This oven-baked Hot Honey Chicken has a perfectly crispy outside, juicy & tender inside, and a drizzle of hot honey sauce on top gives it a nice, spicy kick! The perfect quick weeknight dinner that will really waken-up your tastebuds!
Crunchy Hot Honey Chicken
Table of Contents
Our whole family love this cornflake-crusted hot honey chicken! Perfect because everyone can decide how much of the spicy hot honey sauce they want to add. The key to this recipe is definitely the crushed cornflakes, they add the perfect amount of crispness to the outside of this baked chicken! Serve with just about any easy side dish for an easy weeknight meal.
Need another easy baked chicken recipe? Try our Almond Flour Chicken Tenders – another family favorite!
What You Will Need
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts – this is what we used, but you could also use chicken tenderloins or butterflied chicken breasts if you want them to cook faster.
- all-purpose flour – option to use gluten-free flour, if you want to keep the recipe gluten-free.
- garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, & ground black pepper – a simple combination of seasonings that add so much flavor.
- eggs – coating the chicken in beaten eggs is an important step when breading chicken before baking to help adhere corn flakes to the outside.
- corn flakes – we have found that these really give the right level of crunch!
- homemade hot honey sauce – easily make your own hot honey by combining honey, garlic, salt, pepper, and plenty of red pepper flakes to bring lots of heat! You can easily adjust the spice level of this sauce by adjusting the amount of red pepper flakes.
How To Make Hot Honey Chicken
First, you can begin by adding all of the hot honey sauce ingredients to a small sauce pan and then set it aside.
Now it’s time to prep the chicken breasts. This is done by mixing the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl and then dredge each chicken breast.
Next, place the flour-coated chicken in an egg wash that is in another shallow bowl.
And finally place each chicken breast in another shallow bowl that has plenty of crushed cornflakes. Use your hands to really press these cornflakes crumbs on to each chicken breast.
After all of the chicken breasts have been coated, they can be placed on a parchment-lined sheet pan.
Bake on the middle rack of the oven at 425 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until the internal temperature at the thickest part of the breast reaches 165 degrees F and they are golden brown. Use a meat thermometer!
A few minutes before the chicken is done cooking, bring the sauce pan with the hot honey sauce ingredients to a medium-high heat until it is warmed through.
Drizzle a little bit of the spicy honey sauce over the top of your piece of chicken. Serve with anything you want!
How To Serve Hot Honey Chicken
There are so many delicious sides that would be great with this oven fried chicken. A few of our favorite side dish recipes are Instant Pot brown rice, air fried broccolini, easy oven baked potato, or simple steamed green beans. Or if you are looking for something a bit cooler to counteract the spicy sauce, you could serve with some creamy coleslaw!
Storage & Freezer
- Refrigerator: Any leftovers can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. We just recommend storing the baked chicken separate from the sauce.
- Freezer: you could place the cooked cornflake-crusted chicken breasts on a baking sheet in the freezer and once they are frozen you can move them to a freezer-safe bag to store for up to 3 months. Just wait to make the hot honey sauce until you reheat the chicken.
Recipe FAQ
Yes, if you don’t want to bake the chicken. Another great option would be to cook it in an air fryer or pan-fry in a large skillet on the stovetop.
If you did freeze your chicken, you will need to let it thaw overnight in the fridge. Then simply reheat your chicken in the oven for about 12-15 minutes or until heated through.
Other Baked Chicken Recipes You Might Like
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Hot Honey Chicken Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Hot Honey Chicken – a seriously delicious hot honey chicken recipe that is packed with flavor and comes together easily!
Ingredients
Hot Honey Sauce:
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1–2 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- pinch of kosher salt
- pinch of ground black pepper
Chicken:
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast (4 medium chicken breasts)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/4 cup corn flakes, crushed (regular or gluten-free)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Combine Hot Honey Sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan and set aside.
- Pat chicken dry with clean paper towel.
- In a wide, flat bowl combine flour, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
- In another wide, flat bowl crack two eggs and whisk.
- In another wide, flat bowl add the crushed corn flakes.
- Ensuring your parchment-lined baking sheet is nearby, take one chicken breast at a time and first dredge it in the flour mixture, then in the egg wash and finally place in the crushed corn flakes and ensure it is fully covered. Place on the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining chicken breasts.
- Place in the oven, middle rack, and let them bake 20-25 minutes or until the internal temperature at the thickest part reaches 165 degrees F.
- Right before the chicken comes out of the oven, bring the Hot Honey Sauce to medium heat. Stir often and let the honey warm through approx. 3-5 minutes (don’t let it boil here – we are just warming it through so it is “hot”).
- Place chicken on a plate and drizzle with the Hot Honey Sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
- Gluten-Free: easily keep this recipe gluten-free by using gluten-free flour (we love Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Flour) and gluten-free cornflakes.
- Storage: place in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 4-5 days.
- Serving: serve with some Instant Pot brown rice and air fryer broccolini!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6oz
- Calories: 400
- Sugar: 25.9 g
- Sodium: 884.4 mg
- Fat: 5.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 56.1 g
- Protein: 31.7 g
- Cholesterol: 175.7 mg
Leah says
Do you have a suggestion about what I could sub for cornflakes? Gf cornflakes aren’t available in Canada! Omit them? Thank you! Recipe looks amazing!!
Erin says
Hi Leah! I would do a gluten-free panko if you can find that!
Carly says
So good! I I did not set the oven to broil, just baked it like instructions said, and it still retained some crunch. I could drink the hot honey sauce (which I poured the extra over roasted rainbow carrots and it was amazing). Definitely will keep this on the dinner rotation. My kids liked it too (they didn’t use the hot honey sauce though).
Erin says
So happy to hear that, Carly!!
Mollie says
Family pleaser! Thanks for another delicious recipe. My pickiest eater ate his whole portion. Success!
Erin says
Thanks, Mollie!
Aly says
Made this for dinner last night and my husband and I both LOVED it! He loved the crunch of the chicken and said I need to put this on my regular recipe rotation. It came together quickly and easily and I’ll definitely be making it again!
Erin says
So happy to hear that, Aly!! And thanks so much for taking the time to come back and leave a review – I really appreciate it!