Chicken and Waffles: Two Great Tastes That Go Great Together!
“You got waffle on my chicken!” “You got chicken on my waffle!”
I really think it had to start that way. Surely no one intentionally put fried chicken on top of a waffle. Well, surely no one sober. But whoever it was and whatever their state of mind, they were blessed with a moment of genius. It sounds so bad, but it tastes soooooo good!
The Squad has looked all over Memphis for somewhere that serves chicken and waffles. Papa and I thought we had struck gold when we saw it on the menu at Alcenia’s, but that didn’t turn out so well. Apparently, that’s just not considered Memphis food. Fine then. So we made our own with a little help from John T. Edge.
In Fried Chicken, John T. devotes a whole chapter to chicken and waffles and ends with some nice recipes for both components. While we used his recipes as guidelines, we made some modifications of our own. Here are our versions. Enjoy!

Chicken and Waffles
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 4 chicken legs
- 4 chicken thighs
- 1 qt buttermilk
- 1/4 cup hot sauce
- 3 c all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- peanut oil
For the Waffles:
- 2 cups Bisquick
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup corn meal
Instructions
For the Chicken:
- Place washed chicken pieces in a large non-reactive bowl, spacing as much as possible. Pour hot sauce (we used Scorned Woman) evenly over chicken. Cover with buttermilk. Refrigerate and allow to soak overnight (or 2 nights if your plans change).
- Mix flour, salt and peppers in a wide shallow container.
- Take a chicken piece from the buttermilk. Allow excess to drip off. Roll in seasoned flour, making sure that chicken is coated thoroughly. Move to a wire rack to allow coating to dry and adhere. Repeat with remaining pieces.
- While chicken is resting, pour peanut oil in a large deep pan (we recommend a cast iron dutch oven) to a depth of 3 inches. Heat oil to 325 degrees. Turn on oven to lowest setting.
- Working in batches, fry chicken for 12 to 15 minutes. Do not crowd chicken in the pan. Transfer to a wire rack on a baking sheet in the low heat oven to keep warm. Allow oil temperature to recover before frying next batch.
For the Waffles:
- Blend all ingredients and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
- Cook according to waffle maker directions.
- Keep waffles on plate in warm oven until chicken is ready.
To Eat:
- Put a waffle on a plate and top with your choice of syrup. Top the waffle with a piece of chicken. Spear a bite of chicken on a bite of waffle with syrup. Place in mouth. Close eyes and savor the flavor.
- Mmmmmmm....