17 Best Dave's Hot Chicken Secret Menu Items To Try in 2026

If you love fast food chicken, you may be interested to learn that there is a Dave's Hot Chicken secret menu with a range of extra dishes not seen on the regular menu. 

Dave’s Hot Chicken is a fast-growing franchise that recently won the title of Yelp’s Most Loved Brand, which will be no surprise to its huge fan base. However, even the biggest fans of this up-and-coming eatery aren't aware of the delights that await on the hidden menu!  

And if you haven’t yet become acquainted with the surprising range of Dave’s Hot Chicken off-menu items, make this your time to get informed.

From full custom dishes to simple hacks that radically alter the flavor profiles of regular menu items, there’s a host of unique and delicious Dave’s Hot Chicken hidden menu items to check out.

So if we’ve piqued your interest, keep reading to discover 17 Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu items that you have to try!

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• The 17 Best Items on the Secret Menu at Dave's Hot Chicken
• How We Created This Dave's Hot Chicken Secret Menu Guide

The 17 Best Items on the Secret Menu at Dave's Hot Chicken

1. Loaded Dave’s Fries  

Many items on the secret menu at Dave’s Hot Chicken are simply creative combinations of other menu items. The ultimate example of this is the Loaded Dave’s Fries. 

This Dave’s Hot Chicken off-menu item comprises fries paired with crispy chicken pieces, pickles, Dave’s house-made sauce and melted cheese. Think nachos with a base of fries and you’ll have a good idea of what this moreish Dave’s Hot Chicken hidden menu dish will be like. 

Though this dish is fairly popular and most Dave’s Hot Chicken staff will know it by name, it’s best to remember the components if needed. Luckily, it’s easy to order this Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu dish by its ingredient list, even at locations where the staff don’t know it by name. 

How To Order

• Fries
• Dave’s Hot Chicken (chopped)
• Pickles
• Dave’s Sauce 
• Cheese 
• Slaw (optional)

Top Tip: Make this dish vegetarian by swapping chicken for Dave’s Cauli Bites.

Spice Level: You Choose (Mild to Reaper)  

2. Breakfast Chicken Biscuit 

You may not initially envision Dave’s Hot Chicken as a place to grab a quick on-the-go breakfast, but at one single Dave’s location, they’re trying to change that by rolling out a limited-time-only egg-and-chicken biscuit. 

That’s right: if you happen to be passing through the Las Vegas International Airport, you’ll have the chance to snag this Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu item before it goes away. 

While it currently only exists in one place, the Breakfast Chicken Biscuit is a favorite trial-run product at the Las Vegas airport location and a fresher, more exciting airport-breakfast option than you’re likely to find elsewhere. 

And who knows? A successful trial run might lead to the instatement of this Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu dish as a full-blown menu item. 

How To Order: Ask for this by name at the limited number of locations that serve it. 

Spice Level: You Choose (Mild to Reaper) 

3. Secret Reaper Challenge  

Dave’s Hot Chicken famously offers seven different spice levels for the chicken products, but only one of them requires a signed waiver. Yup, to order the Reaper spice level, you’ll have to sign a waiver!

It’s made with Carolina Reaper peppers and even hardcore spiceheads often walk away commenting on the intensity of the experience. 

So, while the Secret Reaper Challenge is not a Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu item in the most literal sense, it definitely has a similar hidden-menu feeling thanks to its unusual barrier to entry.

Order it as tenders or in a slider…if you dare. You could even have Reaper chicken as part of another Dave's Hot Chicken secret menu dish for an extra customized option.

How To Order: Get whichever chicken dish you want with Reaper spice level chicken. 

Spice Level: Reaper (aka Extra Hot)

4. Fire and Ice Combo  

Did you know that the Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu leaves room for dessert? True story. The Fire and Ice combo combines the hottest and coolest items on the Dave’s menu for a hot chicken experience like nothing else on this list of Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu items. 

And when we say “cool,” we mean that: the “ice” in the name of this Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu combo is a milkshake. In this case, it’s served alongside a Reaper Tender, so you might actually need the cooling elements of the shake. 

