I love fried chicken (a few recipes already on this site) and currently, fried chicken sandwiches are a “thing”. Many opinions on which fast food chain serves up the best chicken sandwich.

Some are really good, many are okay and some are just “meh” and don’t live up to the hype.

While I may not make a fried chicken sandwich each time I crave one, knowing that I can make one (and will make it on my own) is empowering.

The coating on this chicken is golden and crispy, the chicken within is juicy, flavourful and the ranch dressing is versatile – use on this sandwich, with a crudite tray, chip dip or with a wedge salad.

However, this post is all about the fried chicken sandwich. Glorious!

Fried Chicken Sandwiches With Ranch Dressing

(serves 4)

2 chicken boneless breasts (6 oz. each) or 4 boneless chicken thighs (no skin)

sea salt

ground pepper

garlic powder

Marinade

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup hot sauce (I used Frank’s hot)

3-4 dashes of liquid smoke (look for it in condiments aisle at your supermarket)

Flour Coating

3 cups all purpose flour

2 Tbsp. baking powder

2 tsp. sweet paprika

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground pepper

Vegetable oil for frying

Ranch Dressing

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 Tbsp. white vinegar

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. dried parsley

1 tsp. dried chives

1 tsp. dried dill

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground pepper

4 homemade brioche buns, halved and toasted

Garnishes

sliced pickles

sliced tomatoes

lettuce

1. Slice the chicken breasts lengthwise in half (leave thighs as is) and place between two pieces of plastic wrap and gently pound with meat mallet or side of wine bottle to 1/2 inch cutlets. Season both sides with salt, pepper and garlic powder and place in a bowl.
2. To the bowl, add the buttermilk, hot sauce, liquid smoke and toss to mix the chicken and marinade well. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for min. 8 – max. 24 hours.
3. Make your flour mix by adding flour, baking powder, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper and use a fork to blend. Set a aside.
4. For the Ranch Dressing, add all the ingredients into a boil and mix well. It will seem a little runny, don’t worry. Cover and place in the fridge and it will thicken.
5. Take your chicken out of the fridge allow 45 minutes to come to room temperature. You may take your dressing out of the fridge as well.
6. Take your chicken out of buttermilk mixture and dredge in flour mix then dip. Dunk your chicken in the buttermilk again and dredge once more in flour mix.
7. Heat your deep fryer or add about 3 inches of oil into a deep pot, bring up to a temperature of 350F.
8. Carefully place the chicken in the hot oil and fry for 5 minutes, turning once. The will be crisp and golden. Take chicken out of oil and place on a cooling rack, sprinkle with salt.
9. Build your sandwich buy smearing ranch on both halves of the bun, on the bottom bun place lettuce, tomato, pickle, chicken, top bun.

Pro Tip: Fry no more than 4 pieces at a time and pre-heat oven to 300F to keep chicken warm until you’re ready to serve

Note on chicken: It is safe to eat chicken when it reaches an internal temperature of 165F. If you want to go higher than that, your call. Use an instant read thermometer to check