Popcorn chicken recipe – Learn to make crunchy kfc style popcorn chicken at home with this simple and quick recipe. Popcorn chicken is much popular in every part of the world and makes its presence on the menus of KFC, fast food centres & even in restaurants. I am sure these delicious, flavorful & crisp fried tender popcorn chicken will be your new favorite. Enjoy them with any sauce or garlic mayo dip.
Popcorn chicken is made in many different flavors & is region specific. Most times KFC keeps changing their flavorings too. I have shared the most basic recipe here with some optional seasonings. So you can use your favorite herbs and spices to suit your taste buds.
This recipe of popcorn chicken has always been a winner & never fails to impress my family, especially my kids. Give this a try & you will say these popcorn chicken are not only crunchy, delicious & addictive but also the best!
You can prepare them ahead and freeze or refrigerate for later use. All you need to do is just defrost them in the refrigerator & bring down to room temperature. Then fry them or even bake them for a healthier option.
If you love them spicy then enjoy the crunchy popcorn chicken with this Schezwan sauce.
Tips to make best popcorn chicken
1.Bread crumbs are one of the key ingredients that makes this popcorn chicken crunchy. Kfc does not use the crumbs but just go ahead and try these.
2.To make the best popcorn chicken, brining the chicken bites is the key.
As a substitute to brine, you can also use egg as a quick fix like the way I have shown in this post.
If you skip both the steps then chicken will not be tender & soft. Often fried chicken bites turn out fibrous & dry if they are not prepared well.
To brine just whisk 4 tbsps curd or yogurt with ¾ cup of water. Add pepper or other flavoring ingredients to it. Then rest chicken in this for 4 hours to overnight in the fridge. Drain it up & use.
This step not will yield the most delicious tender bites of popcorn chicken with bursting flavors
3.Frying chicken at the right temperature is also the key. More tips in the recipe card below.
Can these be baked?
Yes they can be baked at 400 F or 200 C in a preheated oven for 10 to 12 mins on each side. Grease a wire rack and place on a baking tray. Place the chicken bites on it.
For more Chicken recipes check
Chicken nuggets
Chicken burger
KFC style fried chicken
Chilli chicken
Hot spicy szechuan chicken
Crunchy chicken cutlet
KFC style popcorn chicken recipe
Popcorn chicken recipe | How to make kfc style popcorn chicken
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
Ingredients for popcorn chicken
- 250 grams chicken (boneless)
- 2 tbsps corn flour (or corn starch) or all purpose flour (maida)
- 1 egg (or 2 to 4 tbsp buttermilk or yogurt)
- 1 cup bread crumbs (or panko crumbs)
- Salt (about ¼ tsp or more)
- ¾ tbsp ginger garlic paste (or ½ tsp Garlic powder)
- ¼ tsp black pepper powder
- ½ tsp onion powder (optional)
- ¾ tsp red chili powder (or paprika or cayenne pepper)
- 1 tsp garam masala (or any other seasoning, use as needed)
- Oil for deep frying
optional for serving
- ½ to 1 tsp seasoning like wasabi or sriracha powder
How to make the recipe
Preparation for popcorn chicken recipe
- To a mixing bowl, add paprika or red chili powder, pepper powder, ginger garlic or garlic powder, masala powder (or any seasoning) and salt.
- Mix well and taste the mixture. Adjust the salt and spice as needed.
- Cut chicken to tiny bite sized pieces. Make sure you cut them to uniform sizes as this helps to fry all of them uniformly.
- Transfer the cut chicken to the seasoning and mix well. Now add the flour and coat the chicken with the flour.
- Pour the egg white to a small bowl and then the bread crumbs to another bowl. Place them side by side.
- Pick up each piece of chicken & dip in the egg or buttermilk. Remove and roll in the bread crumbs. Place them in a wide plate. Repeat the same step until all the chicken bites are breaded.
- For extra crunch you can also double coat the chicken pieces by dipping in egg mixture again and then rolling them in bread crumbs again.
- Rest for 10 to 15 mins for the bread crumbs to stick well to the pieces. If you have used buttermilk then it is good to rest them at least for an hour. You can also refrigerate up to 48 hours for further use.
How to make popcorn chicken
- Heat oil on a medium flame.
- When the oil is hot enough, check by dropping a small piece of bread crumb. It has to rise without browning a lot. 350 to 375 F is the right temperature if you are measuring.
- Gently slide the pieces one after the other to the oil. Do not stir or disturb them for about a minute otherwise the bread crumbs may disperse in oil.
