Fried Chicken & Waffle Sandwiches

POSTED BY: Stefanie Brodeur

Wooooo! I am so pumped about this recipe, it's insane. Buttermilk waffles with bacon, green onions, and cheddar IN THE BATTER?! Buttermilk fried chicken! TOGETHER IN A SANDWICH?!??!

First of all, buttermilk fried chicken...WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME? I've heard about it, but no one was like, Stefanie, seriously, buttermilk. 

Of course, I am also excited because I get to check this recipe off my list of 15 Recipes of 2015. 

Find the full step-by-step recipe at The Candid Appetite. Check out the rest of the post below for some tips on how to get the most out of this recipe!

Make it ahead. 
I made a full batch of waffles (16 total waffles using the recipe and my waffle iron) several days in advance. But you could make them weeks in advance. Because you're going to freeze them.

1. Make full batch of delicious, savory, waffles.
   
2. Let them cool to room temp.
   
3. Wrap a few waffles at a time in plastic wrap, and throw them all in gallon-size freezer bags - your goal is to prevent air from touching your waffles in order to prevent freezer burn. I wrapped two at a time, because I know that I will always want a minimum of two.
4. TIME TO EAT - just remove and unwrap as many waffles as you desire. Place them in a single layer on a baking sheet and put in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 5-10 minutes. Remove them when they are the desired temperature and crispness. For just waffles, I will want them toasted and crisp. For these sandwiches, I preferred them softer - made them easier to handle and eat.

I did not make the chicken ahead of time, but I will absolutely be doing that in the future. We serve these sandwiches for dinner at Game Night, and it took a while for these pieces of chicken to cook, event though they are thin. I put the leftovers in a plastic Tupperware in the fridge overnight, and reheated them on a baking sheet in the oven at 400 degrees the next day. 

They were amazing. 

So, next time I plan to have these, especially if people are coming over, I will fry the chicken a day or two in advance, and store them in the fridge, or wrap them in the freezer. 

Double-dip the chicken
The recipe suggests it, and you should do it. That means buttermilk - flour - buttermilk - flour. Created a crispy batter that fried perfectly.

Maple-Mustard Sauce
I was going to skip the sauce, because I wanted to stick with savory, and didn't think the sweetness of the maple syrup would be right.

But then we made it, and it literally makes the sandwich. Even though every component is complex with lots of flavor, this sauce is what really took it to the next level.

NOTE: the recipe calls for REAL maple syrup, because the fake stuff is TOO sweet. But I only had the fake stuff, so just go heavy on the mustards, and use the syrup sparingly, and you will get a really great sauce for the sandwich.

Veggies.
Throw a slice of tomato and your choice of greens on there. It helps lighten it up. Texture-wise, the tomato also added a nice amount of moisture.

Assembly - Supports needed
If you are doing an open-face sandwich, disregard. If you are doing a classic waffle-filling-waffle sandwich, you will need some sort of support to help you assemble. Regular toothpicks won't cut it - they aren't long enough. Sandwich sticks (like in the picture above) help to hold everything together. In the original recipe at The Candid Appetite, the pictures show that they used a chop stick, broken in half. Be resourceful, because these are worth it.

If you make them some day during this long, cold winter, let me know how it goes!

Find the full step-by-step recipe at The Candid Appetite. 

Enjoy!
-Stefanie