Popcorn Chicken Recipe

Our go-to Popcorn Chicken recipe with fried, air fryer and oven baked options! Everyone love’s Popcorn Chicken and there’s something nostalgic about these crispy, juicy and flavorsome tiny morsels. These Popcorn Chicken are tender inside and crisp outside, with bursting flavors and oh so good! Serve them as an appetizer with your favorite dip or use them to make your KFC Bowls or Rice Buckets. No matter how you serve, they are fantastic and taste super delicious.

In this post I share how to make the crispiest, juiciest and delicious popcorn chicken at home. Bonus! I also have a creamy sweet chilli sauce to serve as a dip and you can whip up this in less than 5 mins.

This recipe uses some spices for all those burst of flavors and you may skip some of them or reduce the quantities to make the popcorn chicken kids-friendly.

What is Popcorn Chicken?

Popcorn Chicken are bite-sized tender and crisp chunks of chicken that have been seasoned, breaded and deep fried to perfection, until golden. Since the breaded tiny chunks resemble popcorn, they are named as popcorn chicken.

The popular fast food giant KFC introduced popcorn chicken to the world and the delicious food has gained immense popularity since then.

Today you will find these everywhere on the menus, right from the budget fast food chains to the upscale restaurants and has been a favorite with a larger population. So you are likely to find numerous versions of the popcorn chicken all over the world.

Some are breaded and some are not but simply coated with flour, which creates a popcorn like structure with a crust. Each are seasoned differently for a unique flavor. Even in KFC, popcorn chicken is not the same in every country. These are made to match the local taste buds.

Ingredients & Substitutes

Chicken: Fresh or thawed from frozen chicken breasts are good to use here. You may use tofu, paneer or parboiled potatoes as a substitute.

Seasoning: I love using garlic powder, onion powder, red chilli powder / paprika, crushed black pepper and all-spice or garam masala for seasoning the chicken. You can simply skip all of these but you will be left with bland popcorn chicken. To make it kids-friendly, you may skip the red chilli powder and all-spice or garam masala.

Bread crumbs or panko crumbs: Panko crumbs give the best crisp results but you may use bread crumbs too. I do not add any seasoning to my bread crumbs since I season the chicken. I prefer to avoid adding the seasoning ingredients to the bread crumbs to keep the oil clear till the end of frying. This is very essential if you are frying a large batch of chicken or want to reuse the fried oil.

Flour: I use corn starch (white corn flour) as it gives super crispy chicken. You may substitute that with all-purpose flour but the results vary.

Buttermilk or yogurt: I prefer to use a small amount of yogurt while seasoning the chicken. This helps to tenderize the chicken and prevents the chicken from drying out after frying or baking. However you may skip this for a dairy-free option.

Eggs or Buttermilk: Eggs or buttermilk is used to provide some moisture to the chicken so it helps in binding the bread crumbs well. Also both these ingredients lock the chicken juices while frying and won’t let the chicken dry out.

I have been making this recipe with both and sometimes with a combination of both to make it low fat. The results are almost the same with all these changes. Avoid using very sour buttermilk as it can easily make your popcorn chicken taste tangy.

For more Chicken recipes check
Chicken nuggets
Chicken burger
KFC style fried chicken
Chilli chicken
Szechuan chicken
Chicken Patties

Photo Guide

How to Make Popcorn Chicken (Stepwise Photos)

1. Chop 1 lb (450 to 500 grams) chicken to bite sized pieces and add them to a mixing bowl.

2. Add all the seasonings:

• ½ to 1½ teaspoon paprika (or cayenne pepper or red chili powder, adjust to taste)
• ¾ to 1 teaspoon Salt (adjust to taste)
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper (pepper powder)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder (optional)
• 1½ teaspoons garlic powder (or 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste)
• ¼ teaspoon allspice or 2 tsp garam masala

3. Mix well and pour 2 tablespoons yogurt (optional).

4. Mix and cover. Refrigerate for at least 30 mins to 8 hours.

5. Pour 2 egg whites or half cup yogurt (not Greek yogurt) or buttermilk. Make sure your buttermilk is not sour. Mix well.

6. Add 4 tablespoons corn starch in 2 batches, mixing after each addition. (2 tablespoons each time). We do this to avoid the starch clumping up.

7. At this stage the batter has to be thick and moist enough to coat the chicken well. We don’t want dry chicken at this stage.

8. Arrange panko crumbs and chicken, side by side to work.

9. Pick up each piece of chicken and dredge in the panko crumbs. Press down the crumbs with your fingers. This step makes a huge difference.

10. Place them on a tray.

Short-Cut method

11. I also have a short-cut method which I have been following since very long. This one works well for me. However some people did not find success with this. So try out only with half a kg (1 pound or so). If you have more chicken, do this in batches.

For this you will simply pour the panko crumbs in 2 batches, over the batter coated chicken. First add half the crumbs and gently mix to coat the chicken well with the crumbs. Add the other half and mix lightly. Immediately be fast and press down each piece of chicken with the crumbs and place them in a plate or tray. If you are not quick enough the crumbs soak up all the batter and begin to fall off the chicken.

To Bake or Air Fry these please refer the recipe card below.

12. On a medium flame, heat oil in a deep pan for frying. Test if the oil is hot enough by dropping a bread crumb. It should sizzle and come up without browning or burning. If it sinks, it means the oil is not hot enough. Gently drop the breaded popcorn chicken into the hot oil. Do not disturb them for 2 mins as this will cause the bread crumbs to fall off.

13. After 2 mins, stir them gently and fry until golden and super crisp. Remove them from oil.

14. Transfer to a cooling rack or a steel colander.

15. After each batch of frying, turn down the heat. Using a mesh skimmer, remove any bread crumbs that have fallen off to the oil. Bring back the temperature to medium hot and fry the next batch.

Popcorn chicken is ready. Serve hot with your favorite ketchup or creamy sweet chilli sauce. You can also sprinkle your favorite seasoning on top.

To make the creamy sweet chilli sauce, whisk together half cup softened cream cheese or Greek yogurt or mayonnaise with 4 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce, until smooth and creamy. Taste test and add more sauce as required.

Pro Tips

• Prepare chicken: Make sure you chop the chicken to almost the same size so they cook evenly and uniformly.
• Buttermilk: If you do not have buttermilk, you may make your own with half cup milk and half tbsp. vinegar. Make sure your buttermilk is not too sour.
• Brine: For extra soft and tender chicken, you may brine the chicken for a minimum of 4 to 8 hours in the refrigerator. To make the brine, whisk together ½ cup yogurt with 1 to 1 ¼ cup water. Soak your chicken in this. Later drain and use.
• To make the recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free flour and bread crumbs.
• To make this dairy free, simply skip the yogurt from the marinade and use egg for binding.

Related Recipes

Recipe Card

Popcorn Chicken recipe first published in September 2012. Updated and republished in June 2022.