With the Olympics starting up on Thursday, and the Super Bowl to follow, I’m all about creating some fun recipes with sports in mind. That said, these have been on my “to-make recipe list” for a while now. My brothers are big chicken guys, especially bite-sized chicken covered in sauce. They usually request some kind of buffalo chicken, but I thought I’d throw them a curveball and do something southern-inspired. If you’re not familiar with it, there is a Nashville hot honey chicken that people rave about. It’s deep-fried and covered in a spicy honey butter sauce. I’ve only been to Nashville once, and it wasn’t a long trip, so I’ve never gotten to try this chicken. I’ve googled the recipe and everyone’s is slightly different. The biggest thing is lots of cayenne, honey, and butter. I’ve made a version in the past, but wanted to do something bite-size. What ended up happening was simple. I made my own hot honey sauce as I was cooking this chicken. It’s very different from the Nashville sauce, but it sure is delicious. I did a little combo of chili crisp garlic oil and hot honey. It turned out so well, I’ve been excited to share this ever since I made it!
The details – the chicken
Like a lot of my “oven fried” chicken recipes, this doesn’t require much effort. I love to use finely crushed corn flakes for the breading. Then bake the chicken in a super hot oven until it’s crispy all around. While I love using cornflakes, you could also use Panko or gluten-free bread crumbs.
The sauce – the most important part
I’m not sure there’s a better sauce for these, this sauce is extra special. It starts with cooking butter and garlic together until the butter slowly browns around the garlic and the garlic turns golden crisp. Basically, I’ve been really into the chili garlic crisp sauce everyone also seems to be into right now. I love the slight crunch of the garlic and all the chili flakes. So I took the concept and applied it to the butter sauce. When the sauce is off the stove, add the honey, cayenne, and spices. Then some chili flakes. Make sure to add the cayenne and chili flakes to your taste. If you love sauce like we do, I would double the recipe. Never enough sauce. As soon as the chicken comes out of the oven, drizzle that hot honey over the chicken and give it a little toss. It’s important to use most of the sauce right away. As the sauce cools, the butter separates from the honey, making it a little tricky to drizzle. Serve the chicken warm. It doesn’t need any extra sauces or garnishes. Just the chicken and that honey sauce! So delicious. If you want to make this into an easy dinner, I’d serve the chicken and sauce over rice. Then add a side of roasted vegetables and a nice big house-style salad. Everyone really enjoyed this, my dad, brothers, mom, I even think Asher loved it. Though it may have been a little spicy for her…but she had rice, so all was good! Excited to make this for the Olympics this week! Looking for more game day recipes? Here are a few to try: Sheet Pan Buffalo Chicken Pizza Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Soft Pretzels Fried Buffalo Goat Cheese Balls Baked Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls with Cilantro Lime Ranch Buffalo Cauliflower with Spicy Tahini Ranch Lastly, if you make this , be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
