Kentucky Hot Brown Recipe - Southern Comfort Food - Chisel & Fork (2024)

If you're looking for true comfort food, look no further than this Kentucky hot brown recipe consists of turkey, bread, tomato, Mornay sauce and bacon.

Who doesn't love comfort food? From corned beef poutine to baked cheddar mac and cheese to chicken paprikash.

If you look up the definition of comfort food, it isfoodthat provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone, and may be characterized by its high caloric nature, high carbohydrate level, or simple preparation.

While I didn't grow up having the Kentucky hot brown, it definitely checks boxes 2-4 of the previous definition.

For those that follow the blog, you know I try to balance healthy recipes with tasty recipes that might be a little higher on the calorie end. It's all about balance and today is one of those dishes I really enjoy, but only have once a year. It actually started a couple of years ago when I wanted to make something specifically for the Kentucky Derby.

The first thing that came to mind was the Kentucky hot brown, which was made famous by The Brown Hotel in Louisville. After making it once, I instantly decided to make it a tradition.

Today is obviously not the Derby, but you don't need that as a reason to make this comforting dish. If you've never had one, you truly are missing out, but now is the day to change that.

Ingredient Notes

• Turkey - bone-in turkey breast works best as it has the most flavor, but you can use boneless too.
• Half-and-half - the base for the Mornay sauce.
• Cheese - the Pecorino Romano adds a strong, tangy flavor to the Mornay sauce.
• Bread - you want thickly sliced bread so it can soak up some of the sauce.
• Tomatoes - adds some acid and freshness to the dish.
• Bacon - added texture and flavor. I mean who doesn't love bacon?

Ingredient Swaps

As with any recipe, you can mix up some of the ingredients. Some variations include:

• Turkey is the traditional protein, but chicken can be used as well.
• I like half-and-half as the base for the sauce, but heavy cream or whole milk work too.
• Pecorino Romano is what is used in a traditional Kentucky hot brown recipe, but Parmesan, Cheddar or Gruyère are good substitutes.

Step-by-Step Photos

Rub butter all over turkey and season with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet in a preheat oven at 450°F. Immediately lower to 350°F and roast for 1 hour or until turkey is done.

Melt butter over medium heat in saucepan. Add flour and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in the half-and-half and cook until it simmers. Remove from heat and whisk in the cheese as well as a pinch of nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Assemble the hot browns. Place one piece of toast before adding ½ lb of turkey. Add some sliced tomato on top before pouring ¾ cup of the sauce over top. Sprinkle some cheese and broil for 2 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with two slices of bacon, paprika and parsley.

FAQs

Pro Tips/Recipe Notes

• Don’t use pre-shredded cheese. It doesn’t taste as good and also has additional ingredients that you don’t need.
• When making the Mornay sauce, you must stir constantly as it heats up and becomes thick. Otherwise you’ll have burnt half-and-half on the bottom.
• You know theturkey is donewhen you insert a thermometer in the breast and itreaches 165°F.The key is finding the rightpart of the breastand making sure the thermometer doesn’t touch the bone.

Other Turkey Recipes

If you’ve tried this Kentucky hot brown recipe or any other recipe on Chisel & Fork, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also follow meonFacebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube to see more tasty meals and anything else I'm up to.