Nashville Hot Chicken Bites - adapted from the original Hattie B’s Hot Chicken recipe in Nashville, TN. SO good!! Use frozen popcorn chicken for a quick and easy meal! Chicken, cayenne, brown sugar, garlic powder, paprika, onion powder, chili powder, and melted butter. Serve the chicken with white bread, ranch dressing, and pickles. SO good! Sweet and spicy in every bite – YUM!
Place frozen popcorn chicken on baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes.
In a small saucepan, combine butter, cayenne, garlic powder, paprika, onion powder, and brown sugar. Cook over medium heat until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat at set aside.
Remove chicken from oven. Toss chicken with ½ of the sauce. Return to oven and bake an additional 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and with the remaining cayenne mixture.
Notes:
You can use any breaded chicken for this recipe – tenders, nuggets, popcorn chicken, chicken breasts, or chicken thighs. You can use freshly fried chicken, leftover chicken, or frozen chicken.
I use Tyson popcorn chicken or Just Bare Chicken Nuggets from Costco.
You can make your own fried chicken nuggets if you prefer.
Can substitute canola oil for the butter in the sauce. Hattie B's uses leftover frying oil mixed in with the spice mixture.
You can use light or dark brown sugar in the sauce.
As I said this chicken is super spicy. The recipe below is for mild hot chicken. Feel free to adjust the cayenne pepper up or down to your personal taste.
Can I make Hot Chicken bites in the air fryer? Yes! Follow the directions on your package of chicken and toss the chicken in the cayenne sauce halfway through the cooking time.