Hot Honey Chicken

This is the Hot Honey Chicken of your dreams! Crisp chicken baked in the oven or air fryer and then drizzled with our Homemade Hot Honey Recipe. SO GOOD! Seriously crispy chicken tenders with a sweet, sticky and spicy kick–you’ll be making this over and over!

A plate with hot honey chicken tenders surrounded by lemon slices, a jar of hot honey and one chicken cut in half showing the juicy chicken inside.

If you’ve missed our go to Hot Honey Recipe which is perfect on ALL dishes, like seriously ALL, this is the time to make it! The condiment is also great for gifting, for potlucks and keeps forever in your pantry!

We’ve shared it with Honey Glazed Salmon and you all LOVED it, and with Roasted Butternut Squash. Even squash haters loved that recipe, thanks to the Hot Honey Recipe. It makes a stunning centrepiece for the Holidays and Thanksgiving!

Aside from that sweet kick, you have the crisp chicken. You can use our viral recipe for Chicken Fingers which is the BEST fried chicken tenders ever, along with Korean Fried Chicken Strips. Today however we’re sharing two AMAZING ways for crisp chicken: Baked and Air fryer.

Why You’ll LOVE Hot Honey Chicken Tenders

Close up of hot honey chicken dressed with honey and ready to serve

The texture of the crispy chicken is phenomenal, thanks to a coating of cornflakes.
It’s baked or air fried, so it feels light as air!
The combo of sweet, sticky and spicy is OUT OF THIS WORLD delicious!
Our hot honey chicken tenders are super juicy, thanks to a secret mayo coating.
Start to finish, this recipe requires 20 minutes only!
It’s a kid and adult favorite (just remove the hot honey for the kids, and have them coat it in ranch).
Can be easily prepared in advanced, storage and reheating is a breeze, and makes weeknight dinners a breeze!

Ingredients You Need

Ingredients for hot honey chicken tenders on a board including a bowls of chicken tenders, a bowl of corn flakes with a small bowl of spice, another plate with mayo, a bowl of spices, one egg, fresh garlic and some fresh parm

Chicken

Chicken tenders, either store bought or cut up at home. This recipe is best made using chicken breasts, and don’t worry it will be just as juicy!

Wet Coating

Mayo. The secret ingredient to juicy chicken tenders. We use Avocado mayo as it’s the healthiest and this brand is our fave!
Egg. This is the binder for the wet coating.
Garlic. Fresh garlic is best!
Spices and seasoning. Salt and pepper would be enough, but we love adding an Italian seasoning blend to it. Youc an get that store bought or make it at home –similar to the spice rub we used with our Turkey Tenderloin Recipe.

Dry/Crunch Coating

Cornflakes. Since this is a baked hot honey chicken, the crunchiest coating would be from cornflakes.
Seasoning: We use the exact same spice bend as above.
Parmesan cheese. Optional, but it adds a a depth of flavor to the coating that you can’t miss!

close up of one hot honey chicken tender dressed up with hot honey

How to Make Hot Honey Chicken Tenders

These steps at first apply to both ways, baking or air frying. So you’ll first prep the chicken and then decide which way to cook it. If you’re going to fry, then follow the recipe and video for Chicken Fingers or Korean Fried Chicken Strips.

The cornflakes plate being seasoned withe the spice blend in a shallow plate to prepare the coating

Start by preparing the coating. First , the dry. Crush the cornflakes in a ziploc using a rolling pin or food processor. Then add it to a shallow plate and toss the seasoning with it. Mix well and set aside.
Now the wet. In a similar shallow plate mix in the mayo, eggs, spices, minced garlic, a squeeze of lemon and some fresh herbs if you have them! They always add a fresh touch.
Then you’re going to prepare you chicken. You can buy store bought chicken tenders and use them as is. Alternatively you can slice your chicken breasts into tenders and use them. Either way it’s best to use boneless skinless chicken breasts for this recipe.
Now the coating process begins.
Start by placing the chicken, one at a time into the wet mixture and coat it well on all sides.
Then remove the piece of chicken and immediately place it into the plate of cornflakes and coat it well on both sides. Press the flakes to make sure they stick.
Now you can either go for the bake option or air fry, both detailed below.

