Hot Honey Chicken
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Make the best Hot Honey Chicken Crispers in the oven or air fryer with this easy recipe! These crunchy chicken tenders are perfectly seasoned, coated in a delicious corn flake crust, baked or air fried to crisp perfection, then dipped in sweet and spicy hot honey sauce. The result is the most scrumptious chicken recipe ever!
Why you’ll love this recipe
After perfecting chicken tenders and boneless wings in the air fryer, I knew I had to try my hand at hot honey chicken. And I sure am glad that I did! These hot honey chicken crispers are perfect, whether you bake them in the oven or air fry them.
They’re super crunchy from the cornflake crust, and so flavorful from the chicken wing seasoning and hot honey sauce. The seasoning is the secret ingredient that makes my boneless wings so good, so of course I had to use it for this hot honey chicken recipe!
It’s a delicious combination of 6 pantry-staple spices that come together to add so much flavor to any chicken recipe, but especially these hot honey chicken tenders. They’re just so good, I could go on and on about them, but I’ll just get to the point, these are the three reasons you’ll love them!
- They’re so crunchy, without deep frying! I only tested this recipe baking the chicken tenders in the oven and cooking them in an air fryer. They were both so perfect, I didn’t even feel the need to try frying them. My method for adhering the cornflake crust means that the chicken is perfectly coated, and perfectly crunchy!
- The hot honey sauce is so good, and so simple! You only need two ingredients to make the sauce, honey and hot sauce. Heated up on the stove, the ingredients come together to make a perfectly sweet and spicy sauce.
- The chicken is so flavorful! I toss all of the chicken tenders in the chicken wing seasoning to fully coat them before breading the chicken. Most people just season the breading, but I find that seasoning the chicken means that the flavor is evenly distributed in every bite. More seasoning = more flavor!
Ingredients
Here I explain the best ingredients for this hot honey chicken recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For the exact ingredient measurements, see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Eggs – you’ll need 4 large eggs to make the egg wash to bread the chicken.
- Hot sauce – we’ll use the hot sauce to season the egg wash, and to make the hot honey sauce. I like to use Frank’s Original RedHot Sauce, but feel free to use your favorite brand of hot sauce.
- All-purpose flour – for breading the chicken.
- Crushed cornflakes – to bread the chicken and give it an extra crispy texture. You’ll need 3 cups of crushed cornflakes, which means you’ll need about 6 cups of the cereal before it’s crushed. You can use a food processor to crush the cereal, or put it in a large zipper bag and use a rolling pin to crush it.
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts – you’ll want to slice the chicken breasts into about 4 inch chicken strips. You could also use raw chicken tenders.
- Chicken wing seasoning – the SECRET INGREDIENT that makes this recipe better than any other hot honey chicken recipe out there! Click the link above to whip up this simple 6 ingredient seasoning mix that adds so much flavor to these chicken tenders. The combination of chili powder, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and cayenne pepper is perfect for this recipe!
- Honey – the base for the hot honey sauce.
- Cooking spray – whether air frying or baking the chicken, I always recommend spraying them with cooking spray first, so they get brown and crispy on the outside.
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos below to make this recipe super easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Prepare the cornflake crumbs. Add cornflakes cereal to a large food processor and pulse until the cereal turns into a fine crumb mixture. Remove the cereal from the food processor and place it in a shallow bowl. If you don’t have a food processor, you can add the cereal to a large zipper bag and use a rolling pin to crush the cereal into crumbs.
- Prepare the other breading ingredients. In a separate shallow bowl, whisk four eggs with hot sauce. And in a third shallow bowl, add all-purpose flour.
- Season the chicken strips. Slice chicken breasts into approximately 4 inch chicken strips. Season on all sides with chicken wing seasoning.
- Bread the chicken. Place each slice of seasoned chicken in the egg wash. Drip off any excess egg, then coat it on all sides in the flour. Place it back in the egg wash, let any excess drip off, then place it in the bowl of cornflake crumbs. Press the cornflakes firmly on all sides of the chicken so that it has a nice even crust around the entire piece of chicken. Repeat until you’ve breaded each piece of chicken. Set them aside on a clean cutting board until ready to cook.
When breading chicken, always use one hand for the wet ingredients and one hand for the dry ingredients. This will prevent clumping, keep your hands from becoming coated in the breading, and it will help keep the breading ingredients separated.
- Air fry the chicken. Preheat an air fryer to 400°F. Add the chicken in batches to the air fryer in a single layer. Make sure there’s room around each piece of chicken for air to flow. I could fit about 6 chicken tenders in my 5.8 quart air fryer. Spray the chicken strips with cooking spray. Air fry at 400°F for 4 minutes. Flip the chicken, spray with cooking spray, then cook for an additional 4 minutes.
- Or bake the chicken. Place the chicken tenders on a wire rack, on top of a foil-lined baking sheet. Spray with cooking spray. Place them in a preheated oven at 425°F. (I recommend using the convection setting on your oven, if it has one.) Bake for 12 minutes. Because you’re cooking them on a wire rack, you don’t need to flip them throughout the cooking process. If you’re cooking them directly on a baking sheet, I recommend flipping them halfway through the cooking time.
- Prepare the hot honey sauce. While the chicken is cooking, add the honey and hot sauce to a saucepan on the stove over high heat. As soon as the mixture starts to boil, stir the sauce, then reduce the heat down to medium-low.
- Sauce the chicken. Once the chicken is cooked, use kitchen tongs to dip each piece of chicken in the hot honey sauce. Alternatively, you can drizzle the hot honey sauce over the chicken on a plate, but I like the full coverage it gets from being dunked in the sauce. Serve immediately. Seriously, see my note below!
