps it moist. The skin keeps it moist on the top and the bone keeps it moist on the bottom. So, just run a knife around the bone and take it right off. Cut it like this. Big chunks. Bite size, but big bite size. Want to make sure all the bones are out. Perfect. I’m just going to put it in the bowl. Okay, that’s everything together. Just going to toss it together. Clean hands. Important. This looks gorgeous. All fresh ingredients. Just wonderful. And then lots of sauce. Just add enough so it moistens it completely but doesn’t drown it in sauce. Can always add more. So I always add less to start. Big spoon. Toss it together. Oh, this looks very familiar. Huge fats of this. So let’s see how this tastes. It’s good. You can really taste the mustard. You know, there’s sort of a flatness that I’m something I’m missing. I feel like it needs a little extra something. And there’s some tag on here. That’s going to do just the trick. You know, when I’m thinking about flavor, it’s always about a balance of flavors where one thing doesn’t hit you in the head and the other things are too subtle. It’s about that they’re layered, but it’s all about the chicken. What’s going to make the chicken taste more chicken-like? So, I’m just going to chop up the tagon. Just add it in. I can smell the tagon. It’s a very delicate flavor, but it really will add to the chicken without overpowering it. Okay, let’s see now. A little taste of it. Oh, it’s perfect. I can taste the mustard. I can taste the teragon, but it doesn’t overpower the chicken. Jeffreey’s going to love this. I’m sure he’s going to remember where it’s from, too. [Music] In the 80s, we made so much curried chicken salad, I just couldn’t look at it anymore. But I thought, I’m going to revisit a classic. And it turns out there was a reason why we liked it. It’s delicious. I’m going to make the sauce first. So, I need one and 1/2 cups of mayonnaise. I always say good mayonnaise. Just want the best mayonnaise you can find. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the most expensive, just one that tastes great. And I always add something that has a little bit of a bite to it. Vinegar, white wine. I’m going to add third cup of white wine. You want to add white wine that you like, something you would drink. Next, I’m going to add chutney cuz all curry has chutney in it. About 1/4 of a cup. And I use mango chutney. It’s usually called major gray chutney. Next is curry powder. Can’t make curry chicken without curry powder. Curry powder is actually a mix of spices. It’s not just one thing. I’m going to add 3 tablespoons, which is a lot. Next, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Make sure it has great flavor. And then just puree the whole thing. Now that’s an easy sauce. Okay, next the chicken. I’ve got three whole chicken breasts. Actually, there are six pieces cuz remember whole chicken breast is two pieces. And I’ve roasted it 350° for just about 35 to 40 minutes, just until it’s done. And these have cooled already. And I just find this is the most delicious way to make chicken for chicken salad. I’m just going to give it a big rough dice. Sort of big bite-sized pieces. Are the pieces big enough so you can see them in the salad. I don’t like things minced up like baby food. Okay, that’s the chicken. Next, the vegetables. So I need about a cup of chopped celery, about 1/4 cup of chopped scallions. Scallions give that nice bite without being too oniony. And the next is 1/4 cup of raisins. Now the legendary restaurant critic from the New York Times, Mimi Sheran, used to say that the correct proportion of raisins to curried chicken salad is zero. I disagree with her. I like that sweetness in it. Okay, next for the sauce. So I’m just going to pour enough in so it’s moistened. I always hold a little sauce back because after it sits sometimes it needs a little extra sauce. Just toss it all together. Oh, this smells just delicious. It’s going to look good, too. I have one more thing to add. Salted roasted cashews. And actually, what I did was I heated them up a little bit. So, sometimes cashews can get a little mealy if they sit for a long time. And I love when they’re really crisp. And I can chop them up or just put them in hole. That’s one cup of cashews. This is great. It’s very chunky. Well, this was good in the 80s, but I think it’s even better now cuz they added lots more spice, more mango, chutney, more crunch. There’s only one way to know for sure. So delicious. It’s very moist. It’s really crunchy. It’s salty. It’s sweet. It’s spicy.