The Art of Making Shake Shack-Style Chicken Sandwiches at Home

As I stood in front of my oven, watching the chicken inside come to life, I couldn't help but think about how much I loved making Shake Shack-style fried chicken sandwiches. It all started when I decided to try their famous chicken sandwich, and I was hooked from the very first bite. The combination of juicy, tender meat, crispy exterior, and tangy flavors was something that I had never experienced before, and I knew I had to recreate it at home.

To start making the sauce, I gathered all the necessary ingredients: a cup of mayonnaise, two tablespoons of buttermilk, one teaspoon of white wine vinegar, and lots of fresh herbs. First, I whisked together the mayonnaise and buttermilk until they were fully incorporated. Then, I added a teaspoon of white wine vinegar to give it just a little tang. Finally, I added lots of fresh herbs: two tablespoons of sliced or chopped scallions (both white and green parts), one tablespoon of minced chives, one tablespoon of minced parsley, and a little bit of thyme. The recipe actually originated from Shake Shack, a fast-casual hamburger restaurant owned by Danny Meyer, and I was excited to try out their famous chicken recipe.

The secret to making great fried chicken is all about the preparation. First, I marinated the chicken in a mixture of buttermilk, sliced shallot, smashed garlic cloves, half jalapeno pepper, two teaspoons of salt, and one teaspoon of pepper for eight hours. The acidity in the buttermilk tenderized the chicken, while the flavors infused into the meat. Next, I made a flavorful coating mix by combining four teaspoons of baking powder with three and a half cups of all-purpose flour, along with two and a half teaspoons of smoked paprika, a teaspoon each of cayenne pepper and celery salt, tablespoon of kosher salt, and one and a half teaspoons of black pepper. Then, I double-dipped the chicken in the marinade, then the flour, and finally back into the marinade before coating it with the flavorful mix.

To cook the chicken, I heated two inches of oil to 350 degrees and fried three pieces at a time for five minutes on each side, flipping them halfway through. Once they were crispy and golden brown, I removed them from the oil and placed them on a rack over a sheet pan to keep warm in a 250-degree oven. I repeated this process with the remaining chicken pieces, and soon we had a batch of perfectly cooked fried chicken.

To assemble the sandwich, I started by toasting the hamburger buns at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes. Then, I spread a layer of sauce on the bottom bun – the herb mayonnaise that I made earlier was the perfect accompaniment to the crispy chicken. Next, I added a piece of lettuce, which I used Boston lettuce because it's tender and delicious. The order in which you put the pickle into the sandwich makes a difference, so I placed four slices of pickle on top of the lettuce – who knew? Finally, I topped the sandwich with another layer of sauce, a piece of fried chicken, and that was it.

The result was nothing short of amazing. Each bite was a flavor explosion that left me wanting more. The combination of juicy meat, crispy exterior, tangy flavors, and freshness from the herbs made for a truly unforgettable experience. And the best part? I could make these sandwiches at home, with ease and precision. Whether you're a Shake Shack fan or just looking to try something new, this recipe is sure to become a favorite in your household.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthese are the easiest potatoes in the world i think i've made more garlic roasted potatoes than every other vegetable combined i start with red potatoes but you can really use any kind of thin skin potato maybe about two pounds if they're big potatoes i'll cut them in quarters if they're small potatoes i'll cut them in half okay a little olive oil just drizzle it on of course salt i use kosher salt but you can use sea salt or any kind of salt you have around lots of fresh pepper give it a little spice now the secret to my potatoes really good garlic i was trying to find garlic that's very firm like this it doesn't have a big sprout on it you don't want to plant in your potatoes you want a really good garlic peel six cloves of garlic there's a lot of garlic in this meal but when you cook garlic for a long time it becomes really sweet so it's not going to be too garlicky meal now the easiest way i find a chopped garlic is just to leave the tip of the blade on the board and run the knife back and forth and really let the blade do the work okay lots of garlic smells so good i'm going to use my hands to mix up the olive oil salt i've already put on it the pepper okay into the oven 400 degrees for about 30 minutes oh these are the garlic roasted potatoes and they are seriously garlic they're all crisp on the outside and delicious inside it's like a retired kitchen hi sweetie oh that looks great that looks