Do not toss the chicken in the hot honey sauce until you’re ready to eat it! If you plan to eat the chicken in batches, just toss however much you want to eat in the sauce. Save the rest for later. After you toss the chicken in the sauce, you need to eat it quickly, or it will lose it’s wonderfully crispy texture!
Storage and reheating
This recipe makes approximately 24 chicken crispers. Battered, uncooked chicken crispers can be stored in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
The frozen breaded chicken crispers can be cooked directly from frozen in the air fryer or oven. In the air fryer, add 2 minutes to the cooking time. So they’ll need to cook for 5 minutes per side at 400°F.
If cooking them in the oven, add 2 minutes to the cooking time, for a total of 14 minutes at 425°F.
Cooked, chicken crispers (that have not been sauced) can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container. Reheat them in the air fryer at 400°F for 2-3 minutes to keep them crispy. Or you can reheat them in the oven at 425°F for 4-5 minutes. Toss them in warm sauce after you’ve reheated them.
I do not recommend microwaving the leftovers, as they’ll lose their crispy texture. I also don’t recommend saving any sauced chicken crispers, for the same reason. Once you toss the chicken in the sauce, you should eat it immediately.
What to serve with them
I could literally just eat a whole plate of these hot honey chicken crispers and be perfectly happy! But if you want to share them and pair them with some side dishes, here are a few ideas.
- All the pickle things – homemade pickles, pickle de gallo, pickle dip, or pickle pasta salad, pickles are a perfect pairing with hot honey chicken!
- Crispy onion rings – when you want all the crispy, crunchy things in your life, pair these chicken tenders with air fryer onion rings.
- Fries for days – you’ll love these animal style fries, truffle fries, baked sweet potato fries, or air fryer french fries with these hot honey chicken crispers.
- Nashville’s favorite sides – make a whole Nashville hot chicken meal by pairing the chicken with baked beans, coleslaw, mac and cheese, or potato salad.
More chicken recipes
If you love this hot honey chicken, then I know you’ll love these other delicious and easy chicken recipes!
Hot Honey Chicken Crispers
Ingredients
Chicken Crispers
- 4 large eggs, whisked
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups crushed cornflakes, approximately 6 cups of cereal before crushing
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into 4 inch strips
- 3 tablespoons chicken wing seasoning, click link for the recipe
- cooking spray
Instructions
Bread the chicken.
- Add cornflakes cereal to a large food processor and pulse until the cereal turns into a fine crumb mixture. Remove the cereal from the food processor and place it in a shallow bowl. If you don’t have a food processor, you can add the cereal to a large zipper bag and use a rolling pin to crush the cereal into crumbs.
- In a separate shallow bowl, whisk four eggs with hot sauce. And in a third shallow bowl, add all-purpose flour.
- Cut the chicken breasts into approximately 4 inch strips.
- Toss the chicken with the chicken wing seasoning, until all of the strips are fully covered.
- Place each piece of seasoned chicken in the egg wash.
- Once it’s fully covered in the egg, allow any excess to drip off before transferring the chicken to the bowl of flour.
- Cover the chicken completely in the flour, then add it back to the bowl of whisked eggs.
- Once fully covered in the egg again, dip the chicken in the cornflakes, pressing down firmly on all sides to make sure the chicken is fully covered in the corn flakes.
- Transfer the breaded chicken to a cutting board, then repeat with all of the remaining pieces of chicken.
- Once all of the chicken is breaded, either air fry it or bake it in the oven.
Bake the chicken.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. If your oven has a convection setting, I recommend using that.
- Place the pieces of breaded chicken on a wire rack, on top of a foil-lined baking sheet. Spray with cooking spray.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes. Because you’re cooking them on a wire rack, you don’t need to flip them throughout the cooking process. If you’re cooking them directly on a baking sheet, I recommend flipping them halfway through the cooking time.
Air fry the chicken.
- Preheat an air fryer to 400°F.
- Add the chicken in batches to the air fryer in a single layer, making sure there’s room around each piece of chicken for air to flow. I could fit about 6 chicken tenders in my 5.8 quart air fryer.
- Spray the chicken strips with cooking spray, then cook at 400°F for 4 minutes.
- Open the air fryer, flip the chicken, spray with cooking spray and cook for an additional 4 minutes.
- Repeat until all of the chicken tenders are cooked.
Sauce the chicken.
- While the chicken is cooking, add the honey and 3 tablespoons hot sauce to a saucepan on the stove over high heat. As soon as the mixture starts to boil, stir the sauce, then reduce the heat down to medium-low.
- Once the chicken is cooked, use kitchen tongs to dip each piece of chicken in the hot honey sauce. Alternatively, you can drizzle the hot honey sauce over the chicken on a plate, but I like the full coverage it gets from being dunked in the sauce. Serve immediately.
Notes
- When breading chicken, always use one hand for the wet ingredients and one hand for the dry ingredients. This will prevent clumping, keep your hands from becoming coated in the breading, and it will help keep the breading ingredients separated.
- Do not toss the chicken in the hot honey sauce until you’re ready to eat it! If you plan to eat the chicken in batches, just toss however much you want to eat in the sauce. Save the rest for later. After you toss the chicken in the sauce, you need to eat it quickly, or it will lose it’s wonderfully crispy texture!
- This recipe makes approximately 24 chicken crispers. Battered, uncooked chicken crispers can be stored in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 3 months. The frozen breaded chicken crispers can be cooked directly from frozen in the air fryer or oven. In the air fryer, add 2 minutes to the cooking time. So they’ll need to cook for 5 minutes per side at 400°F. If cooking them in the oven, add 2 minutes to the cooking time, for a total of 14 minutes at 425°F.
Nutrition Facts
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