If you’ve never had fried chicken and waffles then you haven’t lived. And if so, you should definitely make sure to try this mini fried chicken and waffles and live a little 🙂
The combination of sweet waffles and maple syrup with crispy fried chicken is beyond words. One problem though… it’s kind of messy. Solution? MINI fried chicken and waffles! The perfect appetizer for your next partayyyyyyyyyyyy. Might I suggest a March Madness party?
This is recipe #2 for Tom’s Birthday Week on the blog since that boy lives for fried chicken and waffles. We first had them at my mom’s house in Louisiana. She makes some bomb ass waffles plus we had fried chicken from the best little grocery store just around the corner from our house. This place seriously has the best fried chicken. Louisiana fried chicken = way better than Kentucky fried chicken. KFC does sound better than LFC though… To pay homage to my first time having fried chicken and waffles, I made my chicken coating slightly spicy with cajun seasoning. Totally optional, but I highly recommend it.
So this recipe is really two recipes smushed into one but don’t worry, neither is very difficult. In a perfect world, you need a waffle iron and deep fryer to make this appetizer. You can’t really substitute the waffle iron (unless you want to make fried chicken and pancakes?) but you can use a cast iron pot with a oil/candy thermometer if you don’t have a deep fryer. Sometimes I still do that when frying things because the deep fryer can be a hassle.
My favorite thing about this recipe is obviously the TASTE but I also love how EASY it is. Seriously, only six simple steps: 1) make waffle batter, easy as cake waffles 2) cook waffles then cut into bite sized pieces 3) slice the chicken breast into pieces then coat them in flour mixture 4) deep fry the bite sized chicken pieces 5) stick a piece of chicken then a waffle piece on an hors’ d’oeuvre/cocktail pick, set it on a serving platter, then drizzle a little maple syrup over it 6) continue until all chicken and waffle pieces are gone. BOOM EASY. Though, be careful if transporting these little guys. I may or may not have spilled maple syrup in the backseat of my car because maple syrup dipped down one side of my serving platter… Thankfully, I have this awesome car dog seat cover thing so I just had to wash that, not the whole backseat. Seriously though, if you have a dog and don’t want dog hair all over your car… buy one of those. GAME CHANGER. Ready for the recipe? I thought so.
mini fried chicken and waffles
Ingredients
waffles
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups almond milk any milk will do
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- cooking spray to coat waffle iron
fried chicken
- 1.5 lbs chicken tenderloins sliced into 1-inch pieces (each tenderloin equals about 4 pieces)
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons almond milk any milk will do
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning like Tony Chachere’s seasoning
- canola or vegetable oil for frying
- maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200F.
- Make your waffle batter: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. In a separate bowl, mix together almond milk, lemon juice, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients until batter is completely smooth.
- Cook your waffles: Set waffle iron to your preferred setting then coat waffle iron plates with cooking spray. Cook waffles to your liking! Since you’ll be cooking the waffles in batches, once one set of waffles is done, place them on a baking sheet in the oven (preheated to 200F) to keep warm.
- Start heating your oil to 350F either in a deep fryer or cast iron pot with oil thermometer. If using a deep fryer, fill the oil up until just below the max fill line. If using a cast iron pot, you want about 2-3 inches of oil so the chicken can be fully submerged.
- Prep your chicken: Whisk together egg and milk in a small bowl. Mix together flour, sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cajun seasoning in a medium bowl. Using tongs, dip a 1-inch size piece of chicken tenderloin in the egg mixture then dredge it through the flour mixture, making sure to coat all sides. Place coated chicken on a plate or baking sheet while you coat the remaining chicken.
- Fry your chicken: Hopefully by now, your oil is heated to 350F. Using tongs, carefully place half the coated chicken in the deep fryer basket or oil if using a pot. Cook for about 6 minutes. Remove fried chicken from oil (using a slotted spoon if not using a deep fryer basket) and let drain on a cooling rack placed inside a baking sheet lined with paper towels (to absorb excess oil). Let the oil heat back up to 350 then repeat cooking steps with remaining chicken.
- Once you know how many pieces of chicken you have, slice your waffles up into that same number of bite sized (1-inch) pieces. I had one leftover waffle which Tom enjoyed as a snack 🙂
- assemble your mini fried chicken and waffles: Stick a piece of chicken on your hors’ d’oeuvre/cocktail pick followed by a bite sized piece of waffle. Place on a serving plate then repeat until the chicken and waffles are gone. Once all the mini fried chicken and waffles are plated, slowly drizzle maple syrup over them. BOOM ALL DONE.
Side note: my bracket isn’t doing half bad… YET. Did you fill out a bracket? How are you doing?! I have Michigan winning it all… Apparently, it’s less than a 1% chance for that to happen. So you’re telling me there’s a chance??
OH and happy St. Patty’s Day! May your day be complete with disgusting green beer 😉
If you try this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment or tag a photo #appetitesanonymous on instagram!! I’d love to see your mini fried chicken and waffles in action. Peace, friends!
– a
Kate Elizabeth
Giiiirl these photosssss. I realize I leave the same comment on every post but they’re just so gorge. (Unlike my bracket, which is a hot mess already.)
ps I have never had chicken and waffles. I have not lived. 🙁
Ahhhh thank you!!!!! I’m still winning my bracket challenge group but Villanova losing hurt real bad. Though, it was nice for the Big10. I could make you gluten free waffles and fried tofu next time we hang?? Not sure it would be the same though ha!