great what you've been dreaming of all the way home and i'd love some wine that'd be fabulous and a sprinkling of parsley on the top years and years and years every time jeffrey came home on friday night i would make roast chicken and then one day i thought i've got to be a little more creative than this i want the house to smell great and of course i want to make chicken so each time i challenge myself to make something new i'm making chicken piccata which is wonderful i'm going to start with two chicken breasts i'm going to do a coating for them so they're sauteed and a lemon and butter sauce which is so good so the first thing i need is half a cup of flour just all-purpose flour half a teaspoon of salt a quarter of a teaspoon of pepper just going to mix that all together so that's the first part of the coating this can be dipped into one egg just mix with a little touch of water just beat it all together the next part of the coating is bread crumbs i use seasoned bread crumbs about three quarters of a okay cup just gonna heat a little oil in the pan just a few tablespoons and while that gets hot i'm gonna take the chicken breasts and pound them out until they get really thin sort of even chicken breasts they're sort of thicker parts and the thinner and other parts and this way they cook more evenly and they cook really quickly rolling pin is a good basher some people have knee pounding things but everybody has a rolling pin i like them between a quarter and a half inch thick and just in two directions so it ends up smooth doesn't end up in ridges okay so the first one goes into the flower and just make sure it's coated all over and shake off the excess into the eggs the flour dries it out and then the eggs make it so that the bread crumbs will adhere and then the bread crumbs season dried bread crumbs right into the pan perfect just two minutes on each side until it's golden brown okay that guy's done perfect another next one a little oil right into the pan two minutes on each side i wonder if it's going to replace jeffrey's favorite roast chicken for friday night chicken dinner oh perfectly done okay i'm gonna put this on a sheet pan keep it warm in the oven 400 degrees for about 10 minutes right alongside the red onions and then i'm going to make a nice lemon butter sauce to go with it oh perfect timing i think i just heard jeffrey the weekend starts now jeffy's upstairs changing the red onions are roasting in the oven the buttermilk mashed potatoes are done and now i just have to make the sauce for the chicken piccata so the first thing i'm going to do is just wipe out the pan that i cook the chicken in and i'm just going to heat up a tablespoon of butter so the chicken is warm in the oven just keeping it warm in the oven while i just make a nice sauce for it okay now i need a third of a cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice it's probably two lemons just gonna pour it right into the butter okay now half a cup of white wine really nice dry white wine something i drink for dinner okay half a teaspoon of salt a quarter of a teaspoon of pepper and this is what i'm going to do with the lemon shells i'm going to put them right in the sauce so you get the flavor of the zest it just cooks together so i'm just going to reduce this by half it'll take about two minutes while i chop up some parsley and some sliced lemons to put on the chicken so the onions i have a little bit of vinaigrette left over from the marinating which i always love to put on at the end just toss them all together these look so good that's gonna be wonderful okay and then the chicken some of the piccata sauce that looks pretty good some slices of lemon so jeffrey knows it's lemon pecan a little bit of parsley these roasted onions smell so good i love the way they look who doesn't love mashed potatoes and buttermilk mashed potatoes oh your timing is perfect as always guess what's for dinner well let's see it's friday chicken but what kind of chicken it's chicken piccata and it's ready great let me tell you how good this chicken is is it up there with the roast chicken you know i used to think that roast chicken was the only thing i could have on friday night but this chicken piccata this is just as good i thought i'd surprise michael and jim with a cake for their anniversary party so it's one and three quarters cup of flour i'm gonna sift all the dry ingredients together two cups of sugar i'm gonna sip them right into the bowl mixing bowl and since the chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream it's got three quarters of a cup of cocoa powder dark chocolate cocoa powder smells so good so chocolatey okay one teaspoon of baking powder two teaspoons of baking soda helps it rise one teaspoon of salt i'm just going to sift all these together so the method of this cake is to sift all the dry ingredients together in a cloud of chocolate and then i'm going to slowly mix the wet ingredients into it okay that's the dry ingredients