Nashville Hot Chicken "McGriddle"

Nashville Hot Chicken "McGriddle"

This was our Breakfast category entry for the 2024 Blackstone Great Griddle Off, and somehow it ended up winning the whole thing!

We weren’t trying to reinvent anything. We just wanted to see if we could take Nashville hot chicken, stack it between pancakes, add a runny egg, and have it actually make sense. Turns out, it does.

The chicken gets brined in buttermilk, pickle juice, hot sauce, and salt, then fried until golden and dipped in a spicy Nashville hot oil that brings real heat without being over the top. Sweet pancakes on the bottom and top, a sunny side up egg in the middle, and maple syrup because at that point you might as well commit.

We cooked everything on the Blackstone for the competition, which made it easy to go from pancakes to eggs to frying oil without missing a beat.

It’s spicy, sweet, messy, and a little ridiculous. Exactly what breakfast should be sometimes.

INGREDIENTS

Hot Oil

  • 3 tablespoons cayenne pepper
  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder

Fried Chicken

  • 4 boneless chicken thighs, approximately 6 ounces each
  • 4 large eggs
  • 3 cups whole buttermilk
  • ¼ cup dill pickle juice
  • 2 tablespoons hot sauce of choice
  • 3 tablespoons kosher salt
  • Canola oil for frying
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper

Pancakes and Eggs

  • 2 cups Old Country Store buttermilk pancake mix or pancake mix of preference
  • 1 cup milk
  • 4 eggs total, 1 for pancake mix and 3 for sunny side up eggs
  • Avocado oil or high smoke point oil for griddle

INSTRUCTIONS

Pancake Batter

  1. Mix dry pancake mix in a bowl.
  2. Add milk and 1 egg.
  3. Stir until combined.

Pancakes and Eggs

  1. Turn Blackstone griddle to medium heat on all burners.
  2. Lightly oil the griddle surface.
  3. Scoop pancake batter onto the griddle to desired size.
  4. Once batter begins to bubble consistently, flip and cook until slightly golden brown.
  5. Remove and keep warm.
  6. Using an egg mold on the oiled griddle, crack egg inside the mold.
  7. Cook until whites are set and yolk is slightly runny.
  8. Remove and keep warm.

Fried Chicken

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, pickle juice, hot sauce, and salt.
  2. Add chicken, cover, and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
  3. Prepare breading station with seasoned flour, egg wash, and seasoned flour again.
  4. Turn flat top to medium high heat.
  5. Place oil in an aluminum container on the flat top and heat to approximately 365 degrees F.
  6. Remove chicken from brine.
  7. Dredge in seasoned flour, dip in egg wash, then dredge again in seasoned flour.
  8. Fry chicken until golden brown and internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
  9. Remove and place on cooling rack.

Nashville Hot Oil

  1. Combine cayenne, paprika, brown sugar, garlic powder, and chili powder in a bowl.
  2. Slowly whisk 1 cup of the hot frying oil into the dry mixture until smooth and pourable.

Sandwich Assembly

  1. Dip fried chicken lightly in Nashville hot oil.
  2. Assemble in this order: bottom pancake bun, hot chicken, sunny side up egg, drizzle of maple syrup, top pancake bun.
  3. Serve immediately.