Easy Spicy Chicken Sandwich
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This spicy chicken sandwich is flavourful, crispy, and packed with veggies to help boost its nutritional content. You can craft a protein-filled recipe lighter on calories using boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
Table of Contents
Why you should try this sandwich
Using cornflakes as a coating for each chicken piece ensures you’ll have a crispy chicken sandwich every time. I love crafting this spicy chicken sandwich recipe when I’m craving comfort food, but want to avoid fast food restaurants. It’s filling and hits the spot every time!
I’ve also included a few food swaps to help lower the calories on this spicy fried chicken sandwich. Instead of including buttermilk, I’ve swapped it for yogurt. Chicken thighs are cooked without the skin, yet yield a crispy chicken texture. Plus, you get to skip the deep fryer without sacrificing crispiness. You’ll love creating these spicy chicken sandwiches, as they’re tasty and easy to make! Other sandwiches you might like to try : The Best Turkey Sandwich in 10 minutes! and Cheese Toastie with Grilled Veg
Ingredients
Plain Yogurt
The yogurt marinade tenderises the chicken so that when cooked, you get the best succulent juicy piece of chicken that is perfect for this sandwich. Plus, plain yogurt has lower fat content than buttermilk.
Chicken Thighs
If you prefer a leaner cut of meat, you can also use chicken breast. However, chicken thighs will provide a juicier sandwich.
Hot Sauce
You can use various options as your spicy sauce for the chicken sandwich. Select one you enjoy or use what’s already in your fridge!
Burger Buns
Whole wheat or white burger buns are great choices for your sandwich. Craft a lower-carb version using lettuce as the bun.
See the recipe card below for full ingredients and quantities.
What goes with a spicy chicken sandwich?
These sides are delicious choices that turn your sandwich into a whole meal.
Salad
For a healthier take, try pairing your chicken sandwich with a salad! You can keep it simple and whip up a Caesar salad or craft a pasta salad packed with veggies.
Pan-Fried Veggies
You can also boost the nutrients of your meal with pan-fried veggies, such as asparagus, courgettes or broccoli. Toss your desired veggies in the pan with oil and seasonings, then cook until tender.
Potato Wedges
Cooking potato wedges is an easy way to beef up your meal! Plus, you can throw them in the air fryer with your favourite spices and have them ready in a few minutes. Or alternatively try my Crispy Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges recipe, it’s so good and will give you the ultimate fakeaway experience when combined with this sandwich.
Other topping suggestions
Try one, or all of these toppings next time you craft a spicy chicken sandwich.
- Spicy mayo (mix mayo with hot sauce)
- Dijon mustard
- Honey mustard
- BBQ sauce
- Fresh tomato slices
- Banana peppers
- Pickled onions
How to make this spicy chicken sandwich
- Start by adding yogurt, chilli powder, smoked paprika, onion & garlic powder to a large bowl. Mix to combine and add the chicken thighs into the bowl. (Image 1).
- Stir to coat all of the thighs and cover with a lid. Pop in the fridge to marinate for 2-4 hours. (Image 2).
3. Before you start preparing the cornflake crust, preheat your air-fryer to 200°C for 5 minutes. Then start to roughly crush the cornflakes in your hand, creating varying sizes of pieces. Combine the cornflakes with around ½ tsp paprika, 1 tsp garlic and onion powder. (Image 3).
4. Now that it’s time to eat, dredge the marinated chicken thighs in flour, then in egg, then into the cornflake mix. (Image 4).
5. Meanwhile, make up your coleslaw mix and dry-toast your buns in a non-stick pan. (Image 5).
6. Spray the breaded chicken with oil (around 6 sprays) and pop in the air fryer for 7 minutes. After 7 minutes, rotate and add a drizzle of hot sauce. Cook for another 7 minutes. When the chicken is ready to remove from the air fryer, season immediately (and generously) with salt. You want to add the salt when it’s really hot to help it stick. (Image 6).
Tips and tricks
- Make sure you preheat the air fryer before adding your cornflake coated chicken breasts, as this will ensure that the chicken becomes crispy and golden browned and cooked throughout.
- Crush the cornflakes finely with your hands, as you want an even coating and you can crush the cornflakes to create varying size pieces.
