Hot Chicken and Jalapeño Bacon Cheddar Waffle is a unique twist on the Nashville classic: a crispy fried boneless chicken breast, served on top of a spicy jalapeño, bacon, and sharp cheddar waffle with a fiery maple syrup sauce.

During my formative (college) years in Tennessee, I developed an everlasting love for Nashville hot chicken.  This type of chicken was unlike anything I had ever had before and the one who set the standard for the fried-to-a-crisp, insanely spicy, red colored, pickle topped, on-a-fluffy-bed-of-white-bread chicken is Prince’s in Nashville.  Since I don’t live anywhere near Nashville anymore, I had to make my own hot chicken, but with a twist.  I fried a lightly breaded, boneless chicken breast, put it on top of a spicy savory waffle, poured a maple hot sauce all over it, and named it Hot Chicken and Jalapeño Bacon Cheddar Waffle.  I hope Prince’s would be proud.

If you’ve looked at any of my other recipes, you might be able to figure out that I like spicy foods.  When I decided quite a while ago to do a hot chicken and waffle recipe, I knew the waffle would have to be spicy too…and bacony…and cheesy.  The waffle recipe was such a hit over here that I’ve made them on their own several times and topped them with yummylicious things like, smoked pulled pork, sausage and gravy with a poached egg, and BBQ shrimp NOLA style.  I just might have to do posts on each one of those waffle meals.  Actually, a much better idea would be to turn this blog into one that only has recipes for topping a jalapeño bacon cheddar waffle.

Check out this waffle close up.  See the bacon and jalapeño?  And that crispy melted cheese on the edges?  That’s why I’ve been stuffing myself with these things.  They are dang good.

A little word on frying chicken:  everyone has their own way of doing it, so feel free to fry your chicken the way that works for you.  I’ve found a way to fry chicken that works for me and here’s how it goes:

1. Brine the chicken for at least 4 hours.  I like to use pickle juice.
2. Single coat the chicken with seasoned flour.  I don’t feel a great need to double coat, so I don’t.
3. Shallow fry in a cast iron pot or pan.  Must be cast iron.  Period.
4. Drain the fried chicken on a wire rack.  Because all fried foods should be drained on a wire rack.

in my opinion, these four simple rules produce the best fried chicken.  You really shouldn’t listen to me though, I’ll just let the pic down below do the talking.

So head on down to Prince’s in Nashville for the real stuff or try my version Hot Chicken and Jalapeño Bacon Waffle.   Also, make an extra batch of the waffles.  Trust me, you won’t be sorry

4.9 from 8 reviews

Hot Chicken and Jalapeño Bacon Cheddar Waffle

 

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Prep time

4 hours 15 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

4 hours 45 mins

 

Author: Tasty Ever After

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• FOR THE CHICKEN:
• 4 boneless chicken breasts, pounded to an even thickness
• ½ cup pickle juice
• 1 large egg, beaten
• ½ cup milk
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper hot sauce
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• vegetable or peanut oil for frying the chicken
• FOR THE MAPLE HOT SAUCE:
• 1 cup Grade A maple syrup
• 3-4 Tb cayenne pepper hot sauce
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• FOR THE WAFFLES:
• 1¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• ¾ tsp kosher salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 to 1¼ cup milk
• 4 Tb butter, melted
• 1 cup sharp cheese, shredded
• ¼ cup bacon, cooked and crumbled (4 slices)
• 3 Tb fresh or pickled jalapeño, minced
• Optional garnish: sliced pickles

Instructions

1. FOR THE CHICKEN:
2. Marinate the chicken breasts in the pickle juice in the refrigerator in a covered container for 4 hours.
3. After marinating the chicken, remove container from refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Set up a breading station with two shallow dishes. In one dish, combine the beaten egg, whole milk, and hot sauce. In the other dish, combine the flour and salt.
4. Remove the chicken from the pickle juice and dip into the egg-milk mixture first, then dip into the flour-salt mixture.
5. Pour 2-3 inches of oil into a large cast iron pot or pan and heat the oil to 350F degrees over medium-high heat. Fry each chicken breast for about 8 minutes on each side, or until internal temperature registers 165F degrees. Drain on a wire rack over a sheet pan.
6. FOR THE MAPLE HOT SAUCE:
7. In a small pan over medium heat, combine the maple syrup with the cayenne pepper hot sauce, cayenne powder, chili powder, garlic powder, and paprika. Reduce to low and keep warm.
8. FOR THE WAFFLES:
9. Pre-heat the waffle iron to the desired waffle setting. I used a soft waffle setting at 4.5.
10. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together the egg, milk, and melted butter until well combined. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix together just until the batter comes together. Fold the cheese, cooked bacon, and jalapeños into the batter.
11. Lightly grease the waffle iron, if needed, and cook per the iron's directions. Mine took about 3-4 minutes. Extra waffles can be refrigerated for 1-2 days and frozen for up to 1-2 months.
12. To assemble the dish, place one waffle on a plate, one fried chicken breast on top of the waffle, and pour a ¼ cup of the maple hot sauce over it all.
13. Grab a big fork and knife and dig in!

3.5.3208

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