This Nostalgic Snack Makes The Most Flavorful Chicken Strips You've Ever Had

The internet has brought us video entertainment and one-click purchasing, but we love it most for all the unique recipes and cooking hacks we've found. From viral cocktail recipes to tricks for opening crab legs, there's culinary enlightenment across the web.

It's where we learned that your grandmother's basic panko-breaded chicken cutlets are delicious, but they're not the finish line — the crunch on your chicken strips can go beyond the basics. You may have seen creative cooks using crushed pretzels, potato chips, cereal, or even falafel mix to coat chicken for crispiness and extra flavor.

Now imagine Flamin' Hot Cheetos. They're salty, fiery, tangy, and packed with umami flavor. Could you use regular Cheetos to bread your chicken strips? Of course. You'd wind up with some seriously cheesy chicken. But the Flamin' Hot variety adds a jolt of spice and a whole 'nother level of depth to the flavor of your chicken strips. It earns bonus points for uniqueness, but also for combining two great munchies for the ultimate snack: chicken tenders plus our favorite gas station chip? Sign us up!

As anyone who has ever breaded and fried chicken cutlets or strips will tell you, there are steps to follow to bread chicken correctly. "Correctly," as in: The coating covers all of the chicken, stays stuck during cooking, and comes out good and crunchy. Here's how to replicate this process with Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

Crush the Cheetos very small (too big, and they might not stick). Use a food processor, or go old school and release some pent-up energy on the Cheetos bag with a rolling pin. Typically, when breading chicken, you'd set up a dredging station with flour and egg. Stick with beaten egg, but try adding a scoop of mayo for even more stickiness, moisture, and flavor. Coat the chicken in your wet mixture before rolling it around in the Cheeto dust, pressing firmly to help it adhere. Bake the strips on a wire rack set over a sheet tray, or cook them in the air fryer. Try spraying them with oil before cooking to get the outside as crispy as possible. Since they're strips, they shouldn't take more than about 15 minutes to cook.

Altogether, this simple yet wow-worthy meal comes together in half an hour or less. Serve with some restaurant-worthy homemade buttermilk ranch for dunking. The creamy ranch rounds out the cheesy flavor, softens the heat, and adds juiciness all around. Or, throw the strips into a salad, layer them on a sandwich, or pile them over mac and cheese for extra zing. Lunch, dinner, or late-night indulgence, these zesty, neon red chicken strips are worth a try!