Recreate KFC's Iconic Spicy Zinger Sandwich Without Leaving Home |...

Recreate KFC's Iconic Spicy Zinger Sandwich Without Leaving Home

Copycat KFC spicy zinger chicken sandwich surrounded by toppings

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

If you're anything like recipe developer Patterson Watkins, you don't just like fast food spicy chicken sandwiches — you absolutely love them (to the point that you'd even consider getting a tattoo to honor Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich). Needless to say, Watkins considers herself something of a "spicy chicken connoisseur," so she is more than qualified to grace us with all sorts of fast food-inspired chicken sandwich recipes, including her copycat take on a KFC spicy Zinger chicken sandwich.

KFC's Zinger is the chain's specific take on a spicy chicken sandwich, and one that Watkins has nothing but praise for. "Well-seasoned, balanced heat, with accompaniments (lettuce, pickles, Zinger sauce, etc.) that work well to highlight, not hinder," she describes. "I did my due diligence with this copycat recipe, making sure to get that flaky, crispy-fried crust/coating, complete with the requisite quantity of herbs and spices." She also went above and beyond to ensure that she got the Zinger sauce just right — hitting all those essential sweet, tangy, and peppery notes — to make this not just any spicy chicken sandwich recipe, but a truly KFC-worthy one.

Gather the ingredients for this copycat KFC spicy Zinger sandwich

Ingredients for copycat KFC Zinger sandwich

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Any good chicken sandwich starts with the chicken. For this one, you'll need boneless and skinless chicken breasts along with an egg, salt, and buttermilk for marinating. If you don't want to buy an entire carton of that latter ingredient, there are quite a few substitutions for buttermilk, including lemon juice and milk or vinegar and milk.

As for seasoning the chicken, you'll need celery salt, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, white pepper, dried oregano, ground ginger, and dried thyme. For that ever-important Zinger sauce, you'll want mayonnaise, ketchup, chili-garlic sauce, and honey. Finally, for frying and assembling the chicken sandwiches, you'll need flour, cornstarch, vegetable oil, sesame seed burger buns, shredded iceberg lettuce, and dill pickles.

Step 1: Place the chicken in plastic wrap

Raw chicken breasts covered with plastic wrap

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Sandwich the chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap.

Step 2: Pound the chicken

Pounded chicken breasts under sheet of plastic

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Pound the chicken into even cutlets using a meat mallet.

Step 3: Add buttermilk, egg, and salt to a bowl

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Place the buttermilk, egg, and salt in a medium bowl.

Step 4: Whisk to combine

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Whisk to combine the marinade.

Step 5: Marinate the chicken

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Place the chicken in a casserole dish and submerge it in the marinade. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours.

Step 6: Add seasonings to a bowl

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Once the chicken has marinated, make the seasoning blend by placing the celery salt, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, white pepper, oregano, ginger, and thyme in a small bowl.

Step 7: Make the seasoning blend

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Stir to combine the seasoning blend.

Step 8: Add the sauce ingredients to a bowl

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Make the zinger sauce by placing the mayonnaise, ketchup, chili garlic sauce, and honey in a medium bowl.

Step 9: Whisk to make the Zinger sauce

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Whisk to combine the sauce, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Step 10: Add the flour, cornstarch, and seasoning blend to a bowl

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Place the flour, cornstarch, and seasoning blend in a shallow bowl.

Step 11: Combine the flour and seasoning mixture

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Stir to combine.

Step 12: Drizzle some marinade into the flour mixture

Flour mixture next to chicken marinating in buttermilk

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Drizzle the dry flour mixture with 3 tablespoons of the marinade.

Step 13: Stir the liquid into the flour

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Stir to create little flakes in the dry mixture. (This will create little crunchy bits on the fried chicken, like KFC's chicken).

Step 14: Heat the oil for frying

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Fill a large pot or Dutch oven with oil and bring it to 350 F over high heat.

Step 15: Coat the chicken in the flour mixture

Chicken in buttermilk next to chicken breast in flour mixture

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Remove the chicken from the marinade, letting any excess drip off, and coat it in the dry mixture, using your hands to press and adhere the coating.

Step 16: Fry the chicken

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Fry the chicken in batches for 5 to 6 minutes or until golden, crispy, and cooked through.

Step 17: Set the chicken aside to drain

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Remove the chicken from the oil and set it aside to drain on a wire rack-lined baking sheet.

Step 18: Spread Zinger sauce onto buns

Sauced burger buns next to bowl of sauce

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

To assemble the sandwiches, spread the zinger sauce over the burger buns.

Step 19: Add pickles and lettuce to the buns

Buns with pickles and lettuce next to bowls of pickles and lettuce

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Place the lettuce on the bottom bun and place 3 pickle slices on the top bun.

