First, let me start off by saying this is probably in the top 3 chicken dishes I’ve ever had from a restaurant. And I’ve eaten A LOT of chicken in my time.
So that’s really saying something!
I got this from the Grand Floridian Café when my husband and I were on a trip to Disney World. Let me tell you. IT WAS AMAZING.
Definitely the best meal I’ve had at any Disney World restaurant, hands down.
And for those of you who have frequently visited Disney, you know that there is no shortage of food at Disney.
However, I can confidently say that this dish is one of the best!
The Grand Floridian Café Buttermilk-Fried Chicken is a corn flake-crusted chicken breast fried until crispy, sitting on a bed of garlic sautéed spinach and creamy mashed potatoes, topped off with a warm bacon vinaigrette.
The Magic:
I enjoyed my meal so much that I asked our very accommodating waitress if there was any way the chef would share the recipe with me. I was shocked when he actually did! Kind of.
Our waitress came back to our table with a piece of paper that had the general steps hand written on it. It didn’t have any of the measurements, but I knew those would be pretty easy to figure out.
Let’s all just take a second to acknowledge how amazing of a company Disney is to give their cast members power and authority to do something like this. Plus, they encourage the whole “go the extra mile” mentality when it comes to accommodating guests.
I find this fascinating and heart-warming and it makes me love them as a company all the more!
I was pumped to get home and give this recipe a try! IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT!
I hope you enjoy it too and feel a little bit of Disney in your house as you dig in!
Now don your Mickey ears and TASTE THE MAGIC!
How To Make Copycat Disney World Grand Floridian Buttermilk-Fried Chicken:
1.Cut fat off of the chicken breasts and use a sharp knife to slice each piece in half thickness-wise. This will make 4 thin chicken breasts.
2. Using a large bowl or container that you can cover, pour buttermilk and hot sauce into it and stir well.
3. Place chicken breasts in the buttermilk mixture, making sure that each breast is as submerged as possible, and cover the container well.
4. Put the container in the fridge for 12-24 hours to marinate. The longer the better!
5. After marinating, pour oil in skillet and set to medium heat. Allow oil to heat for at least 10 minutes.
6. In a container or dish, mix up flour, salt, and pepper.
7. In a bowl, whisk together eggs.
8. In a large container, crunch up corn flakes into small pieces.
9. Take each chicken breast carefully out of the marinade, shake off excess, and dredge in flour mixture, then egg, then corn flakes.
10. Put chicken breast in skillet of oil and fry about 5 minutes on each side or until internal temperature reaches 165 F. Fry in batches of 2.
11. Once fried, transfer chicken breasts to a paper towel-lined plate to allow the extra oil to get soaked up.
How To Make Warm Bacon Vinaigrette :
1.In a skillet, fry 5 pieces of bacon until crispy. Feel free to do this in batches. You don’t want to overcrowd the bacon!
2. Transfer cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and reserve the bacon grease for cooking the Garlic Sautéed Spinach in.
3. Set a sauce pot to medium heat and sauté the minced garlic in the olive oil for about a minute.
4. Add dijon mustard, honey, apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper. Stir well.
5. Allow to cook for a few minutes until it starts to thicken slightly.
6. Crumble bacon into small pieces and add to the vinaigrette.
7. Leave on the lowest heat possible until ready to serve.
How To Make Garlic Sautéed Spinach:
1.Using the leftover grease from cooking the bacon, set heat to medium and add minced garlic. Cook for about a minute.
2. Pour entire bag of fresh spinach into the skillet and cover.
3. Allow the spinach to begin to wilt, stirring every so often.
4. Once the spinach is mostly wilted, add salt and pepper. Stir well and cook until the spinach is fully wilted, but still somewhat bright green. You don’t want to cook the life out of it!
5. Set aside until ready to plate.
How To Assemble:
1.Take a heaping scoop of mashed potatoes and put it in the center of your plate. You can find our recipe for our Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes here!
