Chicken and waffles are beloved southern soul food, with each state offering a variant they often serve as a breakfast meal. Each component – fried chicken and golden brown waffles – offers delicious flavors and crisp textures. Moreover, the duo makes a satisfying and energizing combination; thus, truly the best morning treat!
As complete as they seem, chicken and waffles still have room for other simple treats, like syrups and butter. However, they must be well-chosen. Read this article to find out what to serve with chicken and waffles, so the tasty sides don’t overwhelm the main dish.
1. Butter Maple Syrup
Breakfast foods like pancakes and waffles are often served with butter and drizzled with maple syrup. These additions provide sweetness and much-needed moisture to the meal. But if you want to switch things up just a bit, you can add butter to the syrup, so you don’t have to spread the former separately. Making homemade butter maple syrup is so effortless that it takes only 15 minutes!
2. Homemade Spicy Maple Syrup
Don’t start your day with just sunshine. Instead, fire it up with chicken and waffles drowning in homemade spicy maple syrup! Yes, spicy maple syrup, so you get both sweet and spicy in one bottle. Moreover, it’s not just a flat spiciness because the maple syrup is combined with cayenne pepper and paprika, providing unique smoky flavors, and salt, cutting through the richness.
3. Homemade Gravy
If you don’t have a sweet tooth, don’t worry; you don’t have to serve your chicken and waffles with maple syrup, honey, or other sweet ingredients. Instead, lean towards savory flavors by swapping those sauces for this homemade gravy. Before you think making gravy from scratch is hard, note that this recipe doesn’t call for drippings. Instead, you’ll need chicken and beef broth cubes for flavor, making this version effortlessly delicious.
4. Cinnamon Honey Butter
Try spreading butter on your waffles as you do with pancakes and toast! But instead of going for plain butter, opt for this cinnamon honey butter. It smells phenomenal, is perfectly sweet, and tastes more complex, so it’s a bit of pizzazz to your simple meal. Moreover, the butter is whipped, so it comes light, fluffy, and thick, making it more satisfying to slather some onto your waffles.
5. Bacon
What’s a breakfast with no bacon, right? So don’t hesitate to add a few cooked pieces to your chicken and waffles! Don’t worry; they won’t feel too dense with the chicken because these bacon slices are less oily yet very crispy, as they’re baked instead of fried. Moreover, you don’t need a whole pound; just a few to add more flavor, meatiness, and fun to your meal.
6. Homemade Breakfast Sausage
An alternative breakfast meat to bacon is breakfast sausage! It’s also flavorful and savory but has juicy and tender textures, complementing the crispiness of chicken and waffles. While there are a ton of pre-made sausages on the market, making yours homemade allows you to pick the herbs. It also lets you adjust the ratios and perfect the recipe according to your taste.
7. Hash Browns
Can’t you get enough crispiness from your breakfast? Then grate some potatoes because you’ll make hash browns, another delicious morning meal classic. Like waffles, it has a crispy and crunchy exterior, contrasted by a tender, flavorful interior. The key is using starchy, russet potatoes so no extra moisture prevents the hash brown edges from crisping up how you want them to.
8. Southern Cheese Grits
With dishes like chicken and waffles, it’s an excellent idea to introduce creamy textures and flavors to contrast the crunchy textures they provide. Moreover, such creaminess is a way to incorporate moisture into the meal. With that, include southern cheese grits for your breakfast! It’s an amazingly heartwarming affair because every spoonful of these cheesy and buttery grits tastes like home.
9. Sweet Potato Casserole
Although chicken and waffles are a popular way to start the day, that’s not the only time you can eat them. You can have such a combo for lunch, dinner, or even snack time served with sweet potato casserole. Moreover, this casserole is as versatile as chicken and waffles because it tastes like a dessert and a side dish. Thus, you’re hitting two birds with one stone!
10. Corn on the Cob In The Oven
The perfect corn on the cob is a shining yellow, is incredibly juicy, and has tender kernels; coating it with butter only seals the deal. Such a treat is what you need to bring brightness to your chicken and waffles meal. Also, it takes minimal effort to make, as you’ll only have to wait for the butter-covered cobs to come out of the oven warm and smell phenomenal.
11. Collard Greens
If you’re from the south, you’ll know that pairing it with collard greens is an excellent way to bring freshness and nutrients to your meal. These leafy veggies contain protein, water, vitamins, carbs, and other essential nutrients. Aside from the health benefits, this recipe tenderizes and loads collard greens with fantastic flavor from the bacon fat, spices, chili pepper flakes, and other tasty ingredients.
12. Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Mashed recipes of potatoes and sweet potatoes are highly recommended side dishes to chicken and waffles. However, if you want a standout side dish, choose the latter. Firstly, the bright orange shade of these mashed sweet potatoes is more eye-catching. Moreover, the sweet butteriness of this dish is classic with the entree but presented in a novel and unique way.
13. French Fries
As hinted, chicken and waffles can be a great snack, so try it out. When you do, have this classic snack treat on the side: crisp-tender French fries. You can deep-fry them, as is the traditional way, or air-fry and bake them for less oiliness. Then, serve with a sauce, like ketchup. You can also dip it into what you have with your waffles, such as syrup or gravy.
