Crispy coated fried chicken tenders coated in a sweet and spicy honey chipotle sauce. Bar food doesn’t get any better than that. And with this Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers (Chili’s copycat) recipe, you can enjoy your favorite bar food without ever leaving the house.
This is a slight adaptation from Todd Wilbur’s Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3: The Secret Formulas for Duplicating Your Favorite Restaurant Dishes at Home (Top Secret Recipes)
. The recipe is a little involved and the ingredient list could probably be simplified some without sacrificing too much flavor, but I think the end result is well worth the effort involved.
The chicken is first dipped in a batter and then rolled in a seasoned flour mixture for an extra flavorful and crispy coating. The chicken tenders are then tossed (or drizzled if you want to control the amount) in a sweet and a lot spicy Honey Chipotle Sauce.
I don’t think there’s a more fantastic flavor combination for chicken than honey and chipotle. The sticky sweetness of the honey and smoky spiciness of the chipotle really play well off each other. They make these Honey Chipotle Chicken Tenders taste so incredibly good!
This Honey Chipotle Sauce would also be great drizzled on grilled chicken if you aren’t a fan of fried foods.
Never miss a recipe. Follow Spicy Southern Kitchen on Pinterest and Instagram.
Sign up HERE for the Spicy Southern Kitchen Newsletter.
Watch the short video below to see how to make this recipe.
Chipotle Honey Chicken Crispers
Ingredients
- 12 chicken tenderloins
- 6-8 cups Canola oil or shortening
Batter
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 cup flour
Breading
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Honey Chipotle Sauce
- 2/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1-2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
Instructions
- In a small saucepan combine honey, water, ketchup, vinegar, chili powder, salt, and hot sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
- To make batter, in a medium bowl whisk together egg, milk, chicken broth,salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Whisk in flour.
- Combine all ingredients for breading in a pie plate and mix well.
- Heat oil in a Dutch oven to 350 degrees. Dip chicken in batter and then roll to coat in breading.
- Fry 4 at a time, frying until golden brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes.
- Place cooked chicken tenderloins in a large bowl and toss with honey chipotle sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Sharing with The Weekend Potluck
More Chicken Finger Recipes
Chicken Crispers
Peanut Crusted Chicken Fingers
This post may contain affiliate links. Spicy Southern Kitchen is an amazon.com affiliate.
This recipe is almost spot on. For us it was a little too sweet and not quite spicy enough. Next time I will decrease the honey and add more chipotle, I think then it will taste exactly like Chilis!
This was spot on flavor to savor! My sauce was thick (due to the fact I reduced the water) and i did like the batter and flour mixture. Although I did add some corn startch. My son was pleased as punch. I think we will have this many more days to come. This is a keeper!
The first time I made these, my daughter came home from work just in time for dinner and wanted to know where I got the chicken. When I responded with, “The freezer?” She asked, “You made this? I’ve got to have the recipe!” She and I love Chili’s Chipotle Chicken Crispers, and this recipe is spot on!!!
I love these chicken strips from Chili’s and I’ve wanted to make the copy cat for years. This one hit the nail on the head, it’s phenomenal.
there’s no denying that it tasted so good but i didn’t really feel the crispiness of it, also i’d recommend adding 1 tablespoon of corn starch to about 1/4 cup of water then adding this mix to the sauce to thicken it cause it felt a bit too watery (for me), also i’d recommend adding some more flour to the batter to thicken it a bit to stick to be able to stick to the chicken better.
I just tried this recipe last night and it was awesome. That sauce was just amazing and the chicken came out really tender even without a marinade. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thank you very much for posting this!
The batter looks thin. When i think of batter i think of thicker batter. Like pancake batter
Can I get them ready in the morning and fry them in the evening?
This is one of my favorites from Chili’s so I was really excited to try these! The rest of my family is’t a big fan of glazed chicken so they ate theirs plain, while I immensely enjoyed mine tossed in the glaze. 🙂 It was SUPER close to the Chili’s glaze, and the breading was the best I’ve ever tried. We al loved it, and will definitely be doing it again. 🙂
So happy you liked it Rachel!
Can anyone tell me what the recipe means by “Chicken broth” being English this would indicate Chicken soup to me thanks a lot. Penny
Here is a link to what I use Penny- https://www.campbells.com/swanson/broth/
Generally speaking there is Stock, Broth, and then Soup. Stock is made from stewing bones for several hours in water. Broth can be made from meat and or bones but is quicker, and milder. Soup refers to the completion of a stock or broth into a dish using herbs, seasonings, spices and other ingredients like vegetables, chunks of meat, cream etc. the packaged stuff is generally going to be broth with seasonings added
Looks good can a pressure cooker Be used?
I don’t ever use a pressure cooker so I really can’t say.
I don’t have a Dutch oven and I hv everything thing prepared I hope that’s not a big deal
Just use what ever you normally fry food in..
Wow just cooked these and they were delicious. Followed recipe to the letter no need to change anything yum yum
The recipe for the batter/breading is great. One suggestion – don’t use chicken tenders from Sam’s or places that like. It was like frying a chicken breast instead of just the tender – way to big. We were not a fan of the sauce because it was so sweet. Is it possible to cut ONLY the honey and still have the right consistency. The flavor was good with the chipotle chili pepper but couldn’t get past the sweetness. Will use the batter for nuggets as well. Thanks for posting.
I think if you cut out the honey in the sauce, I’d use half the amount of vinegar and no water. If too thick, add a little water, maybe teaspoon at a time?
Thanks for the tip on using smaller pieces! Might just use breast strips…
Making these with my boyfriend tonight. He loves the Applebee’s version so we decided to try these tonight. I couldn’t quite find “chipotle chili” seasoning so we just used plain chili powder which worked perfectly. Thank YOU!
The Chicken Crispers look amazing! I love the crunchy coating!
Excellent, I have always wondered how to get the crunchy coating.
Yummy! Love crispy chicken.. Yours looks just finger licking
That chicken looks perfectly fried. Perfectly!
Look at all of that crunch! I’m sure the home made version is better. Love the sweet and spicy drizzle! 🙂
This looks great! Plus I’m sure it’s a million times better than regular bar food!
Oh wow! These look seriously delicious… I can’t get over that yummy crispy coating!!
These look amazing! I love honey on chicken, but the extra kick from the chipotle makes it sound even better!
Oh my gosh Christin!! These look amazing!! I am adding them to my dinner meal plan for next week! Pinned!! 🙂
omg … you are the chicken finger queen, Christin! How did you manage to make chicken fingers look so deliciously elegant?! Totally making these soon. My family would go CRAZY for them!
These look absolutely perfect, Christin! My husband loves crispy fried chicken and anything with chipotle so I can’t wait to make this for him!
These chicken crispers look amazing, Christin! I love the honey sauce drizzled on top. Looks so crispy and perfect! Pinned!
I remember my niece ordering these once at Chili’s….they were good! And I’m sure yours are even better!
I’m a fried chicken freak! This recipe is next on my list!
These look so crispy and amazing. Love the sauce!
Love the crispy layer in this chicken and the idea of sweet and spicy just sound delicious!
Hope you are enjoying your week 🙂
Mmm 🙂