Spicy Fried Chicken Nuggets and Mini Waffles
Mini Fried Chicken Nuggets fabulous alone or served between mini waffles. How "hot" your chicken turns out will depend on how hot your hot sauce is. I recommend using a hot one...of course!
Servings 24 servings
Ingredients
The Chicken:
- 4 chicken breasts pounded to 1" thick and cut cut into 2" rectangles (makes approx 24)
- 1 ½ cups cultured buttermilk
- 3 Tablespoons hot sauce
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour or gluten free flour, or equal parts almond meal and blanched almond flour for my grain free friends
- 1 ½ Tablespoons sea salt
- 1 ½ tablespoons freshly ground pepper
- 1 tsp dried onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ⅓ cup olive oil the amount you use will depend on the size of your pan
The Waffles:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 cup melted butter ,plus additional for topping waffles
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon sugar or honey optional, I leave it out because in my opinion the fruit and syrup are plenty sweet!
- 2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
Instructions
The Chicken:
- In a shallow baking dish, whisk together buttermilk and hot sauce. Place prepared chicken in buttermilk mixture, turning so both sides have been coated. Leave chicken in dish, cover and place in the fridge for an hour.
- Preheat oven to 425 and place rack in center of oven.
- Mix flours and seasonings. Remove chicken from buttermilk mixture and dredge in flour so each piece is lightly coated. Set on a plate.
- Place a large pan on high heat. Add enough olive oil to pan so that the entire bottom is well coated. When oil is very hot, carefully add chicken to pan. Lower heat to medium/high. When first side is golden (about 3-4 minutes) turn and brown other side.
- Place browned chicken on a rimmed cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
- Place in oven and cook for 5 minutes.
- Remove from oven and serve piping hot, or serve cold the next day. So good either way! If making sliders, place between 2 mini waffles and top with butter and syrup.
For Waffles
- Heat mini waffle maker. Whisk flour, baking soda and salt. Whisk in eggs, buttermilk, vanilla paste and melted butter till well combined. (add sugar or honey if desired, whisk)
- Cook waffles according to waffle maker instructions.If making sliders, place a piece of fried chicken between two waffles and drizzle with syrup and melted butter if desired (I always desire melted butter).