Meet my current obsession, these honey chipotle chicken bites. They’re made by air frying (or baking) frozen lightly breaded chicken breast chunks before tossing in a simple honey chipotle sauce. I’ve used them to make sandwiches, tacos, and have grand plans for many more future dishes.
Thanks to the light breading and a homemade sauce, one serving has 22 grams of protein with only 7 grams of fat and 250 calories. Where else are you getting essentially saucy fried chicken with macros like that?
How to Make Them
It’s really as simple as cooking frozen lightly breaded chicken, making a sauce, and tossing the chicken with the sauce.
It works with both an air fryer or oven, though I greatly prefer air frying the chicken. The crispier the better when it comes to tossing the chicken in sauce.
A little pro tip for baking frozen chicken, in my experience, is to set the oven a bit hotter and cook a bit longer than most frozen chicken bites products recommend on the packaging.
As for the sauce, there’s no need to dirty a mixing bowl. Just toss everything in a pan and get it over medium-low heat. I like using a skillet, as it makes tossing the cooked chicken and sauce together easy and saves another bowl.
This seems like a good spot to mention that this recipe is easy to double or triple for feeding a crowd or larger meals. The sauce takes a bit longer to reduce when doubled or tripled. So be sure to give yourself a few extra minutes so the cooked chicken isn’t waiting on the sauce to reduce.
Ways to Use Honey Chipotle Chicken Bites
In the photos below, you will see three things I made with this chicken.
- First, I chucked the chicken straight in warmed tortillas with a bit of guacamole to make great chicken tacos. My healthier fried chicken tacos combine this same chicken (sans sauce) with cheese crusted tortillas, if you’re into that sort of thing.
- Next, I chopped the cooked chicken before tossing it in the sauce to make sandwiches on a toasted baguette with low calorie ranch spread and pickle de gallo.
- And finally, I made bowls with the same beef tallow fries I used for honey chipotle turkey burger bowls, pickles, lettuce, and Toby’s yogurt ranch.
Other ideas include chicken flatbreads, pizzas, wraps, and salads.
I’m sure I’ll continue talking about everything I make with this chicken as inspiration strikes over on my Instagram if you want to stay up to date. Or if you’re a Pinterest user, I have a running Pinterest board with all my frozen lightly breaded chicken breast recipes in one place.
Honey Chipotle Chicken Bites
Ingredients
- 16 oz Kirkland Signature Frozen Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks*
- 1/4 cup 84g Honey
- 1/4 cup 60g Chicken Bone Broth (or water)
- 2 Tablespoons 34g Reduced Sugar Ketchup
- 1 Tablespoon 15g Red Wine Vinegar (or your choice of vinegar)
- 1 teaspoon Ground Chipotle Chili Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
Instructions
- Cook the frozen chicken in an air fryer or oven according to the instructions on its packaging. (I prefer the air fryer and cook at 375ºF for about 12 minutes.)
- While the chicken cooks, add the remaining ingredients to a skillet or saucepan over medium-low heat. (If you're baking and have a longer cook time, wait for the final 10 minutes to start on the sauce.)
- Stir everything together and cook until the sauce thickens and coats the back of a spatula or spoon, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the cooked chicken to the reduced sauce and toss or stir to fully coat the chicken with sauce.
This recipe is so quick and delicious! I didn’t have the energy to cook after work and this was so easy to make, and worth it.
Beyond delicious . Just right amount of sweet!