Healthy Chicken Waffle Sandwich

We eat a lot of homemade waffles and as my family grew from 2 to 4 waffle eaters in that 25 year span, I often fantasized about a shiny new 4 iron waffle maker... When I told my daughter that, she drew me this picture 💓

I used to LOVE going to garage sales, especially in my starving student days. It was partially the thrill of the hunt- never knowing what I would find and the satisfaction of getting a good deal. Plus, I needed a lot of stuff and I needed it cheap. But since I no longer need  a lot of stuff. In fact, quite the opposite. So, I had my own garage sale about 3 years ago, hoping to get rid of stuff. It was not fun being on the other side.

In fact, it was 6+ hours of my life I will never get back.

At least the kids had a good time.

🥘Ingredients

Plus, it still made waffles excellent enough to win a cooking contest (2015's Maple Lodge Farms Family Recipe Challenge)! But that's also because this is not your typical chicken and waffles recipe. It's a healthier version that uses low-fat chicken breakfast strips (instead of fried chicken) and it's both sweet and savory, with a little zip of spice. It can be served as a breakfast, brunch or even breakfast for dinner. If you are pressed for time, store-bought waffles can be substituted for homemade. It's the perfect breakfast waffle sandwich! For this spicy chicken waffle sandwich, you'll need:

• whole wheat flour
• all-purpose flour
• baking powder
• salt
• white sugar
• milk * I use 1%
• orange *the juice and zest
• vegetable oil
• eggs
• maple syrup * I use low-sugar
• breakfast chicken strips -original flavor * I used Halal chicken strips, as that was required for the contest, but any chicken or turkey bacon can be substituted
• fresh strawberries
• whipped cream
• strawberry jam * I use reduced sugar
• red chili dip/spread

🌡️Storage

You can make both the waffles and the chicken bacon in advance. You can refrigerate for a day or two, but if it's going to be longer, I would freeze them, as the waffles stay fresher. If you have leftovers, the sauce, strawberries, chicken and waffles should all be stored in separate containers in the fridge for up to 2 days.

👪 Serving Size

This recipe makes 4 chicken waffle sandwiches. However, you can half, double or triple the recipe by clicking on the blue serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust.

📖 Variations & Substitutions

• Waffles: f you don't have time to make these homemade waffles, then use store-bought waffles
• Chicken Bacon: you can use turkey bacon instead of chicken bacon. You could also replace the chicken bacon with cooked chicken breast strips/fillets
• Jam: you can substitute raspberry or mixed berry
• Spice: if you don't like the spicy element and want to mellow it, then skip the chili dip/spread or us less.  Of course, if you like it, then add as much as you like! Or you could use a different hot sauce.
• Low-carb: You can make low-carb by using Chaffles instead of waffles

🎥🍓Video: How to hull strawberries

If you're not sure how to hull a strawberry, then check out this video: How to hull a strawberry.

🍽 Equipment

You'll want to use a waffle maker for this chicken waffle sandwich and preferably a Belgian waffle maker. (affiliate link).This is the one I plan on buying when mine finally dies. However, it will also work with a regular waffle maker. Or simply use store-bought waffles.