Mike’s Hot Honey Crispy Fried Chicken Recipe
Is there anything more Southern than crispy golden brown fried chicken? Drizzled with Mike’s Hot Honey this crispy chicken recipe has a spicy kick that would be perfect as a sandwich on a brioche bun or served by itself as a stand alone main dish sure to please any guest.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
Fried chicken is such an easy meal to make, but many find deep frying intimidating because it can be tricky to get the oil temperature right.
This new recipe includes instructions for frying your chicken in an electric deep fryer such as the Fry Daddy that holds a constant temperature for you-taking all the guess work out of deep frying.
If you don’t have an electric deep fryer, there are also instructions for how to fry the chicken in a cast iron skillet. Either way you cook it, this is sure to be the best hot honey chicken recipe you’ve ever tasted.
You have total control of the spice level in this recipe. Made as is, this hot honey chicken recipe has a moderate spice level appropriate for a family meal.
If you have a more daring palette, add more sriracha to the buttermilk marinade and don’t be shy with the hot honey drizzle. For those who are more sensitive to spice, you can skip the sriracha in the buttermilk marinade. For this hot chicken recipe, I recommend using drumsticks or chicken tenders.
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What You Need:
- Electric deep fryer or deep cast iron skillet
- Spider strainer or spatula
- baking sheet with a wire rack
- small bowl for the flour mixture
- large bowl for the buttermilk brine
- paper towels
- Optional: instant read thermometer
Ingredients:
- Oil- choose a neutral oil for frying like avocado oil or lard.
- Self rising flour- this recipe calls for self rising flour because it has salt, all purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda in it. The salt in self rising flour helps to season the chicken coating and the baking powder draws moisture up to the surface of the chicken making for a crispier coating.
- Paprika- I prefer smoked paprika
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Salt- I like using Redmond’s real salt
- Black pepper
- Hot Sauce- I prefer Sriracha in my buttermilk marinade, but use your favorite hot sauce.
- Hot Honey- to drizzle over the fried chicken. I prefer to use Mike’s Hot Honey.
- Buttermilk, kefir or milk with a splash of lemon juice- to create a buttermilk marinade and make the flour coating stick to the chicken.
- Chicken- drumsticks, chicken breasts (cut into chicken strips or nuggets), or chicken tenders.
How to Make Hot Honey Fried Chicken:
Start with Making a Buttermilk Marinade:
In a large bowl combine buttermilk, sriracha, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Mix until well combined and then add in the chicken pieces. Let the chicken sit in the buttermilk marinade in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, but ideally 2-8 hours.
The buttermilk marinade will soak into the chicken flavoring and tenderizing the meat, making the fried chicken crispy on the outside and juicy tender on the inside.
How to Make Flour Mixture:
In a small bowl combine self rising flour, salt, pepper, paprika, and onion powder. Whisk until the spices are evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture.
Bread the Chicken:
Pour off two cups of buttermilk marinade into a separate small bowl.
Remove one piece of chicken at a time from the buttermilk marinade. Dredge the piece of chicken into the flour mixture making sure it is well coated.
Next, dip the breaded chicken into the separate bowl of buttermilk marinade making sure it is evenly coated in buttermilk.
Re-dip the breaded chicken into the flour mixture making sure the breading is even around the chicken. Set the breaded pieces of chicken on a wire rack until you are done breading all of the pieces and are ready to begin deep frying.
Prepare the Oil for Deep Drying:
Choose a neutral oil with a higher smoke point like avocado oil or lard. I prefer to avoid seed oils in my kitchen, but canola, shortening or vegetable oil will work too. Frying larger items like chicken legs will require a few cups of oil.
Bring oil up to 350 degrees over medium low heat or until bubbling in an electric deep fryer. The oil should immediately start frying when a pinch of flour is added to the oil. Frying in oil that isn’t hot enough will make for soggy, greasy fried chicken that absorbs more grease than chicken fried at the right temperature.
A Note on Grease Fire Safety:
Grease fires are the number one reason that people are scared to try frying chicken at home, especially in a cast iron skillet on the stove. With a little precaution and knowledge, there is no reason to be scared. When frying anything or dealing with hot grease keep these two things in mind:
When filling your skillet with oil, only fill with enough oil that the food will be submerged but do not fill the pan more than halfway. Hot oil spilling onto the stove is the number one reason flames occur. This is especially important when cooking on a gas range.
Be sure to always keep baking soda within reach (and not in the cabinet above the stove) as a natural fire extinguisher just in case. If any oil spills and flames pop up, throw a generous handful of baking soda on the fire to put it out and immediately turn off the burner. Baking soda is a great flame retardant for grease fires and less messy to clean up than other alternatives.
To Fry in an Electric Deep Fryer:
Fill your deep fryer half way with oil according to the instruction manual. Plug in the deep fryer and let the oil begin to heat. The oil is ready to fry in when it is bubbling and immediately begins to fry or sizzle when flour is sprinkled in it.
When the oil is hot and ready, gently place a couple pieces of breaded chicken into the hot oil being sure to gently lay the chicken down away from you to avoid any hot oil from splashing back towards you.
Let the chicken fry for 7 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees. Flip the chicken using a spider strainer a few times throughout to get an even golden brown crust.
I like to pull my chicken out at the 7 minute mark to avoid over browning the breading. I then lay my chicken on a wire rack on a baking sheet and immediately place the chicken in a preheated oven at 250 degrees to keep warm while I fry the remaining pieces. This also allows the chicken to continue gently cooking until it reaches a safe internal temperature of 165 degrees.
