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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.
This post was originally published on February 1, 2022
Outstanding chicken. I used 2 eggs and Panko and had plenty of crumbs. I would make this popcorn chicken any time.
My spices must have been old lol because the sauce wasn’t very spicy for me. Tasted great, though!
Hey Joanne,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxT
This is the most delicious chicken I’ve ever had in my life!! OMG now I am using cornflakes to coat all of my fried chicken. I made this in my air fryer- 400 degrees for 8 mins, shaking the basket half way through and it tasted like it was deep fried. I also drizzled with garlic infused olive oil before cooking in the air fryer which really made it extra delicious. The sauce was perfection. I’m so excited for leftovers tomorrow!
Hey Jessica,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxT
My fiancé and I loved this! I messed up and went to double the sauce recipe but only doubled the butter and garlic! Ope lol. It probably wasn’t as spicy as it should be but still tasted great!
Hey Savannah,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxT
Easy-peasy and delicious. Hubby and I loved this one (a lot!). I didn’t have corn flakes so used panko (but definitely will try with the corn flakes)….definitely a KEEPER! Thank you for sharing. Hope everyone gets to try this recipe and loves it too!
Hey Mary,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxT
I made this with panko and it was incredible, the chicken was better than anything that we could purchase out. My girls like it more than Chik fil-A so that is a pretty big endorsement 🙂
Hey Phillip,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxT
Looks amazing! I’d love to make a batch for a party. Can I bread or bake the chicken ahead of time?
Hey Rose,
Sure, I would then just reheat on low so you can serve warm. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This was a huge hit! I can’t believe I hadn’t used cornflakes as breading before. The kids loved it and said it was restaurant quality and my husband and I loved the sauce. The whole thing was easy to make. We served it with a quick side of mushrooms/spinach. Definitely going into the meal rotation.
Hey Jen,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a bunch for making it! xTieghan
I made this tonight and we all loved it! I agree, double the sauce! Also, I only used 1/2 t cayenne and it was perfect spice! I used GF breadcrumbs-super crunchy! We put over rice and sautéed spinach on the side-absolutely delicious! I’m making it again for Super Bowl party w/smaller bite size pieces chicken. Serve w/toothpicks! Winner recipe!
Hey Mickey,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a bunch for making it! xTieghan
Can you do this in the air fryer instead of the oven?
Hey Erika,
I’ve not tested this, but I bet it would work well for you! Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Another winner!! Obsessed with this sauce.
Hey Taylor,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a bunch for making it! xTieghan
So delicious and super easy!
Hey Meghan,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a bunch for making it! xTieghan
This was very easy to make and delicious! Definitely going to make this for the super bowl as an appetizer!
Hey Kim,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a bunch for making it! xTieghan
We doubled the dredge amount and it still was not enough. The hot honey was entirely too hot. I will not cook this again.
Hi Tripp,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try, sorry why did you double the dredge? Sorry it wasn’t enjoyed! xTieghan
I had tons of panko topping for 2 lbs chicken. I put all the chicken in one egg then put all the chicken into my crumb mixture and stirred it up. All the chicken was completely coated. My crumb mix was not super fine but rather coarse. I wonder if that was the difference?
This was excellent and so easy! My husband and I made chicken drummies. I’ll be making this again for friends and family!!!
Thank you!!!
Hey Jennifer,
Happy Sunday!! Love hearing that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it!! xxT
This was excellent and so easy! My husband and I made chicken drummies. I’ll be making this again for friends and family!!!
Thank you!!! I just love your stories and recipes!!!!!!
Hey Jennifer,
Happy Sunday!! Love hearing that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it!! xxT