If you’ve ever found yourself craving something cool (or just a glass of milk) to soothe your scalded mouth after scarfing down a Reaper Tender, this Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu is the way to go. 

The combo might not be recognizable by name, but it should be easy to order. Simply select your milkshake flavor and pair it with a Reaper Tender as if ordering separately.

How To Order

• Reaper Tender
• Milkshake of Your Choice 

Spice Level: Reaper

5. Pickle Bomb Slider  

If even the spiciest of fast food chicken tenders doesn’t spice things up enough for you, this Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu item might be your new go-to order.

The Pickle Bomb Slider begins its life as a regular old Dave’s Hot Chicken Slider. Then, it gets additions of jalapeños, pickles and hot sauce (just in case the spicy chicken doesn’t bring the heat satisfactorily!)

How To Order

• Dave’s Hot Chicken Slider 
• Pickles
• Jalapeños
• Hot Sauce 

Spice Level: Medium to Reaper

6. Loaded Mac and Cheese

Similar to the loaded fries on the Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu, this hack simply takes an order of mac and cheese and pairs it with the toppings of your choice. 

Popular options include chopped chicken tenders of your preferred spice level or chopped Cauli Bites for a vegetarian option.

Then, you can leave it as is or add extra toppings, like pickles and different types of sauce. 

How To Order

• Mac and Cheese
• Dave’s Hot Chicken or Cauli Bites
• Pickles (optional)
• Sauce of Your Choice (optional) 

Spice Level: You Choose (Mild to Reaper) 

7. Chicken Fries Bowl 

Bowls are a popular fast food option at nearly every chain you could imagine, but this one takes things to a whole new level. Unlike many bowls, such as those at the healthiest fast food chains like Chipotle, this one leans more toward fried and battered goodness than health food! 

So, what is the Chicken Fries Bowl exactly? This Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu item consists of a base of fries, which is topped with chopped chicken tenders, pickles and Dave’s Sauce.

Much like the more elaborate Loaded Dave’s Fries, it’s easiest to conceptualize this Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu dish as a sort of nachos variant with fries in place of chips. 

How To Order 

• Fries
• Dave’s Hot Chicken 
• Pickles
• Dave’s Sauce 

Top Tip: As with other loaded fries options on the Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu, you can switch the chicken with Dave’s Cauli Bites to make this order vegetarian-friendly. 

Spice Level: You Choose (Mild to Reaper) 

8. Custom Hot Chicken Slider 

Switching up your side dish when you order a chicken sandwich can result in a totally different meal if you’re not afraid to get a little messy with it.

With three side options — kale slaw, mac and cheese and crinkle cut fries — that can be ordered with a slider, you have three ways of adding flavor, texture, and interest to your sliders if you combine them. 

Plus, this one doesn’t require much substituting. You’ll be assembling your combination slider manually, so all you have to do is change the side that comes with your slider meal. Once you have, add fries, mac and cheese or extra slaw to your slider at your discretion. 

Just remember that the sliders already come with slaw, so if you don’t want any, ask for it to be left off the slider when ordering and then replace it with a different side dish. One of our favorite Dave’s secret menu hacks is swapping out the slaw in the slider for creamy mac and cheese (with some extra hot sauce for good measure!)

How To Order

• Dave’s Hot Chicken Slider 
• Remove: Slaw (optional)
• Mac and Cheese
• and/or Fries
• and/or Extra Slaw

Add your sides to the sandwich and enjoy!

Spice Level: You Choose (Mild to Reaper) 

9. Spicy Mac Slider  

Dave’s Hot Chicken offers mac and cheese as a side dish, but it might not initially occur to you to incorporate that fan-favorite side into your meal itself. That’s the niche this Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu item fits into: it’s essentially a normal Dave’s chicken tender slider with a scoop of mac and cheese between the buns. 

As we mentioned above, this is one of our favorite Dave’s Hot Chicken menu hacks, so we highly recommend trying it!  

