Copycat, Fried

Mac and Cheese Honey Chicken

Mac and Cheese Honey Chicken is the perfect copycat of Applebee’s honey pepper mac! It’s an easy recipe for comfort food that can be prepared swiftly. This homemade version is filled with golden brown chicken tenders, mozzarella cheese, a stick of butter, and Parmesan cheese, that all come together to make the perfect creamy sauce.

What Is Mac and Cheese Honey Chicken?

Mac and cheese honey chicken is a recipe that combines delicious fried chicken with traditional Mac and cheese. This is a spin off to Applebees recipes. I would call this an Applebee’s copycat recipe. Your whole family will love this Mac and cheese honey chicken!

Ingredients For Mac and Cheese Honey Chicken

Chicken Tenders- You can certainly use different types of chicken, such as chicken breasts, chicken strips, and boneless chicken thighs! The chicken tenders are perfect for cutting into bite-sized pieces and are very kid-friendly in this honey pepper chicken mac.

Flour Mixture- this is to help get those chicken tenders nice and crispy. The perfect combination with the Mac cheese sauce. The seasoned flour mixture is a game changer but there is also other great alternative ways that you can use.

Pasta-I used the rigatoni noodles to add a fun and creative twist. This choice of pasta is also great for soaking up all of the cheese in this recipe.

Cheese-I used shredded cheese in this recipe for the sake of time but I will definitely recommend freshly grated cheese.

Seasonings- salt, black pepper, garlic powder, cloves garlic,

Honey- the honey pepper sauce ingredients include the honey and is a major part of the recipe. I used about 1 cup honey.

Heavy Cream- this aid in thickening up the sauce.

Honey Sauce- the sauce that goes on this Mac and cheese honey chicken has a few simple ingredients that you need to mix together. Honey, pineapple juice, soy sauce, lemon juice, vinegar, and brown sugar.

As always you can find all of the nutritional information, calorie counts, and the full recipe in the recipe card below.

How To Make Mac and Cheese Honey Chicken

This is a 3 part recipe that is still fairly simple to recreate.

Mac and Cheese Instructions

Boil your noodles according to the package directions. Drain and sit to the side.

To a medium-high skillet add butter and buttermilk. Next, whisk in your cheese and seasonings, then allow to melt.

Place your drained pasta into a baking dish. Add in your cheese sauce and stir well.

Top with shredded cheese and place in your preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Honey Chicken Instructions

To a bowl add in your cleaned and patted dry chicken.

Next, to a bowl add your buttermilk and egg then mix well. Add your cleaned chicken to the bowl.

Flour Mixture- add all purpose flour to a bowl, garlic powder, creole seasoning, paprika, salt and pepper. Mix together well. Add the chicken to the mixture.

Add the chicken into a pan of hot oil of 350 degrees F. Allow to cook until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees.

Honey Chicken Sauce

To a medium low skillet add Honey, pineapple juice, soy sauce, lemon juice, vinegar, and brown sugar. Still well and bring to a low boil. Add chicken tenders to mac and cheese, next drizzle sauce over the top of your chicken tenders and enjoy!

Variations/Substitutions

Cajun style Mac and cheese- add a ton of New Orleans Cajun style seasoning to give your Mac and cheese the ultimate spicy experience!

Slices Bacon- thick slices of bacon will do the trick for this chicken Mac and cheese recipe.

Equipment For Mac and Cheese Honey Chicken

Deep Fryer

Large Bowl

Dutch Oven/Large Skillet

Storage

You want to make sure you are storing in an airtight container or a ziplock bag.

In Conclusion

This mac and cheese honey chicken is the perfect sweet and savory food for you to enjoy. It’s extremely hearty and packed with a ton of protein. The creamy sauce and pasta complements the honey chicken without trying. Make this and let your tastebuds run wild!