Hot Honey Chicken Salad
Our hot honey chicken salad is a new way to enjoy chicken Caesar salad. Chicken cutlets are marinated in buttermilk to make them extra tender and juicy. Then, they’re coated in a seasoned cornflake breading and baked until crispy and coated in hot honey sauce. Then, we combine it with greens, veggies, and classic Caesar dressing.
If you love delicious chicken salad with a tasty twist, then this is going to be your new favorite. We combined crispy hot honey chicken with classic Caesar salad to create a salad that’s as easy as it is bold and delicious. It’s the perfect weeknight dinner or meal for parties, and everyone always loves it when we make it.
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple Ingredients: This recipe uses basic ingredients found in any kitchen or grocery store to create all its delicious flavor.
- Easy to Make: The chicken is baked, not fried, so it’s easy to make, and assembling the salad is equally easy.
- Bold Flavor: The combination of seasoned cornflake breading, hot honey sauce, fresh veggies, and Caesar dressing creates a salad with deliciously bold flavor in every bite.
- Great for Any Occasion: This salad is the perfect weeknight dinner or main course at any gathering.
🛒Ingredients
Chicken
- Chicken cutlets
- Buttermilk
- Paprika
- Salt
- Pepper
- Cornflakes – crushed
- Cornstarch
- Olive oil
- Honey
- Hot sauce
- Salted butter
- Chili flakes
Salad
- Romaine lettuce – chopped
- Croutons
- Lemon
- Grated parmesan
- Cherry tomatoes – halved
- Cucumber – sliced
- Caesar dressing
📝Variations
Do you want to change up this recipe and make it your own? Here are some ways that you can do that!
- Crispy Chicken Salad: Make the chicken without the hot honey sauce for a classic crispy chicken Caesar salad.
- Extra Spicy: Add red pepper flakes or cayenne to the cornflake mixture for even more heat.
- Different Meats: You can make this recipe with chicken cutlets, pork, or shrimp.
- Bacon: Bacon makes everything better, so add crumbled bacon to your salad.
🥄 Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Bowls
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
🔪 Instructions
- Combine the cutlets, buttermilk, salt, pepper, and paprika in a bowl. Refrigerate covered for 30 minutes or overnight.
- Mix the crushed cornflakes, cornstarch, salt, pepper, and paprika in a shallow bowl. Then, press the cutlets into the mixture, covering both sides completely.
- Place the cutlets on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, brush them evenly with olive oil, and bake at 425 until the chicken is crispy and the internal temperature registers 165 degrees.
- Melt the butter in a microwaveable bowl. Then, mix it with the honey, hot sauce, and chili flakes. Drizzle over the chicken and slice it into strips if desired.
- Place a bed of lettuce in the bottom of a bowl.
- Then, top it with the chicken and the salad ingredients. Squeeze the juice of a lemon over the top, and drizzle the salad with Caesar dressing.
💭 Tips
- Your cornflakes should be crushed, not powdered. They need some texture to make a nice coating.
- Don’t skip drizzling the cutlets with oil before baking them. The oil is what makes the coating nice and crispy!
- Be sure the chicken is fully submerged in the buttermilk while it marinades.
- If you don’t have buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to a liquid measuring cup and fill it with milk to the 1 cup line. Let it sit for 10 minutes, and you have buttermilk!
🥫 Storage
Refrigerate this salad for up to 2 days in an airtight container. If possible, construct individual salads for family or guests and refrigerate the leftovers separately for maximum flavor and texture quality.
Want a side dish that pairs well with just about all of your favorite meals? This Deviled Egg Pasta Salad is always a favorite!
Serve With
This hot honey chicken is a complete meal on its own, so we recommend pairing it with simple garlic breadsticks or cheesy garlic pull-apart bread.
For dessert, try a lighter treat like lemon blueberry ice cream bread, tiramisu cookies, or carrot cake sandwich cookies.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Cornflakes are an excellent option for breading. They get nice and crunchy in the oven, and they’re a fantastic gluten-free replacement for regular breadcrumbs.
The easiest and best way to know if your chicken is cooked is to use a meat thermometer. This ensures your chicken is always juicy and never raw.
Hot honey is a condiment that blends honey with chili peppers or chili flakes for a sweet, savory, and hot flavor.
🍽 More Chicken Recipes
If you like creative, delicious chicken recipes like this salad, then try our blackened chicken club sandwiches, jalapeno popper chicken pasta, and slow cooker Cajun chicken alfredo.
🧾Recipe Card
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe, so you can find it later.
Hot Honey Chicken Salad
Equipment
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Bowls
- baking sheet
- parchment paper
Ingredients
Chicken Ingredients:
- 4 chicken cutlets
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons pepper
- 4 cups cornflakes – crushed
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¾ cup honey
- ¾ cup hot sauce
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 tablespoon chili flakes
Salad Ingredients:
- 8 cups romaine lettuce – chopped
- 1 cup croutons
- 1 lemon
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes – halved
- 1 cup cucumber – sliced
- 1 cup Caesar dressing
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the chicken cutlets, buttermilk, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, and 1 tsp paprika. Submerge the chicken fully in the buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a shallow bowl, mix the crushed cornflakes, cornstarch, remaining salt, pepper, and paprika.
- Remove one chicken cutlet at a time from the buttermilk, dredge it in the cornflake mixture, and press the coating onto the chicken to ensure full coverage. Place the cutlet on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining chicken cutlets.
- Drizzle olive oil over each cutlet and brush it evenly to coat.
- Bake in the oven for 15–20 minutes, or until the chicken is crispy and fully cooked. The internal temperature should reach 165°F.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter. Combine the melted butter with honey, hot sauce, and chili flakes to make the sauce. Drizzle the sauce over the baked chicken. Slice the chicken into strips, if desired.
- To assemble the salad, create a bed of lettuce in a bowl. Top with sliced chicken, croutons, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and squeeze on fresh lemon juice. Drizzle Caesar dressing over the toppings and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Disclaimer
Any nutritional data I provide is an approximation and actual dietary information can vary based on ingredients and proportion sizes.
Now, this is what I call a salad! I’ve never been a huge fan of regular salads, but dishes like this always get me to eat my greens.
This hot honey chicken was INCREDIBLE served over a salad. Definitely making this on repeat the is summer.
We love ordering hot honey chicken when we’re eating out, so I thought this hot honey salad would be a hit and it was! Everyone raved about it even my son who is picky. Thank you!