Chicken & Waffle Sliders
Crispy chicken tenders on mini waffles with a maple-sriracha drizzle that hits every note.
Prep: 20 min · Cook: 25 min · Total: 45 min · Serves: 4 · Difficulty: Medium · Rating: 4/5 (467 reviews)
INSPIRED BY
The chicken and waffle combination is a Southern classic — making them into sliders takes them from brunch star to party legend.
Story
My older kid asked for "chicken and waffles but tiny" for his 7th birthday breakfast, which is a very specific request from someone who can't yet tie his shoes. He'd seen them somewhere, probably a YouTube short, and would not let it go. So on a Saturday morning I made chicken and waffle sliders for a kitchen full of small people, and it went better than most of my birthday attempts. The buttermilk soak is the part you can't shortcut. I learned this the hard way the first time, when I was impatient and only let the tenders sit five minutes. They came out dry and the coating slid right off. Thirty minutes minimum, and the night before is even better. The acid tenderizes and the coating actually grabs onto the wet surface. I use frozen mini waffles, and I'm not going to pretend I'm making them from scratch at 8am during a birthday. Toast them dark so they hold up to the drizzle. The drizzle is maple syrup, sriracha, and melted butter, and the first time I made it I went heavy on the sriracha and the kids revolted. Now I keep a kid version with just maple and butter, and the spicy one for the adults. Two batches, no tears. A practical note: fry the chicken first, keep it warm on a rack in a low oven, then toast all the waffles at once. If you try to do it all à la carte you'll be standing at the stove while everyone else eats. Secure each slider with a toothpick or they slide apart, and warn the kids about the toothpick, because a 4-year-old will absolutely try to eat it. Honest take: these are fiddly for a weeknight but great for a weekend or a party. The maple-sriracha on the adult ones was the best part for me, that sweet-then-hot thing. The kids ate the chicken and the waffles separately about half the time, which defeats the assembly, but they were happy and that's the birthday metric that counts. Leftover fried tenders reheat well in the toaster oven the next day, so I always fry a few extra and stash them for lunchboxes.
By Casey
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken tenderloins
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1.5 cups flour
- 1 tsp each paprika, garlic powder, onion powder
- 8 mini waffles (frozen or homemade)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 tbsp sriracha
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- Oil for frying, salt and pepper
Instructions
- Soak chicken tenders in buttermilk for at least 30 minutes.
- Mix flour with paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
- Dredge chicken in flour mixture. Fry at 350°F for 4-5 minutes until golden and cooked through.
- Toast or cook mini waffles until crispy.
- Mix maple syrup with sriracha and melted butter for the drizzle.
- Assemble sliders: waffle, chicken tender, maple-sriracha drizzle, top waffle. Secure with a pick.
Chef Tips
- The maple-sriracha ratio is adjustable — start with less sriracha and work up. For extra crispy chicken, do a double dredge (buttermilk → flour → buttermilk → flour).
Cook's Notes
- **Buttermilk substitute:** Whole milk plus 1 tbsp lemon juice per cup, let sit 5 minutes. The acid tenderizes the chicken the same way buttermilk does.
- **Make-ahead:** Fry the chicken up to 2 hours ahead. Keep warm on a wire rack in a 200°F oven — a rack prevents steam from making the bottom soggy.
- **Storage:** Fried chicken lasts 3 days refrigerated. Reheat in a 375°F oven for 12-15 minutes on a wire rack to restore crunch. Waffles reheat in a toaster.
- **Equipment:** A deep-fry or candy thermometer is important for oil temperature control. Oil at 325-350°F produces crispy chicken; below that it absorbs oil; above that it burns.
- **Common mistake:** Crowding the frying pan. Adding too many pieces at once drops the oil temperature dramatically and produces soggy, oil-logged chicken. Fry in batches.
- **Doneness cue:** Internal temp 165°F at the thickest part. The breading should be deep amber, not golden — deep amber means the crust will stay crispy longer.
- **Waffle tip:** Let waffle iron fully preheat before adding batter. A pale waffle on the outside of this slider means it won't hold the chicken and toppings without getting soggy.