Like all of Dave’s chicken options, the chicken in the slider is available at seven spice levels. And if you prefer to order the spicier stuff, the creaminess of mac and cheese helps to balance out the heat. 

To order, if the staff doesn’t recognize the dish’s name, just ask for a slider at your preferred spice level with a scoop of mac and cheese.

How To Order

• Dave’s Hot Chicken Slider 
• Mac and Cheese 

Spice Level: You Choose (Mild to Reaper) 

10. Chicken and Waffles 

If you’re a fan of the Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu, the Las Vegas International Airport really is the place to be. That’s because the trial-run breakfast menu at that Dave’s location isn’t only the chicken biscuit we mentioned earlier: it also includes this take on a classic Southern dish.

Consisting of a spicy fried chicken drumstick and a fluffy Belgian waffle, this is perhaps not what you’d expect to order at a fast food chicken chain. But it’s a delicious homage to the restaurant’s Nashville roots that diners at the chain’s Las Vegas airport location have been loving. 

If you happen to be in the right place at the right time, try it while it lasts. If you’re not heading to Nevada anytime soon, you could still try this Dave’s Hot Chicken hack by grabbing your favorite spice level of chicken at Dave’s and then pairing it with waffles you get elsewhere. A drizzle of your favorite sauce over the chicken and waffles is a must as well. 

How To Order

• Dave’s Hot Chicken 
• Waffles (from elsewhere)
• Dave’s Hot Chicken Sauce of Your Choice (optional) 

or

Ask for the dish by name at a location that has breakfast dishes, such as the Las Vegas airport. 

Spice Level: You Choose (Mild to Reaper) 

11. Bunless Protein Box 

You might think that Dave’s Hot Chicken, most famous for its sliders, is an off-limits option if you’re watching your carbohydrate intake. Not so. The Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu is here to help with a low-carb, protein-heavy custom order for those who love finding tasty low-carb fast food. 

Rather than adding anything new to a dish, the Bunless Protein Box simply takes the sliders and tenders Dave’s is known for and removes the bun for a lower-carb option. Ordering “protein style” or just asking for the bun to be left off should do the trick for ordering this one. 

For the lowest carb option, avoid fries and get the chicken with pickles, slaw and sauce.

How To Order

• Dave’s Hot Chicken Slider 
• Remove: Bread
• Extra Pickles (optional)
• Extra Slaw (optional)

Spice Level: You Choose (Mild to Reaper) 

12. Double Down  

It’s fairly common among chicken fast food chains to offer a version of their classic chicken sandwich that substitutes extra chicken for the bun. And luckily for those seeking high-protein fast food, Dave’s Hot Chicken is one of those chains. 

No matter what spice level you prefer, it’s easy to sneak an extra chicken tender into your meal by ordering this chicken-heavy Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu item. The Double Down consists of cheese and Dave’s sauce between two chicken tenders of your choice. 

Though its name will probably be recognizable to staff, you may want to describe the dish, rather than listing its ingredients, in order to avoid confusion about what you’re actually ordering.

Your best bet is likely to ask for cheese and Dave’s sauce between two chicken tenders, “like a sandwich,” instead of trying to explain how to substitute the chicken for the bun. 

How To Order

• 2 Chicken Tenders 
• Cheese
• Sauce

Put the cheese and sauce between the chicken like a sandwich. 

Spice Level: You Choose (Mild to Reaper) 

13. Extra Saucy Dave’s  

Some people are just condiment people. They’re the ones who can’t bear to eat a dry sandwich and will pay more attention to the sauces, slaws and relishes on the sandwich menu than any other part of it. 

And if you’re one of those people, or just somebody who’s really into Dave’s Sauce, you’ll be delighted to discover the Extra Saucy Dave’s. 

This Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu item is exactly what it sounds like. Ask for a slider at your favorite spice level with extra Dave’s Sauce. That’s about all there is to it! 

An Extra Saucy Dave’s is moister and more flavorful than the usual slider, so maybe condiment lovers are onto something here, after all. 

