Buttermilk Hot Sauce Brined Chicken – seriously the most tender and juicy chicken we’ve ever made!!! Chicken marinated overnight in buttermilk, water, salt, pepper, garlic, lime, brown sugar, and hot sauce. Brush the chicken with some spicy BBQ sauce before taking it off the grill. We LOVE this grilled chicken! We always double the recipe and never have leftovers! YUM!
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Pin This RecipeTender and Juicy Brined Chicken
This Buttermilk Hot Sauce Brined Chicken is CRAZY good! SUPER tender and SUPER juicy. We ate this for lunch and leftovers for dinner on the same day. It is that good! Chicken marinated for 24-hours in buttermilk, hot sauce, and lime. A little sweet, a little tangy, and a whole lotta good! It is so good that we’ve added to the menu again this coming weekend. You must give this yummy chicken a try ASAP!
How to Make Buttermilk Hot Sauce Brined Chicken
The brine is super easy to make with only a few simple ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, water, kosher salt, black pepper, hot sauce, brown sugar until sugar is dissolved. Stir in lime slices and garlic cloves. Place the chicken in a gallon resealable plastic bag. Pour the brine over the chicken and seal the bag. Refrigerate 24 hours.
When ready to grill, remove the chicken pieces from the brine. Pat dry with paper towels and cook on the grill or in the oven until it reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF. Brush the chicken with barbecue sauce on both sides before removing it from the grill. Garnish the chicken with fresh limes and parsley.
Helpful Tips & Frequently Asked Questions
- Why Brine Chicken in Buttermilk? Buttermilk tenderizes the chicken while keeping it moist. Brining chicken 24-hours in buttermilk ensures your chicken will be tender, juicy, and packed full of flavor. I mean, nobody likes dry flavorless chicken!
- I brine the chicken for 24-hours. If you don’t have that much time, just give it as long as you can.
- I use Frank’s Hot Sauce. You can also use Crystal’s or Texas Pete’s hot sauce.
- Is Buttermilk Brined Chicken spicy? No. Even though the chicken is marinated overnight in some hot sauce, it isn’t spicy at all.
- We brush the chicken with BBQ sauce before taking it off the grill.
- My favorite store-bought BBQ sauces are Sweet Baby Rays, Stubbs, G.Hughes, and Williamson Brothers. I buy them all at Walmart.
- You can use this brine on any cut of chicken – breasts, tenders, thighs, wings, or drumsticks/legs.
- You can use boneless or bone-in chicken. Adjust the cooking time to ensure an internal temperature of 165ºF in the thickest portion of the chicken.
- I suggest pounding the chicken breasts to an even thickness. We put the chicken in a ziplock bag and use a flat meat mallet to carefully pound out the hump. This ensures that the chicken cooks evenly and you don’t have juicy chicken and half-dry chicken.
- I don’t have a grill. Can I cook the chicken in the oven or skillet? Yes! To cook the chicken breasts inside, pan-sear it for 3 to 4 minutes per side. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 400ºF for 10 minutes.
What to Serve with Grilled Chicken
This chicken has tons of great flavor. It is a little tangy from the buttermilk and lime juice. We serve this with a potato casserole and some green beans. This is definitely a new favorite! Give this chicken a try the next time you fire up the grill. You won’t be disappointed.
Looking for more side dish recipes? Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this easy grilled chicken:
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Buttermilk Hot Sauce Brined Chicken
Equipment:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 cups cold water
- ¼ cup kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp black pepper
- ½ cup hot sauce
- ¼ cup brown sugar packed
- 1 lime sliced
- 4 garlic cloves
- 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ⅓ cup BBQ sauce
- 2 Tbsp hot sauce
Instructions:
- Whisk together buttermilk, water, salt, pepper, ½ cup hot sauce, brown sugar until sugar is dissolved. Stir in lime slices and garlic.
- Place chicken in a gallon ziplock bag. Pour brine over chicken and seal bag. Refrigerate 24 hours.
- Remove chicken from marinade/brine.
- Combine BBQ sauce and 2 Tbsp hot sauce.
- Grill chicken 12 to 15 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 165ºF. Brush chicken with BBQ sauce mixture on each side before removing from grill.
Notes:
- I brine the chicken for 24-hours. If you don’t have that much time, just give it as long as you can.
- I use Frank’s Hot Sauce. You can also use Crystal’s or Texas Pete’s hot sauce.
- Is Buttermilk Brined Chicken spicy? No. Even though the chicken is marinated overnight in some hot sauce, it isn’t spicy at all.
- We brush the chicken with BBQ sauce before taking it off the grill.
- My favorite store-bought BBQ sauces are Sweet Baby Rays, Stubbs, G.Hughes, and Williamson Brothers. I buy them all at Walmart.
- You can use this brine on any cut of chicken – breasts, tenders, thighs, wings, or drumsticks/legs.
- You can use boneless or bone-in chicken. Adjust the cooking time to ensure an internal temperature of 165ºF in the thickest portion of the chicken.
- I suggest pounding the chicken breasts to an even thickness. We put the chicken in a ziplock bag and use a flat meat mallet to carefully pound out the hump. This ensures that the chicken cooks evenly and you don’t have juicy chicken and half-dry chicken.
- I don’t have a grill. Can I cook the chicken in the oven or skillet? Yes! To cook the chicken breasts inside, pan-sear it for 3 to 4 minutes per side. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 400ºF for 10 minutes.
Steph
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We cubed our chicken before putting it in the brine so we could make kabobs. Followed everything else exactly and it was so good we made it twice in the last 2 weeks. The chicken was tender and the barbecue sauce added great flavor. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Buttermilk brine is the key to moist chicken whether it be baked, grilled or fried. I believe that fat free buttermilk will not satisfy for this recipe. You suggestion about 24 hrs to marinate is spot on. If time allows I like to do 36 hrs. but never less than 24 hrs.
thank you! Maybe I'll try what I have (fat free) with a bit of melted butter thrown in!!
Yum! I vaguely remember seeing something about soaking your meat in buttermilk, but then never went back to it. This looks amazing — can't wait to try!
Sounds delicious and must be tried.
looks very good. Think fat free buttermilk would work?
sweetpea – I made this with full-fat buttermilk. Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.