Crispy Hot Honey Chicken

In this Hot Honey Chicken Recipe, thinly sliced chicken breasts are coated in a layer of crispy panko breading, pan-fried until golden brown, and served with super simple spicy honey. Use a high-quality extra virgin olive oil for a super tasty crispy, crusted chicken.

This is a really great family dinner. The spicy hot honey is great for adults, but it is added separately so that kids can also enjoy the crispy chicken with a little drizzle of regular honey.

One of my other favorite family-friendly recipes that can be made spicy or not spicy without any extra effort is this Chipotle Chicken Quesadilla recipe with a Chipotle Lime Sauce.

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love This Dish
• Ingredients
• Different Ways to Make Hot Honey
• Pan fry vs Bake
• Panko vs. Cornflakes
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• How to Make Crispy Hot Honey Chicken
• Great Family Meal
• Variations and Substitutions
• How To Serve and Reheat
• If you're looking for other family dinner recipes, try these that we love at our house:
• Crispy Hot Honey Chicken

Ingredients

Below are the ingredients needed to make Crispy Hot Honey Chicken.

• Panko Bread Crumbs: Panko bread crumbs are larger than standard bread crumbs creating a crispier crust.
• Salt: Balances and brings out the other flavors.
• Parmesan: I recommend buying a block of parmesan cheese and grating it yourself. It will taste better and you avoid those anti-caking ingredients that come with pre-grated parmesan cheese. I really like the flavor of Trader Joe's parmesan, it's mild enough that you can add it to many dishes seamlessly and it's not too expensive.
• Eggs: Use large eggs, choose pasture-raised if possible.
• Chicken Breast: Choose organic chicken breasts if possible.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Choose a good quality extra virgin olive oil. I love Spanish olive oils which can be found at Trader Joe's or Costco, having lived in Spain for two years (Spain has great quality products, but are often not well marketed in the US), but any variety that you like will work well here. The olive oil imparts flavor to the breading when pan-fried, so if you really want to take this dish up a notch, use extra virgin olive oil.
• Honey: Any variety will do. We typically use the store brand variety sold in a teddy bear-shaped bottle.
• Red Pepper Flakes: Adds heat to the honey.

Different Ways to Make Hot Honey

I have experimented quite a bit with different types of hot honey. I’ve made several versions including:

• Red Chili Pepper Flakes & Honey (my favorite)
• Frank’s Red Hot & Honey (which I use for Hot Honey Lemon Pepper Wings)
• Sriracha & Honey
• Combinations of spices like smoked paprika and chili powder & Honey

My favorite by far, however, is super simple: honey and red chili pepper flakes. I want the honey to be spicy, but not taste too strongly of any particular flavor. Using only red chili pepper flakes gives you heat without any added flavors. Just spicy and sweet.

It also makes things simple when you’re trying to cook a weeknight meal with a lot of other things going on. Just warm up a saucepan with honey and toss in some red pepper flakes. That's it.

You can drizzle the honey on top, or my preference is to spoon some on the side to dip. The flavor is more intense that way!

Pan fry vs Bake

I’ve made this both by pan-frying the chicken and by baking it in the oven. If you bake the panko-covered chicken in the oven it will not get very crispy and the bottom may even get soggy. So, I would not recommend baking it coated in panko. Pan frying gets both sides super crispy and it goes pretty quickly.

Panko vs. Cornflakes

An alternative to using panko is to use cornflakes. If you use cornflakes, they’ll actually bake really nice and crispy on both sides in the oven. It’s a great alternative and takes a bit of the work of standing over the stove out of the process. It’s really a great option.

If you do choose to use cornflakes, the brand of cornflakes matters. Most brands of cornflakes will impart a slightly strange aftertaste. I recommend choosing the Whole Foods version of cornflakes.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

I highly recommend using extra virgin olive oil. The panko soaks up the oil as it crisps up in the pan. So the olive oil that you use will impact the final taste of the chicken.

