Crispy Nashville Hot Chicken n’ Mac & Cheese

Spice up your meal prep with our Crispy Nashville Hot Chicken n’ Mac & Cheese! This flavorful dish combines crispy chicken bites coated in a spicy Nashville hot sauce with creamy, cheesy mac and cheese. Perfect for lunch throughout the week, this recipe is sure to delight your taste buds!

Author: Diana

Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

• 4–5 large chicken breasts
• 2 large eggs

Brine:

• 1 cup hamburger dill pickle juice
• 1 tablespoon wing sauce of choice
• 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Breading:

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1–1/2 cups oat flour
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Nashville Hot Sauce:

• 4 tablespoons honey alternative (or honey of choice)
• 4 tablespoons light butter spread
• 1–1/2 teaspoons paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon OUR Blackened Seasoning

For the Mac and Cheese:

• 12 ounces pasta of choice
• 2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1–1/2 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1–1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard
• 6 slices of cheese of choice
• 3 ounces light shredded three cheese blend

Instructions

1. Prepare Chicken: Cut chicken breasts into chunks and place in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the wing sauce, pickle juice, and almond milk. Mix well and let marinate for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
2. Mix Breading: In a large Ziplock bag, combine the breading ingredients (all-purpose flour, oat flour, and black pepper).
3. Whisk Eggs: In a shallow dish, whisk the eggs.
4. Bread Chicken: After marinating, take chicken chunks in batches and coat them first in the flour mixture, then the egg, and finally the flour mixture again.
5. Air Fry Chicken: Air fry each batch at 375°F for 18 minutes, flipping and mixing the chicken bites several times during cooking.
6. Cook Pasta: In a large pasta pan, combine almond milk, water, and pasta. Boil until the liquid is almost gone.
7. Add Seasonings: Stir in the paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, mustard, and cheeses. Adjust consistency with more almond milk as needed.
8. Make Hot Sauce: In a small saucepan, mix all sauce ingredients until combined and heated through.
9. Combine Chicken and Sauce: Once chicken is cooked, toss it with the hot sauce until well coated.
10. Serve: Divide the mac and cheese and chicken into four glass lunch containers for easy meal prep!

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 75 minutes

Did you make this recipe? Tag @daksspices on Instagram and hashtag it #daksspices!

Note: Our recipes are suggestions! Feel free to substitute ingredients based on what you have on hand—just avoid using other spices. LOL!