Southern Fried Chicken and Waffles

• servings: 4 servings
• active time: 10 minutes
• total time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

8 boneless (skinless chicken thighs)

Vegetable Oil (for deep frying)

2 cups whole buttermilk (OR soured whole milk* (see notes)

1 tbsp kosher salt

½ tbsp garlic powder

½ tbsp onion powder

1 tbsp hot sauce or chili powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

3 cups all-purpose flour

⅓ cup cornstarch

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

¼ cup honey (you can substitute maple syrup)

½ tsp chili powder or cayenne pepper (or more if you like a lot of spice)

4 tbsp unsalted butter

½ tsp kosher salt

Best Belgian Waffles Recipe (click the link for the full waffle recipe, makes 8 waffles)

Directions

Brine the Chicken

Whisk the buttermilk or soured milk, kosher salt, garlic powder, onion powder, hot sauce, and smoked paprika together in a large mixing bowl.

Add the boneless, skinless chicken thigh to the bowl, making sure every thigh is covered in the brine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the chicken marinate in the buttermilk brine from 1 hour to overnight in the fridge.

Dredge the Chicken

While the oil is heating up, in a mixing bowl whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and seasonings. Take each chicken thigh from the brine and dredge into the seasoned flour. Thoroughly coat the chicken all over, gently shake off the excess, then let rest on a plate for five minutes before frying. Chef's Tip: add a couple tablespoons of the buttermilk brine to the flour mixture and give it a little stir. These lumps make the crust extra craggy!

Fry the Chicken and Make the Waffles

In a 4 qt dutch oven pot, heat up about half the pot's worth of vegetable oil. Allow the oil to reach 350ºF (180ºC), and while it's coming to temperature, make the waffle batter.

Fry the chicken in the hot oil (no more than about 4 thighs per batch) until golden brown, crispy, and cooked through completely, about 8-9 minutes. (While these are frying, cook the waffles in their iron).

Carefully take each piece of chicken out of the oil with tongs and place them on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet and let cool slightly before serving. Repeat until all the chicken thighs are fried.

Place each cooked waffle on a wire rack over a baking sheet and place them into a warm oven (no more than 200ºF) so they stay warm.

Make the Spicy Honey Butter

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat with honey, chili powder, and kosher salt. Whisk well until the mixture is incorporated and homogenized.

Lower the temperature to 'warm/low' heat and keep for serving.

Serve the Chicken and Waffles

I like to cut the chicken into four pieces (2 thighs per serving) and serve them piled on a stack of 2 waffles per person. Generously drizzle the honey butter all over the top of the chicken and waffles and serve warm!

Nutrition

• Calories: 828 kcal
• Total Fat: 22 g
• Saturated Fat: 10 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 9 g
• Trans Fat: 1 g
• Cholesterol: 245 mg
• Sodium: 1800 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 102 g
• Dietary Fiber: 3 g
• Total Sugars: 18 g
• Protein: 54 g