If you love the Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers from Chili’s, you’ll love this copycat recipe even more! These chicken tenders are full of flavor from sweet heat to the smokey chipotle flavor and a crispy batter that stays crisp even after they are tossed in the sauce.
Serve these with a side of ranch of a fun dinner or a game day food everyone will go crazy for!
Why You’ll Love Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers
- Better Than Chili’s – if you’re looking for a copycat recipe of Chili’s honey chipotle chicken crispers, you will adore this recipe.
- Ultra Crispy – just like the ones you get at Chili’s, these chicken tenders have an ultra crispy crunch.
- Sticky Sweetness – the honey in the sauce adds the sticky sweetness you’ll love.
- Kick of Heat – not too spicy, not too mild. It’s a perfect medium amount of spicy that keep you wanting more.
- Great for Game Day – these chicken crispers are the ultimate handheld game day food.
Key Ingredients
These honey chipotle chicken crispers are absolutely delicious and everyone that tries them will want more. It’s one of those foods you keep taking more bites of even when you’re full. Here are the ingredients you’ll need to get these on your table today!
Chicken tenderloins – if you don’t have access to these, you can also use chicken breasts and cut them into strips the size of tenderloins.
Peanut oil – used for deep frying. You can use any preferred neutral frying oil.
Flour – all-purpose flour is needed in both the wet batter and dry breading
Seasonings – paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper
Milk – the base for the wet batter
Chicken Stock – the base for the wet batter, adding much more flavor than milk alone. You can also use broth in a pinch.
Egg – just one egg is needed for the wet batter. This helps binding the breading and the texture of the chicken crispers.
Honey – to add the sweet flavor and sticky texture for the sauce
Chipotle Sauce – you can find this in a can of chipotles in adobo. It adds a true smoky chipotle flavor.
Chipotle Chili Powder – a combination of powdered chipotle seasoning and chipotle sauce enhances the chipotle flavor.
Ketchup – a sweet and tangy addition to the sauce.
Apple Cider Vinegar – also adds acidity to balance out the sweetness, heat and smokey flavors.
Cornstarch – to thicken up the honey chipotle sauce.
How to Make Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers
Step 1: Prep chicken tenderloins by removing the tendons. In a shallow dish or pie pan, whisk together all the dry ingredients for the flour mixture and set aside. In a large bowl, make wet batter by combining all ingredients. Be sure not to over-mix once you add in the flour, small clumps are ok.
Step 2: Get the oil added to a heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven, attach a thermometer and heat to 350 degrees. Dip each piece of chicken into the wet batter ensuring each side is well coated. Allow excess batter to drip off then place directly into the dry flour mixture and coat on both sides.
Step 3: Fry in batches, about 4-5 pieces at a time until they are golden brown and the internal temp reaches 165 degrees, about 4 minutes. Place on a cooling rack to drip off excess oil after they cook. While chicken is frying, in a small saucepan combine all the honey chipotle sauce ingredients and simmer until warmed through and combined.
Step 4: Add chicken tenders to a large bowl, pour over the warm sauce and toss gently. Wait to sauce the tenders until ready to serve.
My Favorite Tools for This Recipe
Deep Fry or Candy Thermometer
Peanut Oil for Frying
Lodge Cast Iron Dutch Oven
Looking for More Comfort Food Recipes?
Popeye’s Famous Spicy Chicken Sandwich
Southern Chicken Fried Chicken
Fried Chicken Street Corn Tacos
Alabama White Chicken Sliders
I hope you enjoy these Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers. Be sure to comment below with any questions or feedback!
If you make these or any other recipes, don’t forget to tag me on IG @BadBatchBaking to be featured on my story. Seeing your recreations makes my day!
Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers
Sticky sweet, smokey, with a kick of heat and tons of crispy crunch, these chicken tenders taste very similar to our favorite honey chipotle chicken crispers from Chili's. Serve them with ranch for dipping! These tenders are great for dinners and game day food.
Course Appetizer, Game Day, Main Course
Prep Time 25 minutes Cook Time 20 minutes Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Ingredients
- 10-12 chicken tenderloins
- peanut oil for frying
Wet Batter
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken stock chicken broth can be used instead
- 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 3/4 cup flour
Dry Flour Mixture
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Honey Chipotle Sauce
- 2/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup water + 2 teaspoons cornstarch mix together in a slurry before adding
- 2 tablespoons adobo sauce from a can of chipotles in adobo
- tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1-2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Prep chicken tenderloins by removing the tendons. In a shallow dish or pie pan, whisk together all the dry ingredients for the flour mixture and set aside.
- In a large bowl, make wet batter by combining all ingredients. Be sure not to over-mix once you add in the flour, small clumps are ok.
- Get the oil added to a heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven, attach a thermometer and heat to 350 degrees.
- Dip each piece of chicken into the wet batter ensuring each side is well coated. Allow excess batter to drip off then place directly into the dry flour mixture and coat on both sides.
- Fry in batches, about 4-5 pieces at a time until they are golden brown and the internal temp reaches 165 degrees, about 4 minutes. Place on a cooling rack to drip off excess oil after they cook.
- While chicken is frying, in a small saucepan combine all the honey chipotle sauce ingredients and simmer until warmed through and slightly thickened.
- Add chicken tenders to a large bowl, pour over the warm sauce and toss gently. Wait to sauce the tenders until ready to serve.
Here are some additional photos for your Pinterest boards:
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The post Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers (Chili’s Copycat) appeared first on Bad Batch Baking – Restaurant Copycat Recipes & Family Favorites.