Hot Honey Buffalo Chicken Subs
These Hot Honey Buffalo Chicken Subs are delicious and loaded with flavor. The subs are stuffed with saucy grilled chicken, melty pepperjack cheese, and a slaw tossed in a homemade ranch dressing. All the ingredients are stuffed inside of a homemade sub roll. You can choose to grill the sub roll for extra flavor and crispness. Every bite is mouthwatering delicious. These subs save well for your summer picnic, or you can eat them right away.
What better way to welcome summer than with my summer picnic series! I decided to do something fun this summer, and create a summer picnic series, where I will be sharing tasty handheld foods, and inspire you to enjoy getting in the kitchen. Afterall that is the meaning behind my name – Simple Baking with Pep. Pep means energy and liveliness and I hope to inspire you to cook and bake with a renewed enthusiasm. Okay, okay, and Pep also is the name we call my cat, Peppermint. So Pep has a double meaning.
Today we’re making a hot honey buffalo chicken sub. The homemade sub rolls are soft and chewy and only require one rise time. I like to stuff these subs with pepperjack cheese, grilled buffalo chicken, extra hot honey buffalo sauce, and slaw. The hot honey buffalo sauce is made with hot sauce and a mixture of herbs, spices and hot honey. Trust me, it’s delicious, and you can customize how hot you want the sauce by using a more mild or hotter hot sauce. Alright, let’s get started!
The details
Make the Sub Rolls
You will begin making these Hot Honey Buffalo Chicken Subs with the homemade sub rolls. Of course, you can always use store bought rolls if you’re short on time, but if you have the time, I highly suggest making your own sub rolls. It’s fun, plus you can’t beat the taste of fresh homemade sub rolls.
These sub rolls come together quickly and only require one rise time. Add all the ingredients for the sub rolls to your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, then knead the dough on medium speed for 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, then spray the top of the dough with nonstick cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap. This dough only takes 25 minutes to rise at room temperature.
shaping and baking the rolls
Once the sub rolls are done rising, punch the dough down and turn out onto a floured surface. Divide the dough into 4 pieces, then shape each into an 8-inch log. Place the shaped dough on a piece of parchment paper and cover with plastic wrap.
These rolls don’t need a formal second rise, but I like to place the sheet tray on top of the oven as it preheats. This allows the rolls a 15-ish minute rest/rise time in a warm place.
Before baking the rolls, brush the rolls with a beaten egg, then bake in oven for 15-20 minutes.
Make the Hot Honey Buffalo Chicken
The next thing you’ll make is the hot honey buffalo chicken. The chicken marinates in a hot honey buffalo sauce for 15 minutes, then is grilled until the internal temperature reaches 165F.
When making the chicken, make sure you reserve some of the hot honey buffalo sauce to use when serving the subs. It adds a delicious spicy kick when you serve the subs.
grill the chicken
Once the chicken is done marinating, preheat your grill to medium high. Lightly oil the grates. Place chicken on grill and grill for 5-6 minutes, until grill marks appear. Flip chicken and cook additional 5-6 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165F.
Remove chicken and place on clean plate. Cover with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes, before cutting into it. This will help to achieve juicy chicken.
Make the Slaw
The slaw for these subs consists of red and purple cabbage and finely shredded carrots. I found a mix at the store with precut cabbage and carrots that I used to make these subs. Certainly you can buy these ingredients fresh and chop them yourself.
The slaw is tossed with plenty of ranch dressing to add a nice creamy touch to the sub, which also helps to cool your mouth down from the hot sauce :).
making the ranch dressing
The ranch dressing is simple to make. You literally add all ingredients to the bowl and mix. The beauty of the ranch dressing is that measurements don’t have to be exactly perfect. Add a touch more garlic powder, or a hint more fresh dill to customize to your own taste preference.
Once you make the ranch dressing, add the slaw and toss to combine.
Assemble the Subs
I like to grill the sub rolls before assembling these Hot Honey Buffalo Chicken Subs. It adds flavor to the subs and adds crispness to the sub rolls.
