Copycat Chilis Honey Chipotle Crispers are your favorite Chilis dish made right in your own kitchen! Sweet and smokey sauce coats crisp yet juicy chicken strips, creating a flavor explosion for your taste buds!
Serve these Copycat Chilis Honey Chipotle Crispers up in under 45 minutes for any weeknight dinner! Copycat recipes from restaurants are our favorite and allow us to spend more time together at home! If you love copycat recipes, too, try our Copycat Fiesta Lime Chicken from Applebee’s or Uno’s Rattlesnake Pasta!
We absolutely LOVE Chilis’ Honey Chipotle Sauce, and trust me when I tell you, it’s just like the real deal. You’ll want to pour this sauce on everything!
All About Copycat Chilis Honey Chipotle Crispers
Taste: If you’ve ever been to Chilis, you know the Honey Chipotle sauce is a fan favorite and for good reason. Honey combines with chipotle sauce and other ingredients to make a sweet and spicy coating that’s full of flavor and tang!
Texture: These aren’t called crispers for nothing- you won’t believe how perfectly crisp and crunchy the coating of this chicken is! Don’t worry about the chicken being too dry- the inside is cooked perfectly, moist and juicy!
Copycat Chilis Honey Chipotle Crispers Ingredients
- Honey– It’s all in the name! Any honey will work for this recipe.
- Chipotle Chiles in Adobo Sauce– Just the sauce, not the peppers. These are essential in this recipe and I do not recommend substituting for any other product.
- Ketchup– This is used to make the sauce for your crispers.
- Vinegar- Believe it or not, the vinegar is added to the sauce for the crispers as well. It gives the sauce a tangy taste!
- Chicken tenderloins– Tenderloins are used for this recipe, although you could cut whole chicken breasts into strips if necessary.
- Flour– Used to coat the chicken before frying.
- Cornstarch– Combines with flour to create a crisper exterior of the chicken during frying.
- Baking powder– This helps to create a crisp exterior of the fried chicken and helps bind the flour mixture to the chicken so your coating doesn’t fall off during frying.
- Seasonings– Season your chicken! We used garlic salt and smoked paprika.
- Milk- Milk is used to bind the chicken to the coating before frying.
- Oil– Use a neutral oil for frying, like vegetable, canola, or peanut oil.
How To Make Copycat Chilis Honey Chipotle Crispers
- Whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, garlic salt, and smoked paprika in a medium shallow dish.
- Dredge chicken tenderloins in the flour mixture and set aside.
- Combine milk and some flour mixture in a separate medium bowl.
- Dredge the flour-coated chicken tenders in the milk mixture, then again in the flour mixture.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan until it comes to 350 degrees F.
- Fry the chicken in the oil in small batches, for 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown.
- Soak any excess grease up with paper towels.
- Simmer the honey, chipotle sauce, ketchup, and vinegar in a small sauce pan for 5 minutes.
- Toss the fried chicken tenderloins in your honey chipotle sauce until fully coated.
- Devour your masterpiece!
Kick Up The Heat!
Want this dish to be spicier? Double the amount of chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, and you’ll be sweating!
Tips That Will Help You Make Copycat Chilis Honey Chipotle Crispers
- Thoroughly cook the chicken strips- It is EXTREMELY important to cook the chicken until it reaches 165 degrees. Using an instant-read thermometer will be more successful than cutting into the chicken to see if it’s cooked through.
- Two hands for dredging- I recommend using two hands for dredging the chicken tenderloins- one for wet ingredients, and one for dry. This method is commonly used and will help prevent chunks of flour forming in your wet ingredients, and it will be easier for you to clean up your own hands.
- Season the flour- If you want EXTRA flavorful chicken crispers, add seasonings right into the flour mixture for your chicken. You can add seasonings such as onion powder, Italian seasoning, and pepper, or if you want your chicken to be as spicy as possible, add cayenne pepper!
- Make it less spicy- You can cut down on the amount of spice in this dish by reducing the amount of chipotle you use. Try 1/4 cup or less for a sweeter sauce.
- Get saucy- These Honey Chipotle Crispers only get better when dunked in ranch dressing. Use my Homemade Ranch Seasoning to make ranch dressing!
How To Serve These Crispers
Serve these flavorful and juicy pieces of chicken with anything you’d like! We love to whip up a batch of corn on the cob and onion rings to capture that Chilis takeout feeling. The possibilities are endless, whether you enjoy these as an appetizer or as your main dish! Feeling healthy? Chop these tenders up and top your salad with them for some extra protein!
How To Store Copycat Chilis Honey Chipotle Crispers
You can store Honey Chipotle Crispers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To reheat, microwave in 30-second increments until fully heated through.
Copycat Chilis Honey Chipotle Crispers
INGREDIENTS
- 3/4 cup honey
- 1/3 cup chipotle chiles in adobo sauce just the sauce, not the peppers
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 2 pounds chicken tenderloins
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups light oil for frying
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a shallow dish whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, garlic salt and smoked paprika.
- Lightly dredge the chicken in the flour and set aside.
- Next in a shallow dish add the milk and 1 tablespoon of the flour mixture.
- Dredge the floured chicken into the milk mixture.
- Next dredge the chicken in the flour again and set aside.
- In a large frying pan add your oil and heat over medium-high heat. Once the oil reaches 350 degrees, add your chicken in batches, being careful to not overcrowd the pan.
- Fry the chicken tenderloins for 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown. Once fully cooked, set on a paper towel-lined plate or a wire rack to drain off any excess grease.
- Once the chicken is done, make your sauce by combining the honey, chipotle sauce, ketchup and vinegar in a small saucepan.
- Heat over medium high heat until it begins to bubble. Let bubble and summer for 5 minutes or until thickened.
- Toss the chicken strips in the sauce, coating all sides.
- Serve!
NOTES
You can cut back on the amount of chipotle for a less spicy dish.
You can add any seasoning you like to the flour mixture.
Serve with fries, onion rings and ranch!
