Buttermilk Fried Chicken And Waffles Recipe

People have been pairing fried chicken with waffles for nearly a century, but in recent years this dish has become super-trendy with the brunch crowd. There's no need to limit it to brunch, however — recipe developer Erin Johnson, who says chicken and waffles is a favorite comfort food of hers, describes it as being "perfect for any meal."

If you do choose to have this buttermilk fried chicken and waffles for breakfast, though, it's probably best to save it for a weekend as it does take a little time. In fact, if you're not in any hurry to eat, Johnson says, "Marinating your chicken in buttermilk ahead of frying will help to add flavor." But don't worry if you don't have time to do that, as she doesn't include it as an official step in the recipe. The buttermilk is essential, however, in the waffles — after all, they wouldn't be buttermilk waffles without it, would they?

To make the fried chicken part of this recipe, you'll need chicken tenderloins, flour, salt, pepper, paprika, powdered sugar, and eggs, plus a lot of oil in which to fry them. For the waffles, you will also need buttermilk, butter, vanilla extract, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch. As Johnson tells us, "I like to add cornstarch to the batter to help the waffles get crisp," although she allows "If you don't have it on hand, you can leave it out."

Mix a cup of the flour with a teaspoon of salt, then stir in the pepper, paprika, and powdered sugar. Beat a single egg, then dip each tender first into the egg, then into the flour mixture. Make sure the entire chicken tender is coated.

Heat the oil to 350 F (a candy/fry thermometer will come in handy here), then fry the tenders for about 8 minutes on each side or until they are golden brown and cooked through. You may need to do so in batches if this is necessary to avoid crowding the pan.

Mix the buttermilk with the butter, vanilla, and remaining eggs, then stir together the as-yet unused flour and salt with the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ones, but don't worry if the batter isn't smooth. As per Johnson, "It is okay to have lumps."

Heat up your waffle maker. Once it's hot, pour in sufficient waffle batter to make one waffle. Johnson says it takes her ¾ cup, but this is for a Belgian waffle maker. If you're using the standard type, you may need a different amount of batter. Cook the waffle until it is no longer steaming — a dry waffle is a cooked waffle. Take the waffle out and pour more batter for a second waffle, repeating the cooking sequence until all of the batter is gone.

Once all of the waffles are cooked, put a fried chicken tender or two on top of each one. Johnson likes to use syrup on her waffles and hot honey on her chicken and she also suggests strawberries as a waffle topper. She does, however, add that "there's really no wrong way to eat these," so go ahead and add hot sauce, peanut butter, chocolate syrup, or whatever else floats your boat.