Name: Popcorn Chicken Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into bite-sized pieces); 2 teaspoons garlic powder; 1 teaspoon onion powder; 1 teaspoon fine sea salt; ½ teaspoon black pepper; 2 cups all-purpose flour; ½ cup cornstarch; 2 teaspoons fine sea salt; 1 teaspoon black pepper; 1 teaspoon sweet paprika; 1 large egg; ½ cup buttermilk; 1 ½ teaspoons hot sauce; Peanut oil (for frying)

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A fun lunch, snack or dinner time meal, this Popcorn Chicken Recipe is always a hit. With the perfect amount of seasoning, they are a fun hand-held treat that goes great with all your favorite dipping sauces.

I’m a huge chicken fan, if I were to be asked what I want to eat – most of the time it is something that revolves around chicken. This Popcorn Chicken Recipe is no exception to that.

In fact this is one of my favorite recipes. It is really easy to throw together, kid approved (which is always a good thing in my book) and it makes a large batch.

Not as large chicken nuggets but not too small, these are the perfect snackable pieces for lunch, dinner or appetizer. There is no time that this Popcorn Chicken isn’t good for.

If you have kids, they will be asking you to make this all the time. At least mine do, and since I’m such a huge fan why would I ever say no?

One of my favorite things about this is that it is quick, everything is ready in roughly 20 minutes, when you have hungry kids at home then you know how important quick is!

Serve these up with some of your favorite dipping sauces and side dishes and you will have yourself a family-friendly meal that everyone will love.

Some of our other favorite chicken recipes that we have on our site include: Chicken Caesar Wraps, Chicken Parmesan Sandwiches and Sesame Chicken.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:

Easy ingredients help this time together.
Makes a large batch for a family.
Great for lunch, dinner or an appetizer!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST):

Boneless skinless chicken breasts
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Fine sea salt
Black pepper
All-purpose flour
Cornstarch
Sweet paprika
Egg
Buttermilk
Hot sauce
Peanut oil, for frying

HOW TO MAKE POPCORN CHICKEN, STEP BY STEP:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
In a medium-sized bowl add the cut-up chicken, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Stir everything together making sure to coat the chicken in the spices.
To make the dredge, in another medium-sized bowl, add the flour, cornstarch, salt, pepper, stir to combine.
In a third bowl, add the egg, buttermilk, and hot sauce and whisk together to combine.
Add the seasoned chicken into the flour mixture and toss to coat, making sure to shake off any excess, then place them into the egg mixture, stirring to coat the chicken pieces.
Take handfuls of the coated chicken and place them back into the flour mixture, making sure to press the flour mixture around the pieces of chicken to coat well, then shake off the excess.
Place the coated chicken pieces onto the prepared baking sheet, and repeat with the remaining chicken.
Add about 2 inches of peanut oil into a dutch oven or heavy bottom skillet over medium heat.
Allow the oil to reach 325-350 degrees F. Carefully drop the coated chicken pieces into the hot oil making sure to not overcrowd the pan, you will need to fry in batches.
Stir the chicken around with a slotted spoon, this helps that they don’t stick to each other or burn. Once the chicken has reached 165 degrees F and is golden brown (roughly 5 minutes) they are done, remove the pieces with the slotted spoon and place them onto a paper towel-lined plate to absorb any excess oil.
Then place the chicken pieces onto a wire rack placed over a baking sheet, this helps to avoid them from getting soggy.
Repeat with the remaining chicken and serve immediately with your favorite dipping sauce.

DO I HAVE TO USE BUTTERMILK?

We love to use buttermilk for this recipe and any chicken that we are breading. It gives it a more tender chicken and the coating is more crispy.

If you do not have buttermilk on hand you can substitute with regular milk, the texture may be a little different.

You can also make your own homemade buttermilk. To do that for this recipe, add 1/2 cup milk to a measuring cup, then 1/2 tablespoon distilled vinegar or lemon juice to the milk and stir. Let this sit for 5 minutes, then stir again and use.

WHAT ARE SOME GOOD DIPPING SAUCES?

I’m a huge lover of dipping sauces, you can really never go wrong to have as many on hand as you can. Some of my favorites that we like to use for this Popcorn Chicken Recipe include:

BBQ Sauce
Ketchup
Ranch
Mayochup (ketchup mixed with mayo)
Sweet and sour sauce
Honey mustard

Use any of your favorite dipping sauces that you love to serve with chicken, you really cannot go wrong.

DO I HAVE TO USE THE HOT SAUCE?

We use hot sauce in almost all of our breaded chicken recipes, it is not really for the spiciness but more for the flavor as these do not come out spicy.

If you do not want to use hot sauce in the recipe you can absolutely omit it.

HOW DO I KEEP MY CHICKEN WARM WHEN FRYING THE REST OF THE BATCH?

If you are worried about your Popcorn Chicken getting cold while you are frying your batches, place the chicken pieces on a baking sheet and into the oven at around 170 degrees F to keep warm while finishing up the rest of the recipe.

HOW TO STORE:

These can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator where they will keep for up to 3-4 days.

They can also be frozen, place in a freezer container and they will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.

To defrost, remove from the freezer into the refrigerator until thawed. To reheat we suggest placing them in the oven at 350 degrees until heated through. We do not suggest reheating in the microwave because they tend to become soggy.

TIPS AND TRICKS:

You can easily double this batch if you’d like.
This goes great with any of your favorite dipping sauces, see some suggestions above.
These can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
Buttermilk can be substituted for regular milk, however the texture may not be the same. I highly suggest using buttermilk at all costs.
You can make your own homemade buttermilk for this recipe, see above on how to do that.
Make sure to reheat in the oven so that these do not become soggy.
The hot sauce does not make this recipe spicy, but if you are not a fan of hot sauce then you can omit it.

Want a fun and easy hand-held meal that goes well with tons of sides and sauces? Then you need to make this Popcorn Chicken Recipe, super family-friendly!

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If you’ve tried this POPCORN CHICKEN RECIPE or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!

Popcorn Chicken Recipe