To Fry in a Cast Iron Skillet:
Frying chicken in a cast iron skillet is similar to frying in an electric deep fryer, but you have to regulate the oil temperature on your own. You can use other kinds of skillets to fry in, but cast iron is my favorite choice because cast iron cooks very evenly.
Place your oil in a deep cast iron skillet and slowly heat the oil over medium low heat. Fill your pan with enough oil to submerge the chicken but do not fill more than half way to avoid the oil spilling over and creating a grease fire.
Use an instant read thermometer to check the oil until it reaches 350 degrees.
If you don’t have an instant read thermometer, you can sprinkle flour into the oil when it gets hot. If the oil immediately sizzles and begins to fry, it is ready. Gently place a few pieces of chicken into the hot oil, being sure to lay the chicken away from you and separate the pieces. The oil should cover the chicken. Work in small batches of 2 or 3 pieces of chicken at a time to avoid cooling the oil too much.
Let the chicken fry for 7 minutes, flipping as needed throughout with a spider strainer to keep the breading from burning on one side. Once it has fried for 7 minutes, check the internal temperature to ensure it is at least 165 degrees. Keep the chicken warm and finish cooking if need be on a baking tray with a wire rack in the oven preheated to 250 degrees until all chicken pieces are fried and reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
To Drizzle or Not to Drizzle:
As you let the fried chicken cool, you have a big decision to make. Without adding the hot honey drizzle, you have a delicious regular fried chicken with a slight hint of spice. And that’s good–really good.
But we don’t settle for good tasting food around here. We want GREAT tasting food. The best way to serve this crispy fried chicken is to drizzle it with a spicy hot honey sauce like Mike’s Hot Honey for a truly delectable meal: a spicy, sweet, sticky, crispy masterpiece.
How to Serve Hot Honey Chicken:
Serve hot honey chicken alongside a refreshing dish like classic loaded potato salad to give your taste buds a break from the heat. For a truly southern feast, add a side of cast iron skillet buttermilk biscuits.
Make it a wrap and serve hot honey chicken tenders on a bed of crunchy slaw on a sourdough tortilla.
Make a delightful crispy chicken sandwich and serve hot honey chicken tenders on a warm brioche bun with a side of fries.
How to Store Leftover Hot Honey Chicken:
Hot honey chicken is best served fresh (and it is doubtful you will have leftovers) but you can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Printable Recipe:
Mike’s Hot Honey Fried Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 Drumsticks or Chicken Tenders
- 2-3 tablespoons of Hot Honey for drizzling I prefer Mike’s Hot Honey
- Buttermilk Marinade:
- 3 cups of buttermilk kefir or milk with a splash of lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons Sriracha or your favorite hot sauce
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Flour Mixture:
- 2 cups Self Rising flour
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 1.5 tablespoons black pepper
- 1.5 tablespoons salt to taste
Instructions
Make the Buttermilk Marinade:
- In a large bowl combine buttermilk, sriracha, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Mix until well combined and then add in the chicken pieces. Let the chicken sit in the buttermilk marinade in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, but ideally 2-8 hours.
Make the Flour Mixture:
- In a small bowl combine self rising flour, salt, pepper, paprika, and onion powder. Whisk until the spices are evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture.
Bread the Chicken:
- Pour off two cups of buttermilk marinade into a separate small bowl.
- Remove one piece of chicken at a time from the buttermilk marinade. Dredge the piece of chicken into the flour mixture making sure it is well coated.
- Next, dip the breaded chicken into the separate bowl of buttermilk marinade making sure it is evenly coated in buttermilk.
- Re-dip the breaded chicken into the flour mixture making sure the breading is even around the chicken. Set the breaded pieces of chicken on a wire rack until you are done breading all of the pieces and are ready to begin deep frying.
Fry the Chicken in an Electric Deep Fryer:
- Fill your deep fryer half way with oil according to the instruction manual. Plug in the deep fryer and let the oil begin to heat. The oil is ready to fry in when it is bubbling and immediately begins to fry or sizzle when flour is sprinkled in it.
- When the oil is hot and ready, gently place a couple pieces of breaded chicken into the hot oil being sure to gently lay the chicken down away from you to avoid any hot oil from splashing back towards you.
- Let the chicken fry for 7 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees. Flip the chicken using a spider strainer a few times throughout to get an even golden brown crust.
Fry the Chicken in a Cast Iron Skillet:
- Place your oil in a deep cast iron skillet and slowly heat the oil over medium low heat. Fill your pan with enough oil to submerge the chicken but do not fill more than half way to avoid the oil spilling over and creating a grease fire.
- Use an instant read thermometer to check the oil until it reaches 350 degrees.
- If you don’t have an instant read thermometer, you can sprinkle flour into the oil when it gets hot. If the oil immediately sizzles and begins to fry, it is ready. Gently place a few pieces of chicken into the hot oil, being sure to lay the chicken away from you and separate the pieces. The oil should cover the chicken. Work in small batches of 2 or 3 pieces of chicken at a time to avoid cooling the oil too much.
- Let the chicken fry for 7 minutes, flipping as needed throughout with a spider strainer to keep the breading from burning on one side. Once it has fried for 7 minutes, check the internal temperature to ensure it is at least 165 degrees. Keep the chicken warm and finish cooking if need be on a baking tray with a wire rack in the oven preheated to 250 degrees until all chicken pieces are fried and reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
- Drizzle warm fried chicken with Mike's hot honey and serve immediately.
Notes
If you try this recipe and love it, please consider giving it a 5 star review and leave me a comment to let me know!
