This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
Baked Crunchy Hot Honey Chicken – a family favorite loved by everyone! Simple cornflake-crusted chicken baked up on a sheet pan until crispy and delicious. A double coat of crumbs is the secret. But my sauce…well it’s even more special. Sweet honey with the perfect combination of spices and sea salt. A delicious weeknight dinner to serve up to family and friends.
Half Baked Harvest At Home
20+ new recipes for wholesome comfort food made with everyday ingredients. Pre-order today! HBH At Home will be released on Tuesday, February 23rd!
If there’s one recipe I was really excited to share this week, it’s this hot chicken. I know it’s not anything too out of the ordinary, but we love this recipe. My family always enjoys any kind of saucy baked chicken, but I usually do more of a buffalo-style sauce.
It’s a dinner everyone agrees on, so that makes my life easy!
Every so often, I’ll switch gears and do my version of a Nashville hot honey sauce. I’ve been making hot honey sauce for years and years, but this is my perfect sauce that came to be over trial and error.
Of course, it’s the simplest sauce, but I’ll never complain about simplicity when it comes to cooking!
Ingredients
- cornflakes
- grated parmesan cheese
- smoked paprika
- onion powder
- garlic powder
- large eggs, beaten
- tablespoons hot sauce
- chicken breast tenderloins
- extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
HOT HONEY
- honey
- hot sauce
- cayenne pepper
- chipotle chili powder
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- sea salt
- fresh thyme, cilantro, or parsley, for serving
Details
The coating is key for this hot honey chicken recipe. Crushed cornflakes are the star, they give the chicken that perfect crunch. I’ve tested other cereals, but everyone in the family agrees cornflakes have the best taste and crunch.
I use Nature’s Path, Organic Corn Flakes Cereal, which is naturally gluten-free and non-GMO. I order online, but if you’re looking for something in-store, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are both good options.
And of course, you can use the box of regular ole’ cornflakes we all grew up with. Either one works, I just prefer the organic, no gluten, no sugar option.
Crunch the cornflakes up in a food processor with paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder. Then add the parmesan cheese. It may sound odd, but the cheese adds a salty flavor that melts over the chicken tenders becoming crispy as it bakes.
Next, I dredge the chicken through eggs beaten together with hot sauce, then through the crumbs mixture. For a thicker coating, I’ll take the chicken and dip it back through the eggs, and the crumbs for a 2nd time. This takes slightly longer, but the thicker coating is always delish.
Next, olive oil on the chicken to help it crisp up…then bake! I don’t do anything fancy, just bake 25 minutes and this chicken comes out perfect every time.
Totally no fuss.
Before the chicken is done, warm the honey on the stove in a small saucepan with hot sauce, cayenne, and chipotle chili powder. The chili powder adds a very subtle smokiness to the sweet, spicy, salty sauce.
You can use as little or as much of the sauce as you’d like, but I end up drizzling every last drop of the sauce over the chicken. It’s SO DELICIOUS.
Herbs, then sea salt to finish. This really is the perfect hot honey chicken. Plus, I love how easy it is to prepare.
I serve this with sweet potato fries and my fav wintery salad. Highly recommend some crispy sweet potato fries on the side. So yummmy with the spicy sauce!
For leftovers, save the rest of your chicken in an airtight container and bake the next day or heat up in the air fryer.
Looking for more 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 Baked Crunchy Hot Honey Chicken, 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!
Baked Crunchy Hot Honey Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 cups cornflakes, (use gluten free, if needed)
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 2 tablespoons hot sauce
- 2 pounds chicken breast tenderloins
- extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Hot Honey
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2-3 tablespoons hot sauce
- 1-3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- sea salt
- fresh thyme, cilantro, or parsley, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. In a food processor, combine the cornflakes, parmesan, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and a pinch of salt. Pulse until you have fine crumbs. Alternatively, you can crush the crumbs in a ziplock bag by stepping on them. Dump the crumbs into a shallow bowl.3. Beat the eggs in a bowl, add the hot sauce and chicken, and toss well to coat. 3. Dredge the chicken through the crumbs, covering fully. Place on the prepared baking sheet. For a thicker coating, dip the chicken back through the eggs, then through the crumbs a 2nd time. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until crisp all around. 4. Just before the chicken is done cooking, make the sauce. In a sauce pot, warm together the honey, hot sauce, cayenne, chili powder, onion powder, and garlic powder, plus a pinch of salt. 5. Drizzle the warm sauce over the chicken. Top with herbs. If the sauce thickens, warm for 5 seconds in the microwave. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
This was amazing! A new family favorite.
Hey Casey,
Wonderful!! I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear it was delish!! xx
Could I cook the chicken in the air fryer?
