Flamin’ Hot “Cheetos” Chicken…what??!!!

How did I ever imagine a Flamin’ Hot “Cheetos” recipe…especially since Cheetos aren’t Kosher?? Combining a dairy snack with chicken…definitely not Kosher!

A little while back Dear Husband and I were blessed with a new grandson (KIH – Thank G-d!) in Pittsburgh and, in order to minimize the hectic chaos that always comes with a new baby and bris ceremony, we stayed at a local hotel.  

I don’t know about you, but when I stay at a hotel at the end of they day I watch TV.  Can you guess what I watch?

Anyway, there were about a million commercials for Applebee’s Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Boneless Chicken Wings.

A lot.

They looked incredible.

I knew I had to come up with a way to make them.

I wanted to make Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Chicken but…

I’ve often talked about the fact that as a child I learned that in order to really fulfill a Mitzvah (Biblical Commandment) like keeping Kosher, you should want to eat non-Kosher foods – but specifically and intentionally not eat the non-Kosher food. 

So… for example.  Shell fish does not look remotely appealing to me.  

Clams, oysters, lobster, snails…

NOPE.  NOT HAPPENING.

So, while of course I’m fulfilling the mitzvah of keeping Kosher, it’s kind of by default.  I don’t have to really do anything to not eat non-kosher seafood…it doesn’t even appeal to me.

However, flash a cheeseburger or pepperoni pizza in front of me and I am REALLY fulfilling the mitzvah of keeping Kosher.

When I saw the commercial for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Boneless Chicken Wings I was keeping Kosher to the max.

Developing a Kosher version of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Boneless Wings

The first thing I did was go back online and watch the commercial over and over again.  

Seriously.

I wanted to see/hear the description of the original and then try to duplicate it.  

Then next thing I did was go online and see if anyone else had come up with recipes for the non-kosher wings.  I found a few recipes, which combined together helped me to come up with my own base recipe.

Next, I had to find Dairy Free and Kosher ingredients.

I needed to replace the Cheetos with something Cheetos-like.

As a person who generally doesn’t eat dairy, I had some ideas.  

Replacing the Dairy Cheetos with a Non-Dairy Cheetos-like Snack

There were two products that I suspected would work.  I wanted them to be easily accessible to anyone.  Coming up with a weird only-available-in-Chicago product wouldn’t work.

The first product I decided to try was Hippeas Sriracha Sunshine.

 

Hippeas are a gluten free, dairy free Cheetos-like snack made from chickpeas.  

No, they are not sponsoring this post.

(But…I am using affiliate links so…)

I’ve eaten them before and have spent time talking with the brand representatives at food trade shows.  They’re good food.

The second product I tried was Kitov Cheese Curls

Ironically Kitov Cheese Curls contain absolutely no cheese.  They’re Pareve.

The Kitov Cheese Curls are a bright neon orange (kind of like the real Cheetos).  They are the perfect absolutely-no-nutritional-value cheese-like snack.  They’re crunchy and salty and have a cheesyish flavor.  

They’re just not spicy.

And… you’d probably have to get them at your local Kosher grocery store.

How I made my Flamin’ Hot “Cheetos” Chicken

I ended up making two versions of the recipe.  One fried and spicy – like the Applebee’s Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Boneless Wings, and the second – baked and not spicy.

Let’s talk about the Flamin’ Hot “Cheetos” Chicken Dairy and Gluten Free

I ground up a bag of Sriracha Sunshine Hippeas for the initial boneless wing recipe and did my usual triple coating method, adding some chili oil to the dipping eggs. 

I was trying to add maximum spiciness to these boneless wings.

Then I fried them in hot peanut oil for maximum crispiness.  

What’s the best way to add even more spiciness to something?  Add some Frank’s Red Hot Sauce!

I made a glaze with the hot sauce, some honey and a little oil.  I poured that over the crispy chicken and baked it.  

If you watch the commercial, they put a saucy glaze over the chicken then they re-dust it with more Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.  

I ground up another bag of Sriracha Sunshine Hippeas and dusted the saucy chicken with it, putting it in the oven to crisp after.

Perfect!

The Flamin’ “Cheetos” Chicken – Gluten and Dairy Free Winner

I was extremely happy with the way the ground Sriracha Sunshine Hippeas as a coating.  It came out sufficiently spicy, and adding a dairy-free ranch dipping sauce completed the whole experience.

 

Here’s the Recipe

I spent a lot of time debating whether to put both recipes in this post.  For the sake of keeping this readable and not too long, I’m going to do another in the future.  Let’s just say the baked version, while a completely unnatural color, is also really really good.  Here’s a picture to entice you for the future:

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More Chicken Recipes for the Flexitarian or Reducetarian 

• Sumac Chicken with Baby Eggplant
• Buffalo Hummus Chicken
• Ranch Almond Chicken
• Pineapple Chicken Stir Fry and Chicken Strips
• “Parmesan” Chicken
• Mushroom Teriyaki Chicken

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