i'm just going to mix them on the mixer until they're combined okay now for the wet ingredients the first thing is a cup of buttermilk i always shake it because it does settle make sure it's well mixed so i'm going to do it in a measuring cup that'll be easier to pour into the cake batter so i need one cup of buttermilk half a cup of vegetable oil two eggs just beat the eggs a little bit brownies are the wet ingredients i use extra large eggs one teaspoon of good vanilla really important when you're doing chocolate okay i'm just going to combine these and then with the mixer on low i'm just going to put it into the dry mixture and then i have secret ingredient or i should say michael's grandmother had a secret ingredient this recipe calls for a cup of hot brewed coffee and i always think coffee is really important for chocolate it makes it taste really chocolatey and that's exactly what this does right into the mixture i've got two eight-inch cake pans i lined them with parchment paper butter and flour the pressure's on it has to be good because michael knows exactly what it is he actually served this cake to me once at dinner and i just begged him for the recipe i didn't have to bake very hard i'll make sure they're pretty equal size okay into the oven 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes and then we're gonna cover it with the easiest most delicious buttercream you've ever seen so chop up six ounces of really good semi-sweet chocolate i'm just gonna melt the chocolate in a bowl that i've set over simmering water in the meantime i'm going to start the rest of the buttercream so i need two sticks of butter half a pound at room temperature i'm just going to beat that on medium speed okay the next thing i need is one extra large egg yolk and a teaspoon of good vanilla extract okay i think the chocolate's gonna be ready by now let's see take this off the heat and just let the chocolate cool while i turn the cakes out just add it to the butter and vanilla so i've got two teaspoons of hot water i'm just gonna put in a tablespoon of instant coffee powder which is a very intense coffee just melt this together and pour it into the buttercream and i'm just going to whip it for a minute make sure it's really well blended i'm going to turn it on low and then all this gorgeous chocolate the chocolate's actually cooled now a little bit you don't want to pour hot chocolate into butter otherwise the whole thing will melt really smell the chocolate and the coffee together a little hint of vanilla and that's michael's grandmother's chocolate buttercream icing a cake just go over it very gently start from the top and work your way down the sides okay so now i've got buttercream on all sides of the cake i'm just going to go up and down the sides and good news about an old-fashioned cake is it's supposed to be a little messy and then i'm just going to smooth the top i'm making linguine with shrimp scampi it's a great summer dish i add oil the pasta pot so that the pasta doesn't stick together and salt for flavor okay that's going to cook for seven to ten minutes according to the directions on the package okay that's three tablespoons of olive oil and about three tablespoons of butter i do the olive oil because it has a high burning temperature and the butter because it has lots of flavor i know this looks like a lot but it's the sauce for the entire dish and about one and a half tablespoons of garlic with garlic you really don't want to cook it too long so just about a minute nothing worse than the flavor of burnt garlic so one minute while i get everything else ready so the first thing is shrimp and what i buy is a peeled and deveined shrimp from the fish store if you can't buy it you can always peel and devein it yourself i'm going to add a pound of shrimp and just cook it for a very short time like three to five minutes and all that flavor of the garlic is going to get into the shrimp so first thing i'm going to do is salt and pepper the shrimp i wanted to have lots of flavor because when you add the pasta the sauce has to flavor the pasta also seems to be really strongly flavored just turn the shrimp so they cook evenly on both sides smells so good all that garlic and butter and oil how bad can that be so just drain from the drain the water from it and then it's going to go right into that pan with the shrimp and the garlic and butter and oil it's going to absorb all that great flavor okay just like that two spoons just toss it all together this is actually a great way to make any pasta italians do it even when you're making pasta with tomato sauce as you cook the pasta and the sauce together for the last few minutes and it really absorbs the flavor okay and then the last ingredients are lemon zest lemon juice i like a little bit of heat so just a sprinkling of red pepper flakes okay just toss that together and i have two more things to put in parsley okay right on top and then because i want you to you can't really