Hey Matilda,
Sure, I bet that would work well for you! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
I really want to try this, but so much cayenne and chipotle seasoning is making me hesitate (& I love some heat!) but I know how hot both of those are. Don’t most recipes have about 1/4 tap of cayenne? Can you give me some reassurance?
Hey Anne,
This is meant to be HOT chicken, for less heat just reduce the cayenne to your liking:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Made this for my boyfriend and he loved it! The chicken took a little bit longer than expected!
I’m vegetarian so I substituted the chicken for tofu – I would suggest marinating, the breading was super flavorful but the tofu was pretty plain.
Would make again for sure, this was a fun different recipe and taught me a few lessons! Thank you for sharing!!
Hey Tate,
Happy Wednesday!❄️ I appreciate you making this recipe and I’m so glad it turned out well for you! xT
Made these this weekend for the family and some friends (I often try new recipes on them), and they were all very happy with them. I, unfortunately, forgot the salt, so we sprinkled it on afterwards. I also already had a hot honey from a local apiary that I used, instead of making one. I think next time I’ll double coat them and put a wire rack on the pan for them to bake on- I find things turn out crispier when I use the rack.
Hey Ali,
Happy Wednesday!❄️ I appreciate you making this recipe and I’m so glad it turned out well for you! xT
The hot honey is bomb! I put it on everything. It’s great baked on salmon or drizzled on fresh mozzarella. I like dipping pretzels in it. It’s even good on ice cream.
Hey Bethany,
Happy Monday!!💐 Thank you so much for making this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear it was a winner! xx
If I’m using a box of corn flake crumbs, how many cups would you say is equivalent to the 6 cups of whole cornflakes? Thanks!!
Hey Ashley,
I would say about 3 cups:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Tieghan,
If I can’t eat Parmesan, do you think this would work if i just omitted it?
Thank you!
Hey Marie,
Yes, totally fine to skip the parmesan:) Let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe!! xT
Made this tonight for the family. What a dish. They gobbled it straight up. Yummy perfect combination of sweet/crunchy and blast of flavour. Also made some for the kids but uses egg with the hot sauce and straight honey to dip. Overall success and our new favourite. Bon appétit.
Hey Amber,
Happy Friday!! Thanks so much for making this recipe and your comment, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! ❄️
This was incredible! I roasted some brussels to go along with the chicken (and drizzled the hot honey sauce over those as well). It was a really nice pairing. Everything turned out like something you would order at a restaurant – it was that good (and looked impressive too)! The little bit of thyme at the end gave such a nice note to the dish.
Hey Kellay,
Wonderful!!😊 I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, so glad to hear it was delish! xT
Made this for dinner tonight and it was DELICIOUS! I don’t fry foods, but I always want that crunch. (I’m skeptical of oven baked recipes that SAY they’ll be crunchy…because I’ve been fooled before.) Not the case with these! Even the second (and third!) helpings were crunchy after they’d cooled a bit. Definitely a keeper recipe!
Hey Kerita,
Happy Valentine’s Day! 💌 I appreciate you giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear it was tasty! xT
This was absolutely delicious, am curious what hot sauce everyone used because we used Valentina and it was a little too overpowering flavor wise but we want the spicyness. Overall this will be a regular thing in our house.
Hey Giuliana,
Happy Valentine’s Day! 💌 I appreciate you giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear it was tasty! I like to use Frank’s Hot Sauce for this recipe. xT
Good flavor, but my chicken was tough. Maybe I should have salted it first. Thanks for the recipe – great to learn how to make quick chicken tenders in the oven.
Hey Amy,
Happy Valentine’s Day! 💌 I appreciate you giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear it was tasty! Sorry to hear about the chicken being tough! xT
I made this recipe for a Super Bowl party !! You did it again . These crunchy, honey chicken pieces were delicious. Since some of my guests don’t like spicy foods, I reduced the cayenne. Thanks again for another great recipe.
Thanks so much Carla! So glad to hear that this recipe was a hit and thanks for making it! xx
I’ve been wanting to make this for a while and Super Bowl Sunday seemed like a good reason to try it. It was easy to make and delicious! My husband couldn’t stop saying this was the best chicken we’ve had in a long time. I will
definitely make it again. I also made the Special K Bars. Delicious as well!
Hey Michelle,
Happy Monday!! 💘 Thanks so much for making this recipe, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! xx
I halved this recipe and made this for my boyfriend and I for a Valentine’s Day dinner and it was my fav thing I’ve ever made from HBH!!!! I made it with the herb butter sweet potato fries and were in heaven with how delicious the hot honey was lol. Can’t wait to make again!!! Thanks Tieghan for this masterpiece ❤️
Hey Elle,
Amazing!! Thanks so much for making this recipe and your comment, so glad it was a hit! Thanks so much for your kind message:) xT