Give Fried Chicken Sandwiches 10X The Flavor With One Sweet And Spicy Aldi Find

Hot and crisp, a fillet of breaded and fried chicken tucked in the middle of a soft bun is the kind of dish that rarely disappoints. The restaurant industry is well aware of this, with fast food chains constantly vying to come out at the top of the ever-evolving chicken sandwich wars. Little do they know, however, that home cooks with access to an Aldi have everything they need to one-up that quick-service competition. An 18-ounce bottle of Burman's Honey Sriracha Hot Sauce only costs about $3.55 (depending on exactly where you shop), and the flavor it gives to fried chicken sandwiches is nothing short of phenomenal.

This private-label offering is a sweeter take on the Southeast Asian hot sauce that has been the darling of the internet for years, balancing the heat of ripe red jalapeño peppers with honey. Sriracha has always been a hot sauce on the sweeter side of the spectrum, but using honey as the sweetener imbues the sauce with delicate aromas that make it a dynamic sweet-heat condiment for a crisp, savory piece of chicken.

There are countless recipes out there for homemade sriracha and honey glazes — often intended to be brushed over the chicken once it's fried — but a single bold Aldi condiment lends you these flavors labor-free. Instead of needing to mix it up yourself, you can just pop the cap and squirt on as much as you like right onto that finished sandwich.

A good chicken sandwich is about more than just the sauce. Fortunately, this grocery chain delivers the goods for the rest of the dish as well, starting with the protein. Aldi's fan-favorite red bag chicken is an ideal canvas, and the fully cooked breaded chicken breast fillets need only be pulled from the freezer and warmed before they are ready for the sauce.

Working outward from the center of the sandwich, the next step is the toppings. With the chicken and sauce both sorted, the decisions get a bit more personal. The honey-sriracha chicken has components that cover spicy, sweet, and savory, but it's begging for something tangy to cut through the richness. Pick your favorite type of pickle and pack a few of those in.

Aside from good bread — like the Specially Selected Brioche Buns — the only other thing an excellent chicken sandwich might need is something to help balance out the spiciness of the honey sriracha sauce. For this, nothing beats a creamy coleslaw. Aldi does sell premade slaw, as well as shredded coleslaw mix that only needs to be sauced. If you're not a fan of mayo-based slaw and want to double down on fiery flavors, a few spoonfuls of spicy chili crisp coleslaw on top is just the finish this sandwich needs. Or you could swap out that chili crisp for a bit more of the Burman's Honey Sriracha Hot Sauce, keeping the flavors cohesive and ensuring plenty of sweet heat in every bite.