How To Order

• Dave’s Hot Chicken Slider 
• Extra Sauce

Spice Level: You Choose (Mild to Reaper) 

14. Protein-Style Slider  

Much like the Bunless Protein Box, this Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu item is an excellent dinner food idea when you need to grab something on the go without messing up your macro counts for the day. 

Instead of a bun, you’ll get two chicken tenders with all the usual toppings in between. Ordering “protein-style” should probably do the trick, but be ready to specify that you’re looking for two tenders in place of a slider bun if it doesn’t. 

How To Order

• 2 Chicken Tenders 
• Cheese 
• Pickles
• Slaw
• Sauce

Put the fillings in between the two chicken tenders to make a protein-rich, low-carb sandwich. 

Spice Level: You Choose (Mild to Reaper) 

15. Cheese Lover’s Slider  

It’s a very well-known fact among anyone who’s ever eaten something spicy and deeply regretted it 10 seconds later that chugging a glass of milk is the best remedy for a burning tongue. 

That might not be the idea behind this Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu item, but it ends up working the same way. In fact, that’s basically all this Dave’s Hot Chicken hidden menu item is: a spicy chicken slider smothered with cheese.

This one should also be very easy to order, since you’re really only asking for a fairly intuitive addition to an existing menu item. Plus, you can be certain it will always be available. 

So if you like the thought of cutting the heat of your chicken slider with creamy dairy-based goodness, just ask for melted cheese on your slider. It’s perhaps the simplest hack on this list, but one of the most sublime. 

How To Order

• Dave’s Hot Chicken Slider 
• Cheese Sauce

Spice Level: You Choose (Mild to Reaper) 

16. Reaper and Ranch Slider Hack  

If you’re ready to take on the Reaper but would prefer to cut the searing heat with something a bit less intense, this double-layered slider option might be your best bet. 

Consisting of one Reaper and one regular (preferred spice level) chicken tender layered with ranch dressing on a slider, it’s undeniably hot. However, it’s a better lunch food idea than a straight-up Reaper meal when you have to get back to work in half an hour!

How To Order 

• Dave’s Hot Chicken Slider 
• Ranch Dressing
• Reaper Chicken Tender

Get a lower spice level chicken in the slider to balance out the Reaper heat, and add the ranch dressing and Reaper chicken tender inside the slider.  

Spice Level: Varies depending on the chicken used and the amount of ranch dressing added. 

17. Sliders and Tender Mashup  

This Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu item is perfect for those days when you can’t decide whether you want to burn your mouth or enjoy your chicken in peace. 

When you order the Sliders and Tender Mashup, you’ll get a box containing a slider and a chicken tender, plus sides. But the real appeal here is that you can order each at a different spice level. 

You’ll need to be very specific about the spice levels you want if you’re planning to order this dish, just to be safe. But if you’d like a little heat and a little something milder to balance it out, this box might be the best way for you to have your cake (hot chicken?) and eat it too. 

How To Order

• Dave’s Hot Chicken Slider 
• Chicken Tenders

Ask for each in different spice levels to enjoy a range of flavors and heat levels. 

Spice Level: Medium to Reaper

How We Created This Dave's Hot Chicken Secret Menu Guide 

Fast food secret menus are often created or discovered by fans, and the Dave’s Hot Chicken hidden menu is no exception. So to create this Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu guide, we scoured the web for the most popular off-menu dishes straight from the keyboards of in-the-know Dave’s Hot Chicken devotees.

We also added some of our favorite Dave's Hot Chicken secret menu hacks to round out the list. With a range of dishes to choose from and easy-to-follow ordering tips, this guide to the Dave's Hot Chicken secret menu is all you need to take advantage of a whole host of custom options that will take your chicken experience to a new level.

Dave’s Hot Chicken has a fairly simple menu. You’ve got your core building blocks of chicken, bread, side dishes and sauces, and the rest is just a matter of mix-and-match. 

But there are more variations on that theme than you might imagine. So if you’re a little bored with your usual order, these 17 Dave’s Hot Chicken secret menu orders are a great place to start branching out! 

For even more ways to explore your favorite foods, check out other experiences happening on Cozymeal.