Look for extra virgin olive oil that is sold in a dark green bottle. Olive oil degrades as it gets older (see the interview of a wine and olive oil producer here on the topic). Olive oil is better used sooner than later, unlike wine. Look for olive oil that came from one place, rather than a mixture of several locations or countries. Lastly, stick with one that you like, not necessarily something more expensive.

I am partial to olive oil from Spain, having lived there for two years, and meeting producers of olive oil and learning about their process. Often Spain has excellent olive oil, to the extent that it'll be exported to Italy and marketed as Italian. Though there are plenty of great olive oil producers.

How to Make Crispy Hot Honey Chicken

Below are the step-by-step instructions and photos for how to make Crispy Hot Honey Chicken.

Step 1. Add the panko, parmesan cheese, and salt to a medium-sized baking dish. Stir to combine.

Step 2. Add the eggs to a medium-sized bowl and use a fork or whisk to combine.

Step 3. Cut each chicken breast in half lengthwise and then in half again so that you have 4 similarly sized pieces. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper or wax paper and use a meat hammer to tenderize the chicken into thin pieces.

Bring a large saute pan to medium heat.

Step 4. Take each piece of chicken and dip it into the egg yolk mixture to coat both sides.

Step 5. Coat the chicken in bread crumbs: Place the chicken in the baking dish with the bread crumbs and turn to coat both sides.

Step 6. Optional: For an extra thick and crispy coating you can double-coat the chicken in egg and bread crumbs. This is completely optional. I prefer a single coating of bread crumbs, but if you do add a second coating you get a super thick crispy exterior, which can be a nice way to change it up.

Step 7. Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to your large saute pan at medium heat. Add the chicken, leaving plenty of room between the pieces. Do not over crowd the pan. Allow to sit in the pan undisturbed for 2-3 minutes until crispy. Then flip and cook for 1-2 more minutes until the remaining side is crispy.

Step 8. Add the honey and red chili flakes to a small saucepan and place on medium-low heat on the stove. Allow to warm through. Serve over the chicken cutlets or on the side for dipping.

Great Family Meal

This is a really great family meal, and a really great weeknight meal ready in 30 minutes. It’s easy to put together and does not require too many ingredients. It's great for adults who want something with a little kick but requires no extra effort to adjust it for kids who don’t want or like spicy honey.

Variations and Substitutions

• Panko: Panko can be substituted for traditional unseasoned bread crumbs or cornflakes that have been made into breading by being pulsed in a blender or food processor.
• Parmesan: Rather than substituting freshly grated parmesan, if you don't have it or can't find it skip this ingredient. It adds a layer of flavor, but it's not strictly necessary.
• Chicken Tenders: Chicken tenders can be substituted for chicken breasts. You can also make this with chicken thighs, but I prefer lighter meat for chicken cutlets.
• Hot Honey: Add garlic to the hot honey sauce for a spicy garlicky hot honey sauce.
• Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich: Serve the chicken drizzled with honey on a roll and make a hot honey chicken sandwich. Add some lettuce and tomato or a slaw.
• Crispy Lemon Chicken Cutlets: Use the same crispy chicken and cover it in a Lemon Butter Garlic Sauce.

How To Serve and Reheat

To Serve: Once the chicken cutlets are out of the frying pan place them on a cookie drying rack over a few sheets of paper towels. This will allow excess olive oil to drip down onto the paper towels. Keeping the cutlets on the rack allows air to circulate under the cutlets keeping them crispy. You worked so hard to make crispy cutlets, keep them that way with a cookie drying rack.

Serve hot with hot honey (or regular honey) drizzled on top or on the side for dipping.

What to Serve With: I love to serve this with a basic green salad or fresh veggies like these green beans with toasted almonds to round out the meal.

To Reheat: Bring a large saute pan to medium heat and add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chicken cutlets and cook for 2-3 minutes until crispy then flip and crisp up the other side.

If you're looking for other family dinner recipes, try these that we love at our house:

If you tried this Crispy Hot Honey Chicken Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. I'd love to hear from you!