Copycat Hardee's Nashville Hot Chicken Biscuit Recipe

Most fast-food joints have some main players in their lineups, and the Made From Scratch Biscuits at Hardee's are a fine example. The chain doesn't stick to serving plain biscuits, though, and offers various fillings to transform them into sandwiches. That includes Nashville hot chicken, a flavor-packed fried chicken concoction that originated in its namesake city almost a century ago. Hardee's has done a good job with its rendition featuring crispy-battered chicken seasoned with hot spices. 

Skip the drive-thru and crowds by following Mashed recipe developer Patterson Watkins' take on the savory bite. "Spicy fried chicken and a biscuit?! Get in my belly!," she says. She's clearly the right person for the task, sharing her love for buttery biscuits and spicy fried chicken. "This copycat recipe is my ideal fusion of those two favorites. Not only do I get to recreate it, I get to eat it afterwards," she says.

She continues, "Hardee's was a treat for my dad and me. And, 100% of the time, it was some biscuit-y thing we consumed. Hardee's is nostalgic for me, and it sits in that warm-fuzzy food memory place." Nashville hot chicken, however, hadn't yet exploded in fast food and she says, "that's a relatively new warm-fuzzy food memory." After tasting it at Hattie B's in Nashville, she is a devoted fan and says, "That level of crispiness (chicken) and that finger-licking spiciness (with a clever hint of sweetness) — that's unforgettable flavor there."

For this recipe, start by halving boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cutting them into eight pieces. Next, get vegetable or canola oil for frying. For the breading, use whole milk, egg, hot sauce, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. For the spice blend, get annatto or achiote powder, granulated sugar, cayenne pepper, chili powder, sweet paprika, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper. Finally, a can of refrigerated biscuits will do the trick, or you could try our 3-ingredient biscuit recipe to mimic Hardee's Made From Scratch promise.

Place the chicken pieces on a wire rack–lined baking sheet and place in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 30 minutes to air dry.

Meanwhile, make the spice mix: Place the annatto, sugar, cayenne, chili powder, paprika, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper in a heatproof bowl.

Stir to combine, remove 1 tablespoon of the spice blend from the bowl, and set both aside.

To make the chicken breading, place the milk, egg, and hot sauce in a medium bowl, and whisk to combine.

Place the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and the 1 tablespoon reserved spice blend in another medium bowl, and stir to combine.

Place 3 tablespoons of the wet breading mixture into the bowl with the seasoned flour. Stir to combine, creating some flaky bits.

Following the instructions on the biscuit can, preheat the oven to the recommended temperature.

Place the raw biscuits on a baking sheet. Once preheated, bake the biscuits as instructed.

While the biscuits bake, fill a large pot or Dutch oven ⅓ full with the oil, or preheat a deep fryer. Bring to 350 F over medium to medium-high heat.

When the oil reaches 275 F to 300 F, carefully transfer ½ cup of the hot oil to the heatproof bowl containing the spice blend. Stir to combine, and set aside to steep while you fry the chicken.

To bread the chicken, first dip the pieces in the dry mixture, dusting off any excess. Then, dip the chicken in the wet mixture, letting any excess drip off.

Lastly, return the chicken to the dry mix, coating it completely and pressing to adhere. Return to the wire rack.

Fry the chicken, in batches, for 3 minutes per side, or until cooked through and crisp.

Once cooked, remove the chicken from the oil and set aside to drain on a clean wire rack or paper towels.

Once baked, remove the biscuits from the oven and set aside to cool, cooling them just long enough for you to handle.

Once all of the chicken has fried and drained, coat each piece in the spiced oil.

Halve the biscuits.

Divide the seasoned chicken between the halved biscuits, and serve.

If annatto and achiote powder are not in your spice repertoire, Watkins provides some insight as to where to find them, as well as a possible swap. For starters, she explains that the two are pretty similar. "They both come from the achiote tree, where the seeds are ground to create this really fun food pigment that also imparts a mildly peppery, sweet flavor with some nutty aromatics," she says. She notes that they can often be found in shops with a well-stocked South American or South East Asian selection and adds, "Most non-specialty markets will carry it, as well, along with the other spices." If all else fails and you don't want to use an alternative, she says that you can source it online. 

It is sold as a powder or paste, but you'll want to pick up the powder for the spice blend. "The purpose in this recipe is to impart a more reddish hue to our Nashville hot spice combination, in addition to a little bit of sweetness and pepper notes," she says. "If you need to substitute, you can add the tiniest bit of red food coloring and boost the paprika by ¼ teaspoon and the black pepper by ¼ teaspoon." 

A buttery biscuit with Nashville hot chicken is a pretty hearty meal in its own right, but sometimes it's worth it to go all out. "It just ain't Hardee's if you don't have hash rounds — those flat, circular tater tots," Watkins says. Crispy potatoes are a no-brainer if you're diving into a fast-food meal, and any type of hash brown is sure to be a winning combination. 

"I would 100000000% recommend frying up some of those (you have the hot oil all ready to go) to serve alongside your hot chicken biscuits," Watkins recommends. While you could go through the efforts of grating the potatoes and preparing them from scratch, there are also plenty of frozen hash browns on the market that will fit the bill. And, of course, you can always opt for fries for another variation on crispy potatoes.