I made this Flamin' Hot Cheetos fried chicken one day, when I thought, I use Flamin’ Hot Cheetos to bread fried pickles and onion rings, so why not fried chicken? They lose a lot of heat during the process, so don't skip the cayenne pepper.

Ingredients

  • 6 cups cheese puffs, such as cheetos® crunchy flamin’ hot® cheese flavored snacks
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 pound chicken breast tenderloins (about 8 pieces)
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions

  1. Place Cheetos in a blender and pulse until fine crumbs. Pour crumbs into a 1-gallon resealable plastic bag. Add cayenne and salt. Seal the bag and shake to combine.
  2. Place chicken tenders in a 1-quart resealable plastic bag. Add mayonnaise. Seal the bag and massage chicken in mayonnaise until evenly coated.
  3. Transfer 2 chicken tenders from their bag to the bag with Cheeto crumbs. Seal the bag and shake until evenly coated. Place tenders on a plate. Repeat with remaining tenders.
  4. Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add breaded chicken tenders in a single layer and cook for 6 minutes. Using a spatula, flip tenders over and cook until tenders are no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 6 minutes more. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).