I am a total suck for anything sweet and salty. So, there is no surprise that I absolutely love chicken and waffles. This dish is the essence of sweet and salty. It takes too of the most amazing bits; crispy, crunchy fried chicken and sweet, fluffy, syrupy waffles and smashes them together… making THE perfect bite!
There are a few things that make over the top amazing chicken and waffles versus just great chicken and waffles. To me the addition of a little bit of heat makes a huge difference. As well as making sure you have really, really crispy chicken. Lastly, you need light, fluffy, slightly crisp on the outside waffles.
How to make the best waffles for chicken and waffles?
You need to make homemade waffles for sure. They also need to be Belgium homemade waffles. AND they should be made with whipped egg whites to make them wonderfully fluffy.
There are a couple of variables you can choose when making homemade Belgium waffles. You can choose which flour you want to use. I like to make them with AP flour, but you can whole wheat flour or even gluten free flour in your waffles.
I think that two essential, non negotiable ingredients in awesome Belgium waffles are buttermilk and whipped egg whites. These will set your waffles apart and make a perfect final product.
How to make perfectly crispy fried chicken?
There are a million and one recipes out there for fried chicken. Some are good and some are great. I think what makes the great ones great, is that the skin is super crispy and them meat is juicy and tender.
I use buttermilk as a brine to help get that tender, juicy meat. As well as a great way to get the flour to stick and get that skin super crisp.
Chef’s Tips
Another thing that can help you to get that super crispy skin is make sure the oil is at 350 degrees. Make sure you do not over crowd your pan and lastly, use a cast iron skillet to help keep a nice even heat.
Also, when you make the waffles make sure you use non stick spray on the iron, get the iron very hot and wait until they get that nice crunchy outside.
Chicken and waffles
Ingredients
- Ingredients
- 8 pcs bone-in skin on chicken pieces or boneless skin on breasts or thighs
- vegetable oil for frying
- 2 cups buttermilk
- Kosher salt
- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp hot sauce chilulua is my favorite
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Seasoned flour mixture
- 2-3 cups ap flour
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Whisk the buttermilk with the kosher salt, garlic powder, hot sauce, paprika and oregano.
- Add in your chicken pieces and cover in the brine. Let the mixture sit for 1 hour and up to overnight. The longer the better.
- In a cast iron skillet, heat up the oil to 350 degrees. While the oil is heating up, make the seasoned flour mixture. Add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, garlic powder and salt and pepper and mix together.
- Dredge the chicken in the seasoned flour mixture. Thoroughly coat the chicken and hit off any excess flour.
- Working in batches, fry the chicken in the hot oil until golden brown and crispy. Make sure the chicken is cooked through and temping out at 165 degrees.
- Make the waffles while your chicken is frying. Serve the chicken on top of the waffles and drizzle with bourbon maple syrup or sweet and spicy maple glaze. ENJOY!
