These hot honey BBQ chicken strips are sweet, spicy, and packed with bold, smoky flavor. Chicken strips are coated in a zesty blend of spicy seasonings, hot honey, and barbecue sauce then smoked to tender, juicy perfection, infused with a smoky flavor.
You can never go wrong with a good chicken recipe. This versatile protein has a mild flavor that pairs well with a variety of flavors and textures, from classic dishes like homemade chicken nuggets to zesty, hand-held meals like a chipotle ranch grilled chicken burrito.
Almost from the time I went to college, I appreciated the flavor and versatility of chicken, and becoming a mom really drove home how easy it made meal preparation.
These days, I’ve gotten more creative with my cooking. Since it’s just me and my guy, I can use more creative flavors because we’ll both eat anything! Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of smoking, making recipes like these smoked jalapeno popper chicken bombs.
Now, I’ve added another delicious smoked chicken recipe to my menu with these hot honey BBQ chicken strips. They’re full of sweet, spicy flavor with an infusion of smoke that really makes them pop.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple Ingredients: This recipe utilizes basic ingredients, such as chicken strips, spices, and BBQ sauce, commonly found in any grocery store.
- Easy: All you have to do is coat the chicken and smoke it until it’s smoky and delicious.
- Customizable: It’s easy to change up the flavors to create different variations of this recipe.
- Sweet and Spicy: The hot honey combined with a blend of garlic salt, Cajun seasoning, red pepper flakes, and a few other spices creates a sweet, spicy, bold flavor.
- So Tender and Juicy: Smoking the chicken makes it incredibly tender and juicy and infuses it with even more flavor.
Ingredients
See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for a full list of ingredients and their exact amounts.
Variations
- Chicken: This recipe can be made with chicken thighs, turkey tenders, beef strips, or pork strips.
- Mild: Omit the red pepper flakes and use honey in place of hot honey for a mild version of this recipe.
- Bacon: Wrap these in bacon for delicious smoked bacon wrapped chicken strips.
- BBQ Sauce: Use your favorite BBQ sauce for this recipe. They all add their own unique flavor to the chicken strips.
How to Make Hot Honey BBQ Chicken Strips
Step 1: Place two long pieces of foil lengthwise over a baking sheet. Then, spread a layer of BBQ sauce on the foil where the strips will be placed.
Step 2: Coat the chicken strips in the seasoning and place them on the BBQ sauce.
Step 3: Pour the hot honey and BBQ sauce over the chicken and add pats of butter randomly over the chicken.
Step 4: Enclose the chicken with one piece of foil. Then, wrap the second piece of foil around it, as well.
Step 5: Smoke the chicken at 275°F for about an hour.
Step 6: Open up the foil.
Step 7: Remove the chicken from the foil and place it directly on the grill. Brush the chicken with additional BBQ sauce, increase the heat, and continue smoking at 400°F until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
Step 8: Finally, remove the chicken strips from the grill, place on a serving tray, and enjoy!
Tips
- Never touch anything after handling raw chicken until you’ve thoroughly washed your hands to avoid cross-contamination.
- It’s important to use two pieces of foil. This ensures the steam, moisture, and sauce remain inside the packet where they belong.
- Heavy-duty foil works best for this recipe. Its thickness ensures it won’t tear as you fold it and wrap the chicken.
Hot Honey BBQ Chicken Strips FAQ
Making hot honey BBQ sauce is incredibly easy. Simply use 1 ½ cups of BBQ sauce and ½ cup of hot honey.
Apply BBQ sauce to chicken both before and after cooking. The initial application of sauce infuses the chicken with flavor, while adding it at the end of cooking adds even more flavor and gives the chicken a caramelized exterior.
To get a nicely caramelized exterior on barbecued chicken, brush it with extra sauce about 20 to 30 minutes before you’ve finished smoking it or about 10 minutes before you’ve finished grilling it. Allow the sauce to caramelize on one side, then flip the chicken so the other side can caramelize.
More Robust Smoked Recipes
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Hot Honey BBQ Chicken Strips
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless chicken strips
- 1 ½ cups BBQ sauce, divided
- ½ cup hot honey
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons Slap Ya Mama seasoning
- 2 tablespoons granulated garlic
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the smoker to 275 degrees.
- Take two long pieces of aluminum foil and place them lengthwise over a baking sheet.
- Spread a layer of BBQ sauce on the foil where the chicken strips will be placed.
- In a small bowl, mix all the seasonings together.
- Coat each chicken strip into the seasonings coating all sides.
- Place on top of the BBQ sauce.
- Pour the hot honey and more BBQ sauce over the strips and add pads of butter randomly over the chicken.
- Fold up one piece of foil first, enclosing the chicken. Next, do the same thing with the second piece of foil.
- Place back on the baking sheet and place in the smoker.
- Smoke chicken for 1 hour then remove the baking sheet off the grill.
- Carefully open the foil packs, and using tongs, place chicken strips directly on the grill of the smoker, turn the smoker to 400 degrees, and brush with BBQ sauce.
- Smoke for another 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
Notes
- Refrigerate for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
- Freeze for up to 3 months in an airtight, freezer-safe container or heavy-duty freezer bag with as much air removed as possible.
- Defrost overnight in the fridge if frozen. Then, microwave at 1-minute intervals until heated through.
- Never touch anything after handling raw chicken until you’ve thoroughly washed your hands to avoid cross-contamination.
- It’s important to use two pieces of foil. This ensures the steam, moisture, and sauce remain inside the packet where they belong.
- Heavy-duty foil works best for this recipe. Its thickness ensures it won’t tear as you fold it and wrap the chicken.
Nutrition
