There are two ways to deal with food that’s too spicy. You can order something milder and accept your limitations, or you can stubbornly continue eating while desperately reaching for anything dairy-based within arm’s reach.

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Crimson Coward has decided to plan for option two.

The Nashville hot chicken chain just launched Cheez Nugs, bite-size hunks of whole-milk mozzarella covered in seasoned breadcrumbs and fried until crispy. They’re essentially mozzarella sticks that have been nugget-ified, which was already enough to get my attention on its own.

But Crimson Coward has another purpose for them: The chain wants you to use its Cheez Nuggs to cool your mouth down between bites of hot chicken.

Finally, a side dish with a job.

Cheez Nuggs Are Designed To Tame The Heat

Crimson Coward offers its chicken at five heat levels, starting with the spice-free Country and working through Mild, Medium, Hot, and the extremely reassuringly named BURRRRN, BABY, BURN.

If you choose one of those upper levels and immediately begin questioning the decisions that led you there, that’s where the Cheez Nugs come in.

Crimson Coward calls the new side a “heat tamer,” pointing to the milk fat in the whole-milk mozzarella as the reason it can help provide some relief from capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their heat.

In other words, instead of drinking a glass of milk after overestimating your spice tolerance, you can now eat fried cheese. This feels long overdue.

Each Cheez Nugg has a whole-milk mozzarella center surrounded by a golden, herb-seasoned breadcrumb coating, and they’re fried fresh to order. They come with your choice of Crimson Sauce or cool ranch for dipping. If the cheese is supposed to be helping with the spice situation, cool ranch feels like bringing backup.

Put Them Inside Your Hot Chicken Sandwich

You don’t have to eat the new nuggets politely on the side, either.

Crimson Coward says customers can stack Cheez Nuggs directly inside its chicken sandwiches, sliders, and wraps. So you can order the painfully spicy chicken, add fried mozzarella directly to it, and create a self-contained problem and solution between two pieces of bread. Balance.

The Cheez Nugs launched September 18th as a permanent menu item and are available at Crimson Coward locations across California, Washington, Texas, Maryland, and Virginia. You can get them for dine-in or takeout, or order through the chain’s app and third-party delivery services.

I’m not saying the existence of Cheez Nugs means you should immediately order the hottest chicken on the menu just to test their cooling abilities.

But if you’re going to ignore that advice anyway, you might as well get the fried cheese. Just in case.