- Do not crowd the pan with many chicken bites at one time. Fry popcorn chicken in batches.
- Deep fry evenly till golden on a medium flame. Keep stirring after a minute or two for even frying.
- Drain popcorn chicken on a kitchen tissue and serve hot with ketchup, sauce or any other dip.
Seasoning
- You can sprinkle your favorite seasoning over popcorn chicken before serving. Sriracha or wasabi go great on these.
NUTRITION (estimation only)
Notes
- Chiptole powder
- Sriracha powder
- Seaweed seasoning
If you are a beginner or new to Indian cooking, I highly suggest you to check the supporting step by step photos for best results. Step by step photos with description available below after the recipe card.
Preparation
1. Add red chili powder, ginger garlic (paste or powder) onion powder, pepper powder and salt. If you have rosemary or any other seasonings you can add that as well now. Mix well and taste the spice mixture. If needed add more alt and spice.
Chop chicken to bite sized pieces. Mix well with the spice mix to coat evenly.
2. Add corn flour or maida. Coat the chicken with the flour. Then pour egg or buttermilk to a separate bowl. Dip each piece of chicken in the egg. I did the other way by adding the egg and mixing up all at one time.
3. Pick up each piece of egg coated chicken and roll in the bread crumbs. For extra crunch you can double coat the pieces again. Dip the once coated pieces in egg mixture and coat them again in bread crumbs.
4. Mix well and set aside for about 10 to 15 minutes. This helps the bread to stick well to the popcorn chicken. You can also refrigerate for further use.
How to make popcorn chicken
5. Heat oil on a medium flame. Check if the oil is hot by dropping a bread crumb. It has to rise without browning quickly.
6. Drop the chicken pieces one by one. Do not disturb or stir for a minute as the crumbs may mess up the oil. Keep stirring while frying for even browning. Fry in batches till you finish. Drain them on a kitchen tissue.
Popcorn chicken is ready
Serve hot with your favorite ketchup or sauce. You can also sprinkle your favorite seasoning on top.
Sushil kumar Sukhija says
From Sushil
I tried your KFC style chicken popcorn. It was excellent,in fact better than KFC.
Except that it out a bit soggy and not as crunchy. I did do the egg white/bread crumb coating twice as recommended. Dried the pieces in paper kitchen towel and kept covered with paper kitchen towel before serving.
What can I do to make it more crunchy?
swasthi says
Hello Sushil,
Popcorn chicken is best served hot and tend to turn soft upon cooling. If they did not turn out crisp when they came out after frying, then it means they need to be fried a little longer. You can also try refrying them once you are done frying the first time. They remain cruchy for a good 20 to 25 mins at room temperature (without aircon or fans blowing at them).
Colin Olson says
Wondering if you can make the recipe the day before the event and reheat the next day? I want to get all the frying out of the way the day before and would want to just pop these in the oven to heat up. Anyone try that?
swasthi says
Hi Colin,
I suggest you prepare and refrigerate the chicken popcorn the previous day and just fry them the day you plan to serve. Yes I did try the way you said by reheating the left over popcorn the next day, I felt they tasted good but had some uneven brown spots on them after baking. Some amount of oil oozes out from the chicken. Not the best I feel.
Elizabeth says
Dear Swathi ma’am.. I am a biggest fan of your cooking. I just love your recipes and your way of explanation is very clear. And no doubt you will go a long long way. Please continue to share your recipes with us. To be honest I have learnt cooking by seeing your recipes. God bless you.. Best wishes to you 😘😘
Elizabeth.
swasthi says
Hi Elizabeth
Thank you so much for the wishes. I am so happy to know the recipes are helpful. Surely I will continue to share them.
Thanks again.
🙂
Jp says
Bery nice work. I like the style at the top with the solid red boxes for prep time, cook time etc.
You have a very good setup. Jeep up the Great work
swasthi says
Hi JP
Thank you very much
Shoba says
Delicious recepies.
Can’t stop appreciating you.🙂
You are the best.
swasthi says
Hi Shoba
Thank you so much. So happy to know you like the recipes.
🙂
mahamed says
helo it waz very god and yumy
from mahamed
go pakistan in world cup
Ambika says
Mam when we soak the chicken in buttermilk where to keep.Fridge or room temperature
swasthi says
Hi Ambika
Keep it in the fridge for at least 45 mins to 5 hours. The longer you keep the more tender chicken will be after frying.
park swamgr says
good
swasthi says
Thank you
Saarah says
At what temp would you set oil for deep fryer and how many minutes would you fry?
swasthi says
Hi Sarah
360 degrees and can fry for 2 1/2 to 3 mins.
