Hot Honey Chicken Sandwiches

Close-up picture of a hot honey chicken sandwich on parchment paper. There are pickles and coleslaw on the sandwich.

5 from 1 vote

Hot Honey Chicken Sandwiches

These air fryer Hot Honey Chicken Sandwiches are topped with a creamy homemade coleslaw and an easy homemade sweet and spicy hot honey sauce! It's the perfect combination of sweet, spicy, and savory flavors.

Prep Time15

Cook Time13

Total Time28

Course: Chicken, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: sandwiches

Calories: 1038kcal

Author: Karly Campbell

Ingredients

For the chicken:

4 breaded chicken breast filets see notes

For the hot honey:

4 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic
4 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons Tabasco
Pinch of salt

For the sandwiches:

3 cups shredded coleslaw mix
⅓ cup mayonnaise plus more for the sandwiches
2 tablespoons dill pickle juice
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cracked pepper
¼ teaspoon celery seed
4 brioche buns
4 tablespoons butter room temperature
Dill pickles

Instructions

To make the chicken:

If starting with frozen breaded chicken filets, air fry according to package instructions.
If making our air fryer chicken sandwich, follow the steps in the recipe for breading the chicken and cook as directed.

To make the hot honey sauce:

While the chicken is cooking, add the butter and whole peeled cloves of garlic to a small saucepan over medium heat and let the butter melt.
Once melted, add the honey, Tabasco, and a pinch of salt.
Bring to a low simmer and cook for about 5 minutes, letting the sauce thicken a bit and the garlic infuse the honey with flavor.
Use a slotted spoon to fish out the garlic and discard.

To assemble the sandwiches:

Add the coleslaw mix, mayonnaise, dill pickle juice, sugar, salt, pepper, and celery seed to a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside while you toast the buns.
Spread the inside of each bun with butter and toast on a hot skillet over medium heat until golden.
To assemble the sandwiches, remove each piece of chicken from the air fryer basket and baste liberally with the hot honey sauce. Be sure to coat each side of the sandwich.
Spread the bottom of each bun with a bit of mayonnaise, if desired.
Top with the chicken and then layer with the coleslaw and pickles. Place the top bun over it all and enjoy!

Notes

Chicken: We love our air fryer chicken sandwich recipe, but it can feel like a lot when you’re also making the sauce and coleslaw. You can either make the sauce and slaw in advance to make this simpler or you can start with frozen chicken filets. We like this brand quite a lot.

Hot Honey: As written this sauce is sweet with a little kick - not too spicy. If you’d like more heat, add in red pepper flakes with the honey (as much as you like, to taste). Before serving the sauce, strain it through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the red pepper flakes and garlic. Leftover sauce can be store in the fridge for at least a week.

Coleslaw: This can easily be made up to 2 days in advance. You could also take a shortcut and use store bought coleslaw here.

Nutrition