Southern Style Chicken and Waffles

Southern style chicken and waffles. Imagine a perfectly crispy fried chicken, seasoned to absolute perfection, then placed on top of warm buttery waffles, drizzled with sweet maple syrup. This has to have been one of the most mouth-watering dishes to come out of the South. Chicken and waffles. Let me tell you that this meal is the perfect combination of sweet and savory goodness. The waffles are made with some of the simplest ingredients, but when combined, they pack a powerful bunch. The chicken is cooked within minutes, and no buttermilk is involved. After all, who doesn’t love an easy recipe? 

 Why Make Southern-Style Chicken and Waffles

I could go on for days as to why you should make these soul food Southern-style chicken and sweet waffles. I mean, really, they are just that iconic. The all-time chicken and waffles combo. Well, enough of my yapping here is why: 

Crispy and Fluffy– I mean, let’s be honest, that is the ultimate combination of food. Not to mention that it’s drizzled in a pool of syrup. I hope your taste buds are getting excited. 

Easy To Assemble- The chicken and waffles are made to be easy. I have a buttermilk chicken recipe that I think you will enjoy as well.  

Breakfast or Dinner- Winner, winner chicken dinner. This Southern style chicken and waffles can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s the perfect brunch combination. 

Leftover Friendly – With these chicken and waffles, you can easily pack them up and have them for lunch the next day. Just pop them into the oven.  

Ingredients For Southern Style Chicken and Waffles

• All purpose flour- Try to make sure you are using well-known flour. Not all flour is made equal. Using good quality flour helps ensure you make the perfect chicken and waffles. 

• Seasoning- Garlic powder, black pepper, and kosher salt helps to bring out all the flavor in the homemade chicken. 

• Brown Sugar– Add in a great deal of flavor.  

• Eggs- To help keep the waffles nice and fluffy.  

• Milk- I used whole milk, but you can use whatever you like. Almond, soy, or buttermilk.  

• Butter- I used salted butter, but unsalted butter is just fine. I would say if you used salted butter, be careful with the salt measurements. I would only use a pinch of salt. 

• Vanilla extract- I love the flavor a dash of extract can bring to a meal.  

• Vegetable Oil- This is used to fry the southern fried chicken. You can also use canola oil or peanut oil. 

Here are a few of the ingredients but not all. The full list of ingredients can be found below. 

How To Make Southern-Style Chicken and Waffles

Making southern-style waffles is somewhat of a two-step recipe, but don’t worry. Both steps are straightforward and save you a ton of time.

Clean- First, you want to clean your chicken tenders properly. Afterward, make sure that you pat your chicken dry.

Preheat- Heat your oil to 350 degrees. Next, season your chicken with all of the necessary ingredients. Lastly, add mustard and hot sauce, then mix well.

Coat Your Chicken- Add some flour to a gallon ziplock bag. Add the same seasonings you used to season your chicken into the bag of flour. Mix well.

Southern Waffles

Preheat the waffle iron to 400°F. 

Add your dry ingredients, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Mix well. 

Add your wet ingredients, eggs, melted butter, milk, and vanilla extract separately. Mix for 5 minutes. 

Next, add the mixture to the dry ingredients and stir. 

Add 1 cup of waffle mixture to the waffle maker(depending on size) and close the top. Cook for 3 minutes or until brown. 

Add waffle, then top with chicken. Drizzle with syrup. 

Variations/Substitutions  

Buttermilk Waffles 

What I love about my waffles recipe is that you don’t need whole milk. You can use substitute for buttermilk or half and half. 

Buttermilk Fried Chicken 

I know you’ve heard of buttermilk. I have a great recipe on this one. If you would like to marinate your chicken tenders before. Simply follow that recipe. 

Boneless chicken thighs 

 I used chicken tenders but you can also use chicken wings chicken strips, or chicken breasts. 

 Spicy Chicken 

Give it that Creole kick. Sprinkle some Creole Seasoning and a spicy sauce like hot honey over the top of you, like it is extremely spicy. 

Toppings  

For Southern Style Chicken and Waffles, You can top these waffles with pecan, walnut, blueberries, or even peanuts. You can also place the nuts inside of the waffle batter to bake them inside. I would only add about a half cup of any nuts. 

Equipment For Southern Style Chicken and Waffles 

When it comes down to equipment to make these southern-style chicken and waffle pancakes, we all know that a waffle maker is most important. Without that, my friend. We have a problem. 🤣🤣 

Reheating/Storage  

If you would like to save these chicken and waffles for up to 3 months, I would suggest you freeze the waffles me place them in the freezer. The chicken can be stored in an airtight Ziplock bag, but I wouldn’t try to eat that as leftover after three days. That’s just my opinion. Reheat in the microwave for 1 minute. To reheat in the oven, turn oven to 400 degrees and let them bake until warm. 

Tips/Notes 

• I know some individuals like their chicken fried hard, but in my opinion, with frying chicken tenders for too long. They become rubbery-like. I hope that makes sense. 

• Fluffy Waffles- To make these waffles extremely fluffy, you must beat the eggs first. I will link an article on how to do that here.  

• Try to find ingredients that have been around for years, like flour and butter. It makes a complete difference in how a recipe will turn out. 

• Always get the waffle maker warmed up before pouring waffle batter.  

Questions/FAQs 

Can you use other chicken besides tenders?  

Yes, I would use chicken breast but stay away from the bone/in chicken with your waffle unless you like gathering bones while you eat.  

In Conclusion  

The crispy fried chicken pieces layered over the waffle recipe is the ultimate Southern comfort food. You won’t regret making these homemade waffles with