see the lemon but i want you to know it's lemon what i do is a few thin slices of lemon people aren't going to eat them but they'll they'll see that it's lemon so i'm going to add a few slices of lemon to the whole thing before i finish tossing this is really great summer lunch no ordinary fried chicken sandwich the chicken has a double crust so it's really crispy and that sauce is made with buttermilk and mayonnaise so it's kind of tangy and fresh herbs so it's really fresh it's so good and then there are pickles involved so i'm gonna make the sauce first so i've got a cup of mayonnaise two tablespoons of buttermilk i'm gonna be sure to shake it first which i did just whisk it in a teaspoon of white wine vinegar just give it a little tang i'm gonna whisk that together and then put in lots of fresh herbs okay first the scallions i need two tablespoons of sliced or chopped scallions the white and the green parts i think a lot of people use a knife by just doing it up and down but it's really good to use the blade and have it sort of rock back and forth and then you get the best use of it and the scallions cut really cleanly okay so two tablespoons that's about two tablespoons one tablespoon of minced chives got lots of onion flavor i love chives okay it's about one tablespoon one tablespoon minced parsley this recipe actually originally came from shake shack which is danny meyer's fast casual hamburger restaurant and what's interesting is i was thinking about making fried chicken with a double coating but i'd never actually gotten around to doing it and that's exactly what they do with the shake shack chicken so i thought i think i'll try that and it was amazing so one tablespoon of parsley just stir it in okay a little bit of thyme all kinds of herbs in this i'm just going to strip it right in just a little bit give it another layer of flavor half a teaspoon of salt 1 teaspoon of pepper and that's it so that's the herb mayonnaise now i'm going to show you the chicken which i'm keeping warm in the oven wait do you see this now how good does that look wow chicken inside is really tender crispy outside i'm going to tell you how i made it this is the best there are four tricks to the fried chicken first a great marinade with two cups of buttermilk the acidity tenderized the chicken one sliced shallot two smashed garlic cloves one half jalapeno pepper two teaspoons of salt and one teaspoon of pepper all stirred together i put the chicken in the marinade and coated it it's six half chicken breasts flattened to half an inch which tenderizes them and ensures that they cook evenly then i put them in the fridge for eight hours for the marinade to get into the meat and to flavor it next i made a flavorful coating mix i added four teaspoons of baking powder to three and a half cups of all-purpose flour along with two and a half teaspoons of smoked paprika a teaspoon each of cayenne pepper and celery salt tablespoon of kosher salt one and a half teaspoons of black pepper and whisk them all together then the third trick is that i double dip the chicken i removed each piece of chicken from the marinade dipped it in the flour back into the marinade and then back into the flour and i promise this makes all the difference in the world then the fourth and final trick is how i cook it i fry the chicken three pieces at a time you don't want to overcrowd them in two inches of oil heated to 350 degrees i cooked them for five minutes flipping them halfway through then when they were deliciously crispy i put them on a rack over a sheet pan and kept them warm in a 250 degree oven while i fried the second batch i did exactly the same with the last three pieces i took the fried chicken out of the oil put it on the rack sprinkled on some salt and kept all the chicken warm in the oven those tricks really make a difference okay now i'm going to put the sandwich together which in the business is known as flavor build as in where you put everything in the sandwich makes a difference in how it tastes bet you didn't know that so first i'm going to take the hamburger bun i'm using potato buns which i think have great flavor i toasted them a little 300 degrees for about 10 minutes put sauce on the bottom next i'm going to put a piece of lettuce i'm using boston lettuce because it's really tender and delicious piece of lettuce and then pickles these are really good pickles like four pieces of pickle so it turns out where you put the pickle in the sandwich makes a difference now it tastes i don't know why the order makes a difference in how it tastes but it just does okay next is the chicken look how good this is right on top just barely fits and then more sauce on the bun and put that on top and that's a shake shack chicken sandwich and that one's got my name on it okay that's one i'm gonna make five more well you can see why these are jeffrey's favorite chicken sandwich mine too and if you make them they're going to be your favorite chicken sandwich you\n"