Step 20: Add the fried chicken and serve the Zinger sandwiches

Fried chicken sandwich next to pieces of fried chicken

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

Divide the fried chicken breasts between the bottom buns, cap with the top buns, and serve.

What can I serve with a Zinger sandwich?

Our copycat KFC Spicy Zinger sandwich is piled high with perfectly crunchy fried chicken, spicy Zinger sauce, and all the KFC-required toppings.

Various fried chicken sandwiches with toppings and pieces of fried chicken

Total time: 4 hours, 45 minutes

For the chicken
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 teaspoons salt
For the seasoning blend
¾ teaspoon celery salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon white pepper
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
For the zinger sauce
⅔ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
1 teaspoon honey
To fry and assemble
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup cornstarch
Vegetable oil, for frying
4 sesame seed burger buns
2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
12 dill pickle slices

Sandwich the chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap.
Pound the chicken into even cutlets using a meat mallet.
Place the buttermilk, egg, and salt in a medium bowl.
Whisk to combine the marinade.
Place the chicken in a casserole dish and submerge it in the marinade. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours.
Once the chicken has marinated, make the seasoning blend by placing the celery salt, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, white pepper, oregano, ginger, and thyme in a small bowl.
Stir to combine the seasoning blend.
Make the zinger sauce by placing the mayonnaise, ketchup, chili garlic sauce, and honey in a medium bowl.
Whisk to combine the sauce, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Place the flour, cornstarch, and seasoning blend in a shallow bowl.
Stir to combine.
Drizzle the dry flour mixture with 3 tablespoons of the marinade.
Stir to create little flakes in the dry mixture. (This will create little crunchy bits on the fried chicken, like KFC’s chicken).
Fill a large pot or Dutch oven with oil and bring it to 350 F over high heat.
Remove the chicken from the marinade, letting any excess drip off, and coat it in the dry mixture, using your hands to press and adhere the coating.
Fry the chicken in batches for 5 to 6 minutes or until golden, crispy, and cooked through.
Remove the chicken from the oil and set it aside to drain on a wire rack-lined baking sheet.
To assemble the sandwiches, spread the zinger sauce over the burger buns.
Place the lettuce on the bottom bun and place 3 pickle slices on the top bun.
Divide the fried chicken breasts between the bottom buns, cap with the top buns, and serve.

Calories per Serving	1,631
Total Fat	120.8 g
Saturated Fat	12.4 g
Trans Fat	0.6 g
Cholesterol	256.0 mg

Total Carbohydrates	61.7 g
Dietary Fiber	2.7 g
Total Sugars	10.0 g
Sodium	1,421.2 mg
Protein	72.8 g

The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

What are tips for deep-frying the chicken?

Fried chicken sandwich next to bowl of sauce

Patterson Watkins/Mashed

It can be a little too easy to screw up fried chicken, and according to Watkins, one of the biggest pitfalls is the potential for sogginess. "Sogginess can occur from a series of things; the oil is too cold, we overcrowd the oil, or we let the chicken get steamy while it was cooling," she says. Using a digital thermometer to keep your oil at the right temperature is one of the easiest things to do to ensure frying success, but keep in mind that you may have to adjust the temperature often to maintain that sweet spot of 350 F.

Next, make sure you don't overcrowd the pot, tempting as it may be to fry everything up at once. "Overcrowding causes the oil to drop in temperature and creates areas where the oil can't reach, resulting in soggy chicken," Watkins explains. Make sure your chicken has some wiggle room in the pot, and if your pot isn't big enough to comfortably accommodate all four pieces of chicken at once, work in batches.

The same principle of giving the chicken some space applies to draining and resting it afterwards, too. "You want the chicken to be slightly elevated, with airflow," Watkins says. "That can be achieved by using a wire rack." If you were to simply place the chicken on a plate, it wouldn't receive airflow on the bottom, and excess oil might pool up.

What are other Zinger-worthy toppings?

In the words of Watkins herself, "There's no limit when it comes to customizing your zinger-at-home toppings," so where there's a topping will, there's a way. She laid the groundwork for a classic, tried-and-true zinger sandwich between the lettuce, pickles, and sauce, but you can certainly expand upon these basic toppings for a truly customized experience (whether it be KFC-inspired or otherwise).

To start, KFC's sauce repertoire expands far beyond the Zinger sauce itself. If you're looking for something milder than Zinger sauce, Watkins recommends options like ranch, honey mustard, or even plain mayo to sauce up your sando. You could even take a big KFC-inspired cue and douse your sandwich in gravy, if that's the savory sauce that floats your boat. Otherwise, other KFC sandwiches come with toppings like cheese or tomato, so you could easily add these staples to your homemade Zinger. But feel free to get fancy with it, opting for caramelized onions, fancy cheese (think Gruyère or Gouda, something that would pair well with the other flavors of the sandwich), or even bacon for a rich, smoky, salty addition.