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.
Honey and Chipotle Combination
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 Chicken Tenders taste so incredibly good!
Recipe Tip
This Honey Chipotle Sauce would also be great drizzled on grilled chicken if you aren’t a fan of fried foods.
More Chicken Tenders Recipes
- Chicken Crispers
- Ranch Chicken Fingers
- Coconut Chicken Fingers
- Peanut Crusted Chicken Fingers
- Pickle-Brined Chicken Tenders
Never miss a recipe. Follow Spicy Southern Kitchen on Pinterest and Instagram.
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Sharing with The Weekend Potluck
This post may contain affiliate links. Spicy Southern Kitchen is an amazon.com affiliate.
Originally posted March 19, 2015.
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!!