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This Oven Fried Southern Hot Honey Popcorn Chicken is spicy, saucy, and so delicious. It’s an easier, yet still fun, twist on the famous Nashville Hot Chicken. Breaded popcorn chicken bites are oven baked until crispy. Then they’re finished with a beyond perfect sweet and spicy honey butter sauce with crisp garlic and chili flakes. Out of this world good. Great for dinner or served as a game day appetizer.
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!
Oven Fried Southern Hot Honey Popcorn Chicken
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 541 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 2 pounds boneless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
- 1 1/4 cups corn flakes – finely crushed, or use Panko
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- kosher salt and black pepper
- extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Hot Honey
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 4-6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes, to taste
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. Beat the eggs in a large bowl, add the chicken and toss well to coat. In a separate bowl combine the cornflake crumbs, flour, paprika, and a pinch each of salt and pepper.3. Dredge the chicken through the crumbs, covering fully. Place on the prepared baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes, turning halfway through cooking.4. Just before the chicken is done cooking, make the sauce. In a small skillet, melt together the butter and garlic over medium heat. Cook until the butter is browning and the garlic turns golden. Remove from the heat. Whisk in the honey, cayenne, chili powder, paprika, onion powder, and chili flakes. 5. Drizzle or pour the warm sauce over the chicken, tossing to coat. The sauce thickens quickly, so be sure to use while still warm. Serve um up!
Notes
Sauce: if you like extra sauce for drizzling/dipping, double the hot honey recipe.
Delicious! Quick and easy to make. Followed the recipe as printed and it met all expectations!
Hey there,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed!! ?xTieghan
Made this for Super Bowl dinner tonight. Delicious! But next time I will make extra sauce!
Hey Leah,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed!! ?xTieghan
Can you please edit your recipe to include the olive oil drizzle in the instructions? My chicken and oven were burning when I finally realized the instructions didn’t include to drizzle the chicken with oil.
Hi Nancy,
So sorry about this! Thanks for trying the recipe! xTieghan
A huge crowd pleaser as tailgate appetizer!
Hey Kim,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed!! ?xTieghan
Delicious! Super Bowl supper for us. This may become an annual tradition!
Hi Andrea,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed!! ?xTieghan
This recipe is SO delicious! I made it for Super Bowl Sunday and it was a big hit and so easy. Thanks for always keeping my belly full and happy, Tieghan!
Hi Danielle,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed!! ?xTieghan
Holy moly! This is so good! Perfect balance of sweet and heat. Sweet on the front, heat on the back! Definitely keeping this in rotation. Love all your recipes! You never disappoint!
Hi Sarah,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed!! ?xTieghan
Tieghan! You are SO great at what you do. These chicken poppers are so good! And not *too* hot. My sister is gluten free, so I subbed the flour for oat flour and crushed up some lentil chips to use in place of the corn flakes. They turned out amazing and toasted up so well!!
I’ve notice people ask for ‘healthier’ recipes or certain modifications to some of your creations.. but everything you put together is VERY easy to interchange if a substitute is needed – gluten free or dairy free for example. Some folks just needs to be creative and research what can be done to make things work if they want to make it.
Really appreciate all the work and effort you put into these beautiful & delicious recipes!! ❤️
Hey Lauren,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed!! Thanks so much for your kind message! ?xTieghan
These are amazing!! I made them today for the superbowl. OMG so tasty! Just the right amount of sweet and spicy!! Fantastic recipe❤❤
Hey Felicia,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed!! ?xTieghan
SO tasty! Just made for a Super Bowl party and between my husband and I taste testing, we may not have enough to serve by the time we get there. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Hi Emily,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed!! ?xTieghan
Making today for a Super Bowl party. I used your method from the Cajun Popcorn Chicken, and using buttermilk instead of egg before dredging in cornflake.
I hope you love the recipe Rich!!
These were great even though I messed up the sauce. Instructions were easy to follow any my fiancé wants these again already!
Hey Taylor,
Happy Sunday!! Thanks a lot for giving this recipe a go, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!! xxT
Can you substitute tofu ? Or what is a good vegetarian version?
Hey Melanie,
Cauliflower would work well here! Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan!
I’m so excited to make these today for a super bowl party I’m going to!
If I’m making them ahead of time and then bringing them with me to the party to be eaten about 30-45 mins later, would you suggest that I should I still add the sauce to them right away, or wait until they are reheated and served?
Thanks so much! Love your recipes, your cookbooks, and everything you do!
Melissa
Hi Melissa,
I would wait until they are reheated and ready to serve. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
So glad I read the comments about adding sauce when reheating. I had the same question! So excited to serve these – also a Super Bowl Party!!
Thanks as always for you timely, easy and delicious recipes!!
I hope you love the recipe Barbara!!
These turned out so good! Followed recipe exactly! Yummmm
Did remember to drizzle with olive oil before baking from the Instastory ….
I think that is key (was omitted from printed form).
Hey Tracy,
Awesome!! Love hearing that this recipe was a winner, thanks a lot for giving it a go! Have the best weekend:) xTieghan