The Key To Making Chicken Biscuits That Rival Your Favorite Fast Food

Whether fast-food devotees or folks enjoying occasional quick-meal splurges, few can resist the drive-thru siren song of tasty chicken biscuits. Many chain-style eateries offer them, some with regional twists, and typically only for breakfast. But what if the craving hits for lunch, dinner, or late-night snacking? We have a solution for that, and it rivals even your favorite fast-food chicken biscuit. In fact, you may find that it exceeds expectations, since it involves the renowned Kentucky Derby.

For the 151st Run for the Roses event, Chef and Content Creator Joshua Weissman created the official Kentucky Derby At-Home Menu for fans to recreate Derby-approved recipes at home for their own celebrations, including his deeply Southern-style Honey Butter Chicken Biscuits. Joshua's insights bypass the usual debate over chicken-frying techniques, instead focusing on prepping the chicken and maximizing that luscious, dripping crown of honey butter. The recipe calls for boneless, skinless chicken breasts, an obvious choice for biting into a golden, crunchy biscuit. But Joshua offers a tip you may not have considered.

"Use high-quality chicken and make sure you put in more salt than you think," he says. "Most fried chicken sucks because there isn't enough salt. Spices don't matter if you don't salt it enough." As for the biscuits, we asked whether he has a recommendation for home cooks wanting to shortcut with store-bought biscuits. This chef gets right to the point: "Yes, don't." In other words, always make biscuits from scratch. Fair enough, given his detailed instructions for making the Kentucky Derby-approved Honey Butter Chicken Biscuits.

Versions of chicken biscuits abound, but arguably the best ones are rooted in Deep South recipes. In that vein, the Kentucky Derby At Home Menu created by Joshua Weissman describes the exclusive menu as being "filled with modern twists on classic Southern favorites." That definitely includes the Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit, which takes the first slot on the official online recipe menu. It's described as a Southern showstopper that's sweet, spicy, and perfectly crispy, starring a spicy buttermilk marinade, a warm buttermilk biscuit, and of course, the defining namesake honey butter. 

Though plenty of breakfast sandwich hacks involve biscuits, a crucial part of this chicken, honey, and biscuit trio is the buttermilk. Not only does it serve as a marinade for the chicken, but it also goes into the biscuits themselves. After mixing the dry ingredients and pulsing in cubes of extremely cold butter, the buttermilk gets slowly streamed into the bowl. You'll also brush the tops of the cut biscuit dough with buttermilk before popping them into the oven.

Now for the crowning glory of this Derby-sanctioned recipe for Honey Butter Chicken Biscuits: the honey butter itself. Chef Joshua Weissman's exclusive creation involves wildflower honey and optional avocado honey, fresh sage leaves, and salted butter. Though a relatively unusual ingredient for everyday cooking, the optional avocado honey could be worth pursuing, given the extra smoothness and bold buttery flavor it brings to the recipe. Rather than being honey mixed with avocado flesh or oil, this type of honey actually comes from bees that pollinate the white flowers of avocado trees. When mixed with sage and wildflower honey in this recipe, it's a taste you're unlikely to experience elsewhere. 

To create this honey butter, a lot of constant whisking occurs over three stages — first when combining and heating the two honeys on your stovetop, second when whisking in the sage leaves, and finally as the butter joins the pot for full emulsification into a smooth, thickened honey butter. As for when that gets incorporated into the grand finale, Joshua reveals that "It's just a simple drizzle on top before you close up the sandwich, or keep it in a ramekin to the side to enjoy a luscious dip for every bite."

Honey Butter Chicken Biscuits aren't the only Derby dish going on. All of Joshua's recipes are available on the Kentucky Derby website, and readers can learn more about at-home recipes and cocktails, and other at-home party tips, on the site as well.