Spicy Honey Butter Chicken Sandwich (Printable Version)

Crispy chicken tenders with hot honey butter, cheese, and pickles in toasted slider buns.

# Ingredient List:

→ For the Chicken

01 - 12 chicken tenders, about 1.5 lbs
02 - 1 cup buttermilk
03 - 1 large egg
04 - 1.5 cups panko breadcrumbs
05 - 0.5 cup all-purpose flour
06 - 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
07 - 1 teaspoon garlic powder
08 - 1 teaspoon onion powder
09 - 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
10 - 1 teaspoon salt
11 - 0.5 teaspoon black pepper
12 - Cooking spray or 3 tablespoons neutral oil for baking

→ For the Hot Honey Butter

13 - 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
14 - 0.25 cup honey
15 - 1.5 tablespoons hot sauce
16 - 0.5 teaspoon chili flakes, optional
17 - 0.25 teaspoon salt

→ For Assembly

18 - 12 slider buns or Hawaiian rolls
19 - 8 slices cheddar or pepper jack cheese
20 - 0.5 cup sliced dill pickles
21 - 2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing buns
22 - 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, optional for topping

# Steps:

01 - Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease.
02 - In a bowl, combine buttermilk and egg. Add chicken tenders and let marinate for 10 minutes.
03 - In a shallow dish, mix panko, flour, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, salt, and black pepper.
04 - Remove each chicken tender from marinade, letting excess drip off, then coat thoroughly in breadcrumb mixture. Arrange on prepared baking sheet.
05 - Spray tops with cooking spray or drizzle with oil. Bake 20 to 22 minutes, flipping halfway, until golden and cooked through.
06 - While chicken bakes, whisk together melted butter, honey, hot sauce, chili flakes, and salt in a small bowl until well combined.
07 - Once baked, toss hot chicken tenders in the honey butter sauce until fully coated.
08 - Lower oven to 350°F. Slice slider buns horizontally, keeping bottoms connected, and place bottoms in a 9x13-inch baking dish.
09 - Layer cheese slices, then sauced chicken tenders, then sliced pickles over bun bottoms. Cover with bun tops.
10 - Brush bun tops with melted butter and sprinkle with sesame seeds if using. Bake uncovered 7 to 10 minutes until cheese melts and buns are lightly toasted.
11 - Serve warm, pull apart sliders, and enjoy immediately.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It tastes like a restaurant-quality spicy chicken sandwich but comes together without any fussing or individual assembly.
  • Everything bakes together, so you can focus on actually enjoying time with people instead of standing in the kitchen.
  • The hot honey butter trick is honestly life-changing and works on almost anything you want to make fancy.
  • Pull-apart sliders look impressive but require zero fancy knife skills or plating technique.
02 -
  • Don't skip the flipping step halfway through baking the chicken—it's the difference between golden and pale, between restaurant-quality and disappointing.
  • The hot honey butter needs to actually be hot when you toss the chicken in it, or it won't cling properly and your coating won't stay crispy.
  • If your oven runs hot, check the sliders at the seven-minute mark because burned butter on the buns happens faster than you'd expect.
03 -
  • Double-coat the chicken by dipping it back in the buttermilk after the first breadcrumb coating, then coat one more time for extra crunch that survives everything.
  • Keep your hot sauce bottle close while making the honey butter—Frank's is milder than most, so you might want more heat depending on your preference and what brand you use.
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