Ina Garten is a culinary icon because her recipes and tips elevate staple dishes. Whether it’s Garten’s hack for upgrading bacon with brown sugar or using mango chutney to make grilled cheese, she is an expert in finding simple ways to level up our food. That’s why, when Ina Garten tasted Shake Shack’s chicken sandwich (aka the “Chicken Shack”), she had to include her version of the recipe in her cookbook “Cook Like a Pro.”
Despite the fast casual restaurant mostly being known for its Shack Burgers — Shake Shack’s take on smash burgers — its chicken sandwiches are insanely popular. One Redditor called the New York-based chain’s Chicken Shack a “crispier, better” version of the Chick-fil-A sandwich, which Garten attributes to its double breading. In her recipe, which she shared on her Food Network series “Barefoot Contessa: Cook Like a Pro,” she is very clear on how she accomplishes the crispy coating.
First, Garten recommends tenderizing the boneless chicken breast by dredging it in a marinade made of buttermilk, shallots, salt, pepper, garlic, and a halved jalapeño for at least 8 hours. Once you are ready to cook it, she recommends dunking the breast in a flour mixture seasoned with smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and celery salt, along with salt and pepper. The double breading comes in by repeating the dredge and dunk process once more, before shaking off the excess and frying it at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.
Other tips for crispy chicken
Double-breading is one method for getting the same crisp found in the Chicken Shack sandwich, but there are quite a few ways to make sure the texture of your chicken is right. Ina Garten’s hot tip for this recipe is to only fry a maximum of three chicken pieces at the same time. Adding one too many pieces of chicken can risk overcrowding the pan. When food is fried in overcrowded pans, it can often lead to unevenly cooked food. Without proper space to let out heat, the steam caused by frying will just collect, leading to soggy food.
Some people experiment with incorporating alcohol, like vodka, in their fried chicken batters and/or marinades to get that desired crunch. Since alcohol evaporates more quickly than other liquids when fried, vodka-based batter can achieve crispier textures.
While Garten’s recipe calls for double-breading, other chefs swear by double-frying their chicken. If you go that route, be sure to rest the chicken pieces for at least 10 minutes between fries, so they can reach maximum crunch levels.
