Traeger Grilled Nashville Hot Chicken proves where there is smoke there is fire. The Traeger puts a nice smoke on the chicken, and that Nashville seasoning rub from Spiceology sets your mouth ablaze! Of course, if you don’t have a Traeger, then use whatever smoker or grill that you prefer!

This is very similar to my Traeger smoked and grilled chicken.

Traeger Grilled Nashville Hot Chicken

Nashville hot chicken is legendary for being extremely spicy. Oddly enough, the sweet and slightly bitter effect of smoking the chicken helps make the burn more durable. That might be because it tastes so good you can’t help but risk another fiery spicy bite.

Spiceology has a winner with their Nashville Hot Chicken Spice Rub by Derek Wolf! It is hot, but you can control it easily with how much you put on the chicken and how long you let it marinate with the rub as well.

Nashville Hot Chicken Rub

Spiceology does a variety of unique rub blends and I enjoy trying them out, especially on the Traeger. The Nashville Hot Chicken Rub combines a bit of sweetness with a good dose of heat. The pepper heat comes from cayenne and black pepper, and there is some sweet as well as smoked paprika, onion, and garlic powder.

They keep it simple, but the key is in the proportions. Derek Wolf nails the balance of each. Sweet with heat, and a nice balance of savory in between.

Flavor-wise, the Nashville Hot Chicken rub covers a lot of bases. Of course, smoking the chicken on the grill will only improve upon things, but hats off to Derek Wolf from Over the Fire Cooking for another great blend.

Make this Nashville Hot Chicken Mac and Cheese with this chicken!

For a homemade Nashville Hot Chicken Rub, I highly suggest using this one from Carlsbad Cravings!

How long should you let the rub sit on the bird before cooking?

Many people are used to wet marinades, but dry rubs don’t take nearly as long to work their magic. With a wet rub, a few hours or even overnight is preferred. Using dry rubs, you don’t have to wait that long at all.

All you need for your Nashville Spice is about thirty minutes. That means you can spice up your meat generously, then start the grill.

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What is “Nashville Hot Chicken”?

Nashville chicken refers to a type of very spicy fried chicken that became popular in Nashville. With Nashville chicken, a super spicy cayenne sauce is created by cooking cayenne pepper in hot oil, then basting the chicken in it.

It literally is volcanically hot.

With the Derek Wolf Nashville Hot Chicken rub, you forego the hot oil basting, but the heat is still there. If you are not a fan of extra spicy anything then you probably want to go with the regular smoked chicken recipe I linked above.

What sides are best with spicy grilled chicken?

Since you get all the heat from the Nashville-style chicken, you probably want to balance it out with something that cools things down a bit and provides a bit of comfort. Don’t worry, no one will question how tough you are about handling the heat. Maybe.

40 Ways to use Smoked Chicken

These are a few dishes I would recommend:

• Cornbread Muffins – Not only do these cornbread muffins offer a bit of sweet, they also help soak up some of those hot oils that are turning your tongue into a lick of fire.
• Coleslaw – Of course coleslaw works well too. The vinegar in coleslaw also helps cool things down and helps clean the hot oil out. There is a good reason this side is served with spicy foods the world over.
• Traeger Baked Beans With Brisket – baked beans also add a bit of sweet to balance out the heat. This one is great because it is cooked on the Traeger too.

More great options would be:

• Smoked Mac and Cheese
• Smoked Potato Salad

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