---
title: 'The Only Hot Honey Chicken Tenders You''ll Ever Need'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZBfTp-PkVb0'
video_id: 'ZBfTp-PkVb0'
date: 2026-06-28
duration_sec: 563
---

# The Only Hot Honey Chicken Tenders You'll Ever Need

> Source: [The Only Hot Honey Chicken Tenders You'll Ever Need](https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZBfTp-PkVb0)

## Summary



## Transcript

What's up, dude? Today we're making hot
honey chicken tenders using an old
school KFC technique that gives you this
really wonderful crispy finish. We're
also making what might be the [music]
only homemade ranch recipe you're ever
going to use, the one that made Wingstop
famous. Not that I love their wings, but
I think there is no debate at this point
that their ranch is on point. Now, let's
go. For starters, I want to keep this
recipe extremely simple so we can really
focus on the flavors from the hot honey.
And so, in order to tenderize our
tenders, we're first just going to start
by soaking them in pure buttermilk. I've
done videos where I've tested a whole
range of different tenderizing methods
for chicken, whether it be mechanical or
like enzyme-based like pineapple. And
the best methods by far were either
using yogurt or buttermilk. That just
had the most impact on tenderizing. And
I let these go in the buttermilk for 4
hours. For tenders, I think that is
plenty of time. But you can go up to
eight as well. Then I simply just strain
them off and then rinse them off really
well before putting them on a sheet pan
lined with paper towel to dry them off.
While our tendies soak in the
buttermilk, this is the perfect time to
blast out our hot honey. And I'm
actually going to be using fresh chilies
as well as dried chilies for it. Let's
go. And I'm starting with these Fresno
chilies. And you don't really need to
like slice them gracefully. It doesn't
really matter. Just make sure they're
not too thick. We also don't need to
worry about seeds. So, what I'm really
hoping is that this hot honey is kind of
fruity. Cuz both Fresnos and habanero
are on that fruity side. So, let's see
what we get. Then we'll blast out these
habaneros as well. Just make sure you
clean your space and your hands really
well after working with hot chilies.
Like, don't go straight to the bathroom,
okay? Cuz
yikes.
I've done it before in my early days of
cooking and yeah, it's the rest of the
day is not fun. So, just be aware. Now,
we're going to get a bunch of honey into
the pot because we're going to be
heating it up. That is how you make
Excuse. That is how you make hot honey.
I know a lot of people will disagree
with this because you kill all the
benefits that are in the honey when you
warm it up to a certain temperature. But
like, this is a thing for fried chicken.
So, people get mad about like heating up
the honey and then it's like eating it
with fried chicken or pizza. So, I don't
know. You could definitely do a cold
extraction, too, but that takes a lot
longer. So, we're just going to do it
the easy way. And we'll kick this on low
heat, add all of our fresh chilies here
along with a little pinch of salt, and
keeping that heat low, we'll just let
these chilies melt into the honey. Once
it's warmed up here, I'm going to add
the apple cider vinegar and continue to
cook. So, I just warmed that up over low
heat for about like 2 or 3 minutes. Now,
I've turned the heat off, [music]
and I'm just going to let it steep for
another few minutes. And after it's been
sitting here a few minutes, the dried
chili I'm going to be adding is Kashmiri
chili powder, [music] which is extremely
mild, but gives an incredible red color.
So, really for me, it's just about the
color. Don't need too much. And after
that goes in, we can go ahead and just
strain this off. I don't want all the
whole chilies in here, just getting the
honey out. And I'll just squeeze that
through a little bit. And it's literally
that easy, hot honey done. All we got to
do now is let this cool down. You can
definitely make simpler versions by
simply using just chili flakes if you
want to, but I just love the fruity
flavor this has from the habaneros and
the fresnos along with this darker color
from the Kashmiri chili powder. For my
spice level, if I had to go 1 through
10, I would put this at like a a 7 or an
8. It's like pushing it a little for me,
but the taste is really good. If you
want to make it less spicy, just use
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and now back to the recipe. Now, to take
these tenders to the next level, we're
going to do another quick little
marination process, starting with soy
sauce and secret ingredient chicken
bouillon. This really sets it off. Some
hot sauce of choice. I love this Zabs,
actually. It's really good. And I'm
simply just going to mix this up and add
a little bit of oil, just neutral oil,
and then we'll drop all of our tenders
in here and give them a little mixy mix.
And because everything we have in here
is so potent, like I wouldn't go longer
than like 30 minutes with this. This is
just like a quick final marinade before
the dredging process. For the fried