- Make sure you use eggs as part of the dunking process and this will ensure the cornflake coating stays on.
- To help the cornflake coating crisp up and turn golden brown, spray the chicken with oil.
- Make sure you distribute and space out the cornflake covered chicken breasts in the Airfryer, and cook in batches if there isn’t enough room and this will ensure each piece gets crispy.
Recipe FAQs
You can make the elements ahead of time (such as the coleslaw). However, if you want to enjoy the crispiest texture, you’ll want to eat the chicken right away. If you prep the sandwiches too early, the coleslaw and sauce will cause the chicken’s crispy exterior to lose its texture. Then, your spicy crispy chicken sandwich will be soggy instead.
Yes! You can use buttermilk instead of yogurt, as you will get the same end result (many people prefer buttermilk). I opted for yogurt as I find it more affordable and readily available in stores. Using buttermilk will still boost protein and calcium in the hot chicken sandwich recipe. You can swap out the yogurtx for buttermilk in a 1:1 ratio.
Yes! You can leave out the hot sauce and chilli powder to lessen the heat of the spicy chicken sandwich. Ensure that you’re adding extra seasoning to help account for the removal of the sauce and powder. You can also use a different sauce, such as honey to flavour the chicken.
The best sauce depends on your hot sauce preferences! I enjoy adding vinegary hot sauce, such as Dunn’s River Jamaican Style Hot Sauce (it was only 60p and the flavour is 10/10), to my chicken sandwiches. It provides the perfect amount of heat and flavour. However, you can use any hot sauce in your fridge for this dish.
If you tried this Easy Spicy Chicken Sandwich, it would be mean so much to me if you could leave a review & a star rating to let me know how you found it! I love hearing about your experiences – it motivates me to keep creating more and more recipes for you guys 💛 Let’s get cooking! – Mimi x
Easy Spicy Chicken Sandwich
Ingredients
- 500 g plain yogurt (£0.95)
- 650 g chicken thighs, boneless skinless (£3.85)
- 2 eggs (£1.15/3)=(£0.38)
- 200 g cornflakes (£0.50)
- 275 g coleslaw mix, with mayo (£1.10)
- 4-6 gherkins (£1.00/5)=(£0.20)
- 2 heads of baby gem lettuce (£0.75)
- 3 tbsp hot sauce + additional for drizzling (£0.60)
- 6 x burger buns (£0.75)
Cupboard Essentials
- 3 tbsp flour
- Oil spray, approx 6 sprays per burger
- Mayonnaise (approx 1 tbsp per bun)
- Salt + pepper
- 1 tbsp chilli powder
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp (for yogurt marinade) + 1 tsp onion for cornflake coating
- 1 tsp (for yogurt marinade) + 1 tsp garlic powder for cornflake coating
Method
- Start by adding yogurt, chilli powder, smoked paprika, onion & garlic powder to a large bowl. Mix to combine and add the chicken thighs into the bowl. Stir to coat all of the thighs and cover with a lid.
- Pop in the fridge to marinate for 2-4 hours.
- Prepare the cornflake crust by roughly crushing the flakes in your hand, creating varying sizes of pieces. Combine the cornflakes with around ½ tsp paprika, 1 tsp garlic and onion powder.
Preheat your air-fryer to 200°C for 5 minutes.
- Now that it’s time to eat, dredge the marinated chicken thighs in flour, then in egg, then into the cornflake mix.
- Spray the breaded chicken with oil (around 6 sprays) and pop in the air fryer for 7 minutes. After 7 minutes, rotate and add a drizzle of hot sauce. Cook for another 7 minutes. Meanwhile, dry-toast your buns in a non-stick pan.
- When the chicken is ready to remove from the air fryer, season immediately (and generously) with salt. You want to add the salt when it’s really hot to help it stick.
- To the bottom bun, layer mayonnaise, lettuce, the crispy chicken burger, creamy coleslaw and the toasted top bun.
Notes
- Preheat the air fryer to ensure even cooking and crispy chicken.
- Crush cornflakes finely and use eggs in the coating process for best results.
- Spray the chicken with oil and space it out in the air fryer to ensure crispy texture.
Nutrition
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