Once the rolls are sliced, grilled and ready, add pepperjack cheese, buffalo chicken, the reserved hot honey buffalo sauce and slaw. Place the top bun on top and serve immediately, or wrap up, store in the fridge and save for your summer picnic later :).
If you’re looking for more summer picnic ideas, here are a few I think you’d like.
summer picnic recipes
Let me know what you thought!
If you make these Hot Honey Buffalo Chicken Subs, let me know what you thought in the ratings and comments below. I always appreciate your feedback, as it helps me improve my recipes for you. Find me on instagram @simplebakingwithpep for the full video for these Hot Honey Buffalo Chicken Subs in my Summer Picnic Series. You can also catch some other fun behind the scenes, and stay up to date on all my latest recipes.
You can also find me on youtube and facebook.
Make sure you tag me @simplebakingwithpep in your summer picnic when you make these subs :).
Print
Hot Honey Buffalo Chicken Subs
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 subs 1x
Description
These Hot Honey Buffalo Chicken Subs are delicious and loaded with flavor. The subs are stuffed with saucy grilled chicken, melty pepperjack cheese, and a slaw tossed in a homemade ranch dressing. All the ingredients are stuffed inside of a homemade sub roll. You can choose to grill the sub roll for extra flavor and crispness. Every bite is mouthwatering delicious. These subs save well for your summer picnic, or you can eat them right away.
Ingredients
Sub Rolls
- 1 cup water, warmed to 110F
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
Chicken
- 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Buffalo Chicken Marinade and glaze
- 1/4 cup hot sauce
- 1/4 cup buffalo sauce
- 3 tablespoons hot honey
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 3/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
Slaw
- 3/4 cup ranch dressing
- 10 ounces vegetable slaw (green and purple cabbage, carrots)
Homemade ranch
- 2/3 cup sour cream or greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup mixed fresh herbs (parsley, dill, chives)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt and pepper to taste
Toppings
- Reserved marinade
- Pepperjack cheese
Instructions
Sub Rolls:
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add all ingredients for homemade sub rolls. Mix until a dough ball forms at low speed, then mix for 5 minutes at medium speed. Add dough to lightly greased bowl. Lightly spray the top of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 25 minutes.
2. Punch dough down and turn out onto lightly floured surface. Cut into 4 equal pieces of dough. Roll into an 8-inch log. Place on parchment paper lined sheet pan. Flatten rolls slightly with hand (this will help the rolls be wider). Cover rolls with plastic wrap.
3. Allow rolls to rise while the oven preheats.
4. Turn oven on to 400F.
5. Once the oven reaches this temperature, brush the rolls with egg wash, then place the rolls in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown in color. Remove from oven and allow to fully cool, before slicing.
Buffalo Chicken:
1. In a medium sized bowl, stir together all ingredients for buffalo chicken marinade.
2. Add the chicken to a large bowl, then pour 2/3 of the marinade over the chicken. Reserve the remaining 1/3 in the refrigerator. You will use this to pour over top of the chicken when you serve the subs.
3. Cover the bowl with the chicken with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
4. Once the chicken is done marinating, preheat your grill to medium high. Lightly oil the grates. Place chicken on grill and grill for 5-6 minutes, until grill marks appear. Flip chicken and cook additional 5-6 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165F.
5. Remove chicken and place on clean plate. Cover with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes, before cutting into it. This will help to achieve juicy chicken.
6. Once the chicken has rested, slice the chicken.
Make the Slaw
1. You can either use storebought or homemade ranch. If making homemade ranch, add all ingredients for the homemade ranch to a medium sized bowl. Stir together to combine.
2. In a medium sized bowl, add the slaw to the ranch dressing and toss to combine and evenly coat the slaw in the dressing.
Assemble the subs
1. If desired, you can grill the sub rolls to add flavor and crispness to the rolls. Place the rolls, cut side down on lightly oiled grates over medium high heat. Grill the rolls until lightly toasted and grill marks appear.
2. To assemble the subs, place pepperjack cheese, sliced buffalo chicken, the reserved hot honey buffalo chicken sauce and slaw. Place top bun on top.
3. Serve immediately, or wrap up the subs and save in refrigerator for your summer picnic.
- Prep Time: 60
- Cook Time: 25
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