Baked Hot Honey Chicken

Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees F.
Spray your baking sheet lightly with oil. We also prefer avocado oil spray here.
Place the coated chicken in a single layer on the baking dish. This is KEY.
Spray another spray of the oil over the chicken.
Bake until golden, crisp and fully cooked through.
As soon as it’s ready and still hot, you’re going to drizzle some of our Hot Honey Recipe over the top. Use as much or as little to your taste.

Air Fryer Hot Honey Chicken

You don’t need to preheat the air fryer as you would with an oven.
Here we use the basket type air fryers, because they’re our favorite.
Spray the air fryer basket lightly with oil.
Likewise arrange the chicken in a SINGLE layer in the basket.
Spray the tops of the chicken with some oil.
Air Fry at 375 degrees until crisp, golden and cooked through.
Remove from the air fryer and while they’re still hot, drizzle some hot honey on top.

the hot honey chicken tenders arranged in a plate and hand pouring in a spoonful of hot honey on top

Tips for Hot Honey Chicken Recipe

Have your Hot Honey Recipe made ahead of time. It keeps in the pantry for a year so make plenty of it! Use it on Salmon , Squash, Fries, Salad, anything!
Use boneless skinless chicken breasts which you can cut up into tender size pieces if you can’t find chicken tenders.
Make sure your chicken is all the same size so it cooks evenly.
Adding Mayonnaise to the coating makes the chicken breasts super juicy!
The cornflakes is best when crushed before coating the chicken. you can use a food processor or a rolling pin and ziploc.
Make sure to cook the chicken ALWAYS in a single layer. This applies to oven or air fryer method.
While both oven and air fryer hot honey chicken are the same, we slightly prefer the air fryer as it cooks faster.
Drizzle the hot honey over the cooked chicken tenders while they’re still HOT. This helps them soak in all the sauce.
Serve right away as or make the Nashville style hot honey chicken sandwich as shown below.

Make Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich

A hand holding a hot honey chicken sandwich showing the layers of hot honey chicken, chicken sauce, pickles, lettuce in a biscuit

We LOVED this sandwich that we shared on instagram. We made Mayo biscuits, used that as bread to make hot honey chicken sandwiches Nashville style. A layer of chicken sauce (store bought is great especially the new chosen foods sauces! YUM). Then layer lettuce, hot honey chicken tenders and some pickles. SO GOOD!!!! So easy and cute size for entertaining!

Hot honey chicken sandwich cut in half showing the inside of the chicken and the layers of the sandwich

What to Serve with Hot Honey Chicken?

Zucchini Fries, or any type of French Fries, Sweet Potato Fries. Potatoes are a great side dish, like Air Fryer Baked Potato, Pan Fried Potatoes, Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes .

Salad are SUPER side dish like Peach Burrata Salad, Panzanella Salad, Wedge Salad, Caprese Salad.

If you’re looking for authentic biscuit recipe, check out tutorial on How To Make Biscuits.

Make in Advance & Storage

This recipe is so good for making n advance. The chicken can be coated and placed in a single layer on a baking sheet and covered. Then you can store it in the fridge for up to 2 days before baking or air frying.

Leftovers are great for sandwiches, lunch, and so easy to reheat. To reheat, it’s best to use an air fryer. Set the sir fryer at 350, and reheat the chicken for 5-7 minutes until heated through and crisp just as if it was fresh.

A plate of hot honey chicken dressed up with hot honey and surrounded by lemon slices

Spicy Chicken Recipes

Orange Chicken
Chicken Fingers
Buffalo Chicken Wrap
Ground Chicken Tacos
Chicken Scallopini
Air Fryer Chicken Breast