2. Grab a quarter of the Garlic Sautéed Spinach and put it on top of the mashed potatoes.
3. Place a chicken breast on top then pour that decadent Bacon Vinaigrette on top! Prepare to be at a loss for words!
If you’re looking for another chicken dish, try our Copycat BJ’s Parmesan Crusted Chicken!
Copycat Disney World Grand Floridian Buttermilk-Fried Chicken
Ingredients
Buttermilk-Fried Chicken
- 2 large chicken breasts
- 6 cups buttermilk
- 1 cup hot sauce
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup flour
- 3 tsp salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 4 cups corn flakes
- About 24 oz vegetable oil for frying
Warm Bacon Vinaigrette
- 5 strips bacon
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp dijon mustard
- 4 tbsp honey
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp black pepper
Garlic Sautéed Spinach
- 1 (8 oz) bag fresh spinach
- Leftover bacon grease from cooking bacon for vinaigrette
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 3 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Instructions
Buttermilk-Fried Chicken
- Cut fat off of the chicken breasts and use a sharp knife to slice each piece in half thickness-wise. This will make 4 thin chicken breasts.
- Using a large bowl or container that you can cover, pour buttermilk and hot sauce into it and stir well.
- Place chicken breasts in the buttermilk mixture, making sure that each breast is as submerged as possible, and cover the container well.
- Put the container in the fridge for 12-24 hours to marinate. The longer the better!
- After marinating, pour oil in skillet and set to medium heat. Allow oil to heat for at least 10 minutes.
- In a container or dish, mix up flour, salt, and pepper.
- In a bowl, whisk together eggs.
- In a large container, crunch up corn flakes into small pieces.
- Take each chicken breast carefully out of the marinade, shake off excess, and dredge in flour mixture, then egg, then corn flakes.
- Put chicken breast in skillet of oil and fry about 5 minutes on each side or until internal temperature reaches 165 F. Fry in batches of 2.
- Once fried, transfer chicken breasts to a paper towel-lined plate to allow the extra oil to get soaked up.
Warm Bacon Vinaigrette
- In a skillet, fry 5 pieces of bacon until crispy. Feel free to do this in batches. You don't want to overcrowd the bacon!
- Transfer cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and reserve the bacon grease for cooking the Garlic Sautéed Spinach in.
- Set a sauce pot to medium heat and sauté the minced garlic in the olive oil for about a minute.
- Add dijon mustard, honey, apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper. Stir well.
- Allow to cook for a few minutes until it starts to thicken slightly.
- Crumble bacon into small pieces and add to the vinaigrette.
- Leave on the lowest heat possible until ready to serve.
Garlic Sautéed Spinach
- Using the leftover grease from cooking the bacon, set heat to medium and add minced garlic. Cook for about a minute.
- Pour entire bag of fresh spinach into the skillet and cover.
- Allow the spinach to begin to wilt, stirring every so often.
- Once the spinach is mostly wilted, add salt and pepper. Stir well and cook until the spinach is fully wilted, but still somewhat bright green. You don't want to cook the life out of it!
- Set aside until ready to plate.
Assembly
- Take a heaping scoop of mashed potatoes and put it in the center of your plate. You can find our recipe for our Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes here!
- Grab a quarter of the Garlic Sautéed Spinach and put it on top of the mashed potatoes.
- Place a chicken breast on top then pour that decadent Bacon Vinaigrette on top! Prepare to be at a loss for words!
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Thank you for posting this!! We’ve been trying to recreate this chicken ever since staying at Grand Floridian. It’s just like we remembered.
This recipe was a little more involved than the average, but SO WORTH IT. My husband has asked me to make again at least five times! I think it was the bacon that tipped it over the edge.
This might just be the best thing I’ve ever tasted!
This dish looks and tastes incredible! I think I’ll have to have my husband make it for me again, SOON!!!
So good
One of the best things I’ve ever tasted! Took a little while to make, but it was so worth it.
Best chicken EVER!!