Nashville Hot - A Vegan Take on the South’s Best Taste

Today is a big day: Not only is it World Vegan Day, but today is the day we officially launch a brand new, eagerly awaited flavor! We want to celebrate World Vegan Day with a major treat for you: A crunchy, flavorful, satisfying, spicy, vegan take on Nashville’s famous Hot Chicken. Welcome: Nashville Hot by Daily Crunch!

You don’t have to be a food connoisseur, a chicken fanatic, or a hot and spicy addict to be familiar with Nashville’s classic Hot Chicken– The flavor helped put Nashville on the map just as much as the music scene did and has brought incredible tourism to the city. City dwelling locals and visitors alike post up and wait in block-wrapping lines outside Prince’s Hot Chicken, Hattie B’s Chicken, and Helen’s Hot Chicken (among so many others) to get a tase of this classic southern dish. 

When I moved to Nashville, my friends and family were eager to live vicariously through me and to hear what this taste of the south is all about. From as far south as Miami and as far West as California, there are widely successful restaurants modeled after mimicking the majorly popular and desired Nashville Hot Chicken– but to taste the original thing has to be an entirely unique experience…it is the real deal! This flavor is desired and copied nationwide with a fan base as big as some sports teams. Apparently, it is life changing. Further, apparently Nashville Hot Chicken is ten times better if you actually get it in Nashville. So, it seems like I was in the perfect spot to jump in and give it a go. Unfortunately, there was one major roadblock that prevented me from living out the dreams of those close to me: I don’t eat chicken; I am a vegetarian. Oops!

The Vegetarian Barrier

Understandably, this made tasting and experiencing Nashville Hot Chicken a little difficult. But besides the chicken aspect, Nashville Hot sounded exactly like my kind of a dish. I absolutely LOVE spice– whether its used as a flavor enhancer, a heat booster, or both. I grew up with a father who was heavy-handed with paprika, cayenne, and all sorts of heavy spices and a mother who topped practically everything with spicy curry and hot sauces. Easy to assume: the concept behind hot chicken sounded incredible to me. Spice practically runs through my veins! That being said, my love for animals and lack of willingness to give up a plant based lifestyle was not budging any time soon. And here we have it: A major dilemma… A dilemma I was happy to have, but a dilemma nonetheless!

Building Up

Fast forward a couple of months, and I stumbled upon Daily Crunch. Within a few days of discovering the brand, I was eager to get on board and be a part of this team. At the very least, I needed to fully immerse myself in the irreplaceable crunch that their sprouted nuts have. Daily Crunch’s sprouted nut snacks are all vegan, non-GMO, gluten-free, keto, and paleo. And even better, these sprouted almonds and nut mixes are all DELICIOUS. Added bonus as an employee: the team is just as incredible. I was happily enjoying my life and my job with things going just as already were, but little did I know the improvement that was about to happen. Things quickly got a LOT better when news about Nashville Hot broke. I was told about this hot, spicy, and slightly sweet flavor that the team had been brewing up for the past few months; something that would mimic and pay homage to Nashville’s famous Hot Chicken. This is what I had been dreaming of; My time had finally come! There would finally be an opportunity for me to taste this spicy, smokey, iconic flavor unique to where I was living. The team was still formulating and perfecting the recipe, but development was in its final stages. And let me tell you, I was eagerly awaiting Every. Single. Day for that recipe to be finalized… I was ready for this stuff to hit my tastebuds! Trial after trial, the team was not going to stop tweaking and perfecting until their recipe was as close to the original chicken flavor as possible. As hard as waiting was, I knew the flavor would be worth every second of eagerly awaiting the final product!

Daily Crunching

While I was biding my time waiting for Nashville Hot to launch, I kept myself busy snacking on our other flavors. Regardless of the flavor, these nuts all had one incredible thing in common: That unmistakeable crunch. The hollow-bodied, dehydrated almonds left me always wanting more. They are light, filling, and have a satisfying taste that you can tell lacks unnecessary additives. After all, why would you need any additives when the product you’re starting with is already perfect? Daily Crunch hits the mark every single time. (For what it’s worth, my absolute favorite is Daily Crunch Cherry Berry Nut Medley, which you can buy here!)

Side note: On top of the product itself, the company is women-run-and-owned and, more importantly, focusses its mission on something near and dear to the founder’s heart– Advocating mental health awareness alongside The Support Network. To be an ally in supporting mental health awareness, visit The Support Network’s website.

The Final Reveal

After what felt like the longest wait of my entire life, Nashville Hot had finally arrived! When I tell you I dove into that bag headfirst, I mean it. After living in Nashville for months and hearing all the hype over spicy chicken, I was ready for it to by my turn to try! I practically ran straight to the office, beyond excited to get my hands on a bag of the final Nashville Hot formulation as soon as we knew the recipe was perfected. And let me tell you: it was worth the wait!

I can’t even write anymore lead up to this because I’m too excited to get right to the point: WOW! These almonds hit the mark and beyond. That iconic Daily “Crunch” is still there, but it is joined by the smokey heat, tangy bite, and completely unmatched zesty flavor that I so desperately need in my life. It is savory, spicy, and even a little sweet (we use monk fruit sweetener to balance out the fiery bite of paprika and cayenne; learn more about this natural sweetener here). The combination of flavors is everything that makes life so worth living. It is everything I could have hoped it to be. The flavor has a nice touch of heat without being unbearably spicy. It is super welcoming and delicious for all palates (my best friend cannot handle spicy at all and finished the entire bag I brought home)!

Finally, I was able to experience Nashville Hot, and y’all, I love it! I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but the crunch combined with the sweet, savory, spice is truly unmatched. I don’t think I am missing out on anything by skipping the chicken and taking a fully vegan approach! Note to self: Nashville Hot Nuts are so much better than Nashville Hot Chicken (or at least I fully believe that’s probably the case).

Now It’s Your Turn

Are you ready to jump into Nashville Hot and taste of your own? If you want my two-cents, you should run– not walk– to grab a bag (or six!) of your own.

Nashville Hot officially launches TODAY and these southern-style, vegan, irresistible sprouted almonds are already flying off the shelf. You can buy Nashville Hot directly from our online shop on our website, on our Amazon shop, and at tons of stores that may be near you!

Once you give them a taste and fall in love, be sure to let us know what you think! Share some feedback, let us know how Nashville Hot compares to our other flavors, tell us your favorite time and place to snack on our sprouted almonds, or just say hey– we love to hear from our friends and Daily Crunch Fam.

We are so excited to share this new flavor with you– especially on a day we love to use to celebrate eating vegan! I love this vegetarian/vegan take on a classically meat-based dish, and I’m very confident you all will to! 

So in conclusion, I will be busy channeling my inner southern cowboy the rest of the day (or week…), so if you see me riding off into the sunset with a couple bags of Nashville Hot Sprouted Almonds, don’t worry about me, I am doing juuuust fine!

 -- Maya Diaz, Social Media Manager at Daily Crunch