chicken flour dredge, like I said, we're
keeping it really simple, so we're
starting with two cups of all-purpose
flour, 1/2 cup of cornstarch, which will
help it get crunchy and stay crunchy, 2
Tbsp smoked paprika, 2 Tbsp onion
powder, 4 tsp garlic powder, and a whole
bunch of black pepper. I can't tell
exactly how much is going in, but I
think I'm going to do about 3 tsp.
That's it. Just give it a really
thorough mix. And that's your flour
dredge done. Now, seeing as how hot
honey is not my favorite thing in the
world, I never really got the hype, I'm
going to be making some buttermilk ranch
for these tenders, as well, because you
just kind of need to have it, and it is
the best thing you could ever have with
tenders. Sorry, it's true. Just facts.
Little pro tip here, too, always buy
this one that you mix with buttermilk
and mayo. It is the best one. And so,
you're just going to start by adding 1
cup of buttermilk, followed by 1 cup of
mayonnaise, and 1 whole packet of this
stuff right here. And I like adding some
fresh cut chives to this. Chive flavor
in here is great and just a little
squeeze of lemon as well. Nothing too
fancy. If for some reason you don't want
to use the packets or you live abroad
and you simply can't find them, I have a
recipe for homemade ranch dressing that
uses your own spices. That's actually
pretty darn close to this. So I'll put
that down in the description under the
video if you want to try making that
instead. But basically you just give it
all a good whisk and you'll see as you
whisk it up, it doesn't look that thick,
but as this sits in the fridge [music]
thickens up a lot, so keep that in mind.
So after just 20 minutes in that strong
marinade, I think it's enough. We'll go
straight into the flour. Toss, toss,
toss. And now I believe this next move
is like an old school famous KFC thing.
Someone can verify in the comments, but
I'm pretty sure KFC used to use this
method to fry their chicken. I don't
know if they still do. We're going to
dip it in water. I'm not going to go too
long here either, maybe 10 seconds.
[music]
Cuz I don't want it to wash off. We just
want it to kind of saturate. Out we go,
back into the flour. And then we're
going to just toss, toss, toss. And what
we're trying to do here is build up all
these little grooves along the outside
of the chicken, [music] which it's
happening. What also works really well
is a shake like this to sort of open it
up. And if you can, go straight from the
from the flour dredge into the oil and
let it swim a little bit like this.
Because if you leave it on a sheet pan
or something prior to frying it, you're
going to get one side flattened out. All
those little grooves you made doing the
flour work, you want to keep them. So
going straight into the oil just makes
sense. If you need to put them on
something before going into the oil like
let's say you're doing a lot, you can
use a sheet pan lined with a wire rack.
And that And that works pretty good. So
there we are after just 4 minutes and
you can see all those little grooves
that have been piling up. And once all
my chicken was fried up, it was time to
serve it up with the ranch and the hot
honey and see which one we prefer. All
right, Marcus, are you a hot honey guy?
Cuz like I'm not really. I've tried it
on pizza and things and it's okay, but
I'm not like I don't know. I just I got
both.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Well, hot honey ranch boy.
>> I mean, I get it. I just got to go home
and get ranch.
>> Tenders and ranch man will never not be
good.
>> Okay, both?
>> Double. I like both.
>> Let's try both.
>> It's the only way I ever have it, too.
Chicken sandwich, hot honey and ranch.
Honey's the sweetest thing ever, so you
need something.
>> I don't know if I've ever gone hot honey
and ranch like that. I actually really
enjoyed that bite. I think I enjoyed it
more than pure ranch. Something about
that mix.
>> I do it on pizza, too.
>> Yeah, cuz the ranch brings back some
like acidity. You know what I mean? It
cuts through all the sweetness of the
hot honey.
And by the way, this hot honey with the
fresh chilies and the Kashmiri chili
powder, it's delicious. It really is.
It's growing on me a lot as it cools
down. I feel like it's like picking up
flavor.
>> Make it. Make it.
>> Thanks for watching [music] my friends
and just to make you aware, I have
launched the Sue Chefs a few days ago,
which is our private cooking community.
I thought this was going to be like a
slow growth thing, but we already have
hundreds of people inside of our Discord
and it is honestly the coolest thing
ever to see food lovers from around the
world just gathering in one place,
sharing recipes, sharing techniques,
posting what they're cooking for dinner.
It's such a joy, man. And if a deeper
cooking community really is of interest
to you, definitely watch this video
right here where I went through my whole
entire cooking history and how that led
me into social media and then how the
social media led me to the Sue Chefs. I
hope to see you in the Discord, but if
not, all good. Until next time.
>> You know I love you and I'm out.