Roberta says
hi can you cook these in the oven instead of frying them thanks
swasthi says
Yes you can grill them in a oven, but they will not turn crunchy
Cole says
Getting them crunchy in an oven is easy. Place ~2 tbsp of oil in a baking tray, add chicken and bake until cooked through and golden. Obviously, cooking times will vary depending on the size of the chicken pieces and volume of chicken in the tray, so start with 10 minutes and check to see. 200 degrees C should do it.
DANNY says
Very nice thank-you and what is this onion powder is that onion paste or what…?
swasthi says
Welcome Danny
Onion powder is made using dehydrated or fried onions. It is used to add flavor to the fried foods especially used in fast foods. If you do not have you can try replacing with smooth onion paste but you may find speckles of onions after chicken is fried.
Grant says
Made it tonight and it’s a really easy chicken dish. i didn’t even worry with the buttermilk so i can only imagine i’ll get better at making this dish.. because i will.
,i was done and eating in under an hour.
one question though, i made too much! is it safe to refrigerate the uncooked but crumbed chicken overnight?
swasthi says
Hi Grant
Thanks for trying and sharing the outcome
Yes you can refrigerate it and use up with in 24 hours. You can also freeze for 3 to 4 days & use it.
Grant says
thanks for that, i’ll have it again tomorrow
SARIKA ANJALI says
NICE AND EASY TO COOK EVEN IF YOU ARE A BEGINNER TO COOK.LOVE COOKING
swasthi says
Thanks Sarika
James says
Very nice! Easy and quick to make, and turns out you can’t make enough of them :
swasthi says
Thanks James
Glad to know you liked it.
🙂
Avanthika says
Dear swasthi
U r simply the best dear……
I am so happy to cook all these dishes coz of u….
Keep it up. ………
U r a star yar……????
swasthi says
Hello Avanthika
Thanks a ton.
🙂
Happy to know the recipes are useful
Lucas Bontrager says
This is a cool recipe that I will use for the rest of my life for parties and just when I feel like it..
swasthi says
Thanks Lucas
good to know you liked it
Mary Diana says
Hai swathi..this recipe is very delicious. My kids loves it very much.
swasthi says
Thanks for trying Mary
Aruna says
Hi swasthi, in the KFC style popcorn chicken you have mentioned that to soften the chicken, it has to be soaked in butter milk. Can I do this with all other recipes of chicken for softness
swasthi says
Hi Aruna
It depends if there is any other brining ingredient used for softness then you don’t need to.
Anu says
Oh I’ve got it wrong then…….i hv a doubt that will flavour of garlic comes out if just all the ingredients are mixed n not blended…..wud it b ok if i just mixie garlic n later mix it in yogurt
swasthi says
Yes Anu, you can mixie the garlic. You can also crush them or grate or press them in a gralic presser. It is usually chilled for few hours for the flavours to comeout.
Anu says
I tried making garlic dip using your instructions. After mixing the ingredients hung curd, garlic cloves, salt n olive oil in a mixi for a minute…..oily liquid got separated from the mixture. Did i grind the paste for long? I did not use lemon juice…i don’t like its flavour
In few websites i saw oil was not added at all? Does that make any difference
swasthi says
Hi Anu
You made it wrong. I had not mentioned to blend it in a mixie. The instruction was given just to mix the ingredients. If you run it in a mixi then it turns runny due to yogurt. This method of blending in a mixi is done for a different kind of garlic sauce called toum, in which yogurt is not used. A large amount of oil, garlic, salt and lemon juice are blended until the texture turns like mayonnaise.
There are so many recipes for garlic dip or garlic sauce on the intermet. The recipe shared with you is from food.com, a fail proof one which has been used in many recipes on this blog like wraps, burgers, sandwiches etc.
Next time make sure you just mix the ingredients and give another try.
Hope this helps
Anu says
Hi swasthi,
This recipe of urs is mouth watering. I made it today n its sooooo yummy
I dont like tomato sauce as a dip…….cud u pls share how to make garlic sauce as dip…..i love that combination
swasthi says
Hi Anu
Thanks for trying
You can find the recipe of garlic sauce on chicken shawarma post. I have shared it briefly towards the end of the post. Hope it is useful.
Hayley says
Can you freeze this please… Looks amazing
swasthi says
Hi Hayley
Not sure if it can be frozen. But they are very quick to make from scratch any time.