Copycat Big Mary Chicken Sandwich and Taters

Copycat Big Mary Chicken Sandwich and Taters. A great homemade copycat recipe for a well loved chicken sandwich from Mary Brown’s Famous Chicken and Taters.

Copycat Big Mary Chicken Sandwich.

Originally published March 2015.

What’s a Big Mary, you ask? For those of you outside Newfoundland and parts of Canada who don’t know Mary Browns Famous Chicken and Taters, it is a much loved fried chicken franchise which started here in Newfoundland many years ago.

Copycat Big Mary Chicken Sandwich.

I like to use Russet Potatoes for this recipe for a crispy outside and a fluffy inside.

I’ve eaten fried chicken all over North America including many, many places in the southern US. So believe me, Mary Browns is still one of the very best I’ve ever tasted.

It is very juicy and tender with a thick, not too heavily seasoned, super crunchy crust.

Copycat Big Mary with spicy sauce and Taters

One of their most famous offerings is their much-loved Big Mary; a boneless chicken breast with mayo and lettuce on a soft burger bun.

It’s hard to replicate the delicate flavour of the herb and spice flour dredge used to make Mary Browns Chicken.

Copycat Big Mary and Taters

No inside info here.

I don’t have any inside information on the secret formula, believe me. However, I thought I’d borrow a couple of flavour characteristics from my own Oven Fried Chicken recipe in this one.

Also, I used some elements from my extremely popular Double Crunch Chicken recipe, to try an attempt at a copycat recipe. 

I think the result is as close as you are likely to come in a homemade version of one of Newfoundland’s all time take-out favourites.

Copycat Mary Brown’s Fried Chicken

For those of you who’ve never tried Mary Browns, give the recipe a try. And for those of you transplanted Newfoundlanders, it’ll be a little taste of home.

I think you’ll enjoy this version very much indeed. This one’s for you Teresa. 😉 Loves it, I do.

Deboned chicken breasts for Oven Fried Chicken Nuggets.

NOTE: I like to debone my own chicken breasts so that I can roast the bones and skins for stock later. Then, I freeze them until I have enough to cover a baking sheet then use the instructions in my post on making Chicken Stock here. 

If you liked this recipe you may also want to try our Copycat KFC recipe. When using whole chicken pieces to make the fried chicken version of CopyCat Mary Brown’s, I prepare it exactly the same way as I do the Copycat KFC.

Copycat KFC

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Copycat Big Mary Chicken Sandwich with Taters

Yield: 4 chicken sandwiches

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Copycat Big Mary Chicken Sandwich and Taters - a great homemade copycat recipe for a well loved chicken sandwich from Mary Browns Famous Chicken and Taters.

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Ingredients

• 4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
• canola oil for frying
• 2 eggs
• 4 tbsp water
• 3 lbs potatoes washed and cut into thick wedges
• 1/4 cup milk

For the chicken dredge

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• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp fine sea salt
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp dry mustard powder
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground thyme
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp ground sage
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin

Mix together:

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• 1/2 cup plain mayo
• 2 tsp sriracha sauce, or another favourite hot sauce
• 1 tsp chipotle powder, or chili powder

Instructions

1. Pound the chicken breasts out to an even thickness; about a half inch. Lightly season them with salt.
2. Mix all of the ingredients in the flour dredge together well. I like to use a whisk in a round bottom bowl to make sure everything is evenly mixed. A food processor also will mix them up well.
3. Make an egg wash by whisking together the eggs and water.
4. One at a time dip the breast pieces in the flour and spice mixture, then dip quickly into the eggwash and then a final time into the flour and spice mix, pressing the mix firmly into the meat to get good contact.
5. Heat a skillet on the stove with about a half inch of canola oil covering the bottom. You will want to carefully regulate the temperature here so that the chicken does not brown too quickly. The thinness of the breast meat practically guarantees that it will be fully cooked by the time the outside is browned. I find just below medium heat works well. I use a burner setting of about 4½ out of 10 on the dial and fry them gently for about 4 or 5 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy. (You can, of course, use a deep fryer for the chicken if you prefer. Keep the heat at 350 degrees until they are golden brown. About 8 -10 minutes)
6. Drain on a wire rack for a couple of minutes before making the sandwiches. Use plain mayo or the spicy mayo on both the un-toasted top and bottom buns, adding just fresh lettuce to the sandwich and a pickle slice on top. A club sandwich version adding bacon and tomato is also excellent!

To make the taters.

1. Toss the potato wedges in the1/4 cup milk and drain the milk off. 
2. Toss the wedges in the remaining flour and spice mix and deep fry for about 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and fully cooked. Alternatively, you can lightly oil a cookie sheet and place the taters on it, drizzling a little extra oil over the top.
3. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about a half hour. Turn them half way through the cooking time.

Notes

Nutritional information includes chicken fillet, spiced mayo and wedges.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

4 chicken sandwiches
Amount Per Serving Calories 893Total Fat 33gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 25gCholesterol 204mgSodium 773mgCarbohydrates 83gFiber 9gSugar 5gProtein 65g

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.

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