If you know me, you know that sandwiches are my favorite food (some people find this controversial, but it’s valid, the end). Every year I look for a new favorite sandwich of the year, and a few years ago I discovered the chicken biscuit from Pies n Thighs in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It’s a juicy piece of boneless fried chicken on a biscuit that’s been slathered with honey butter and doused in hot sauce. It is, in a word, glorious. I’ve been missing it since going gluten free, so I decided to try to recreate it without the gluten. And…
It was surprisingly easy, and tasted exactly like the real version! Even if you’ve never had the real thing, this is a great impressive meal to make, and you’ll be sorry when you’ve finished your last bite. (And if you want the glutens, just use regular breadcrumbs!)
Pies n Thighs Chicken Biscuit Recipe [Copycat version]
Ingredients for the Marinade
1 package boneless, skinless chicken thighs (mine had 4)
2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons sriracha or other hot sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
Ingredients for Breading
3/4 cup gluten-free breadcrumbs
3/4 cup almond meal (if you’re making these with gluten, you can use all breadcrumbs, but I’d recommend using almond meal anyway as it adds a great flavor)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp amounts of any other dried herbs you like (I added some basil and oregano)
olive oil
Ingredients for Serving
gluten-free biscuits, rolls, or English muffins, halved and toasted (I recommend the Trader Joe’s French rolls)
4 tbsp salted butter, room temperature
2 tbsp honey
hot sauce of your choice (like Frank’s Red Hot or Cholula)
For the marinade: pour buttermilk into a large (non-metal) bowl. Add in hot sauce, mustard, salt, cayenne, paprika, and pepper and whisk together until well mixed. Set aside. Take your chicken thighs out of the package, trim any fat, and pound them out a bit thinner between pieces of plastic wrap. Submerge chicken in buttermilk mixture, making sure it’s completely covered, and let marinate in the fridge for at least 3 hours and up to 24, stirring things around once or twice.
When you’re ready to cook: in a large plate, mix together breadcrumbs, almond meal, salt, cayenne, thyme, pepper, garlic powder, and any other herbs with a fork until well distributed. Take each piece of chicken out of the buttermilk, let the excess drip off, and then dredge in crumb mixture until both sides are coated.
Heat enough olive oil to more than comfortably coat the bottom of your pan over medium heat. When it’s hot enough (toss in some breadcrumbs and they’ll sizzle), cook chicken–probably in batches of two so as not to overcrowd your pan–until browned on both sides and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. (When flipping chicken, use a thin metal spatula to ensure that coating comes with the chicken.) While chicken cooks, mix together honey and butter in a small bowl until combined.
When ready to serve, divide honey butter between rolls. Top bottom half with chicken, douse with hot sauce to taste (more is better), and top with other half. Grab a lot of napkins, and dig in.
Cake Is The Only Thing That Matters 