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Popcorn chicken
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4.95 from 20 votes

Popcorn chicken - better than KFC!

Recipe video above. This is better than KFC because it's actually crispy - KFC popcorn chicken is not, it's soft and greasy! The flavour is remarkably similar with my copycat of the KFC's 11 secret herbs and spices. It's ridiculously good - you want to shovel it in your mouth by the handful!
Relatively straightforward and on the easy end of frying recipes because it's just shallow fried and takes just 2 minutes. Serve in cups or mini popcorn boxes with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce for a fun meal or snack that everyone loves!
Air fryer and baking options - not covered in this recipe, please see FAQ above for reason.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Course: Mains, Snack
Cuisine: Southern, Western
Keyword: KFC popcorn chicken recipe, popcorn chicken
Servings: 4 as a meal
Calories: 280cal
Author: Nagi

Ingredients

  • 500g / 1lb chicken breast , skinless boneless, tenderloin or boneless thighs (Note 1)

Buttermilk marinade:

  • 3/4 cup buttermilk (Note 2 for yogurt/milk sub)
  • 1 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (Note 3)
  • 1 large egg (~50 - 55g, 2 oz in shell)

Popcorn Chicken Breading (Note 4):

  • 1 1/2 cups flour , plain / all purpose
  • 1/2 cup corn flour / cornstarch (makes it crispy!)

KFC 11 Secret Herbs and Spices (Note 4):

  • 1 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (Note 3)
  • 1/2 tsp celery salt (sub 1/4 tsp extra salt)
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp regular paprika (aka sweet paprika, not hot or smoked)
  • 1 tsp dried thyme , crushed with fingers to make it finer
  • 1 tsp dried oregano , crushed with fingers to make it finer
  • 3/4 tsp onion powder
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp mustard powder
  • 1/2 tsp ginger powder
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper , optional (tiniest background warmth, doesn't make it spicy)

To fry:

  • 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 cups canola oil (2.5 cm / 1" depth) , or vegetable or peanut oil (Note 8 for re-use)

Dipping sauce suggestions

Cups - Metric

Instructions

Abbreviated directions:

  • Marinade chicken 1 hour+ in Buttermilk Marinade. Dribble then rub 3 tbsp marinade in breading to make small clumps. Dredge chicken, fry 2 minutes at 180C/350F.

Marinade chicken:

  • Cut chicken into small 1.25 cm / 1/2" cubes.
  • Marinade - Whisk marinade in a bowl. Add chicken, stir to coat, then refrigerate for 1 hour (no longer than 24 hours).

Prepare breading:

  • Breading mixture - Mix together Breading and all KFC Secret Herbs & Spices in a large bowl (larger surface area = coat more chicken in one go).
  • Clump = crunchy! Drizzle 3 tablespoons of the Marinade into the flour mixture. Use your fingers to rub in so you get lots of small lumpy bits all throughout (this fries up into extra crunchy bits, secret trick!).

Prepare to cook (work in specified order of steps):

  • Frying vessel (Note 5) - Large saucepan / small pot ~20cm/8" recommended for beginners. Large pot / deep skillet ~24cm/9.5" or larger recommended only for capable cooks. Use heavy based (not light and flimsy), for safety and heat retention.
  • Preheat oven to 50°C/125°F, to keep cooked chicken warm.

Breading (PS I'm right handed):

  • Bread chicken - Pick up a handful of chicken from the marinade with your left hand, then scatter across surface of the flour mixture. Spoon flour over chicken then toss with the spoon to coat.
  • Shake off excess (use right hand) - Separate the chicken pieces and press the clumpy flour onto the chicken pieces. Pick up a handful, shake excess flour off through fingers (no need to be thorough). Spread chicken on tray. Repeat with remaining chicken. Voila! No clumpy flour-batter-caked fingers!
  • Separate and last minute coat (Note 6) - Just before frying, use your fingers to briefly re-toss the chicken you're about to cook in the residual flour on the tray (to freshen up the flour coating, as it sits around it sweats/gets wet), and make sure the chicken pieces are not stuck together.

Frying:

  • Line a tray with paper towels (for draining cooked chicken). Preheat oven to 50°C/125°F to keep cooked chicken warm.
  • Heat oil - Add oil to your pot to a depth of 2.5 cm / 1". Heat it over medium high to 180°C/350°F (Note 7).
  • Fry 2 minutes - Pick up some chicken and put it in a spider with large holes (Note 8) and shake so excess flour falls through (or use hands to shake off excess flour then then transfer into a scoop to lower into oil). Carefully lower chicken into the oil. Fry for 2 - 2.5 minutes until golden, separating any that get stuck together around halfway through.
  • Drain - Scoop out with a spider and spread on a paper towel lined tray Keep cooked chicken warm in the oven and cook remaining chicken.
  • Serve chicken - in popcorn boxes, for extra fun factor! - with dipping sauce of choice (pictured, Honey Mustard).

Full directions:

    Notes

    Classic sides: Fries, coleslaw, KFC copycat potato and gravy, steamed or grilled corn, cornbread or soft rolls, fries, potato salad, Southern Baked Beans!
    1. Chicken - This can really be made with any cut of chicken meat. I use breast because it's easy to cut into small cubes. Lean, but the marinade protects it from drying out.
    2. Buttermilk - Substitute with 1/4 cup yoghurt whisked with 1/2 cup milk (ends up buttermilk-like), or make your own buttermilk: add 3/4 tsp white vinegar into 3/4 cup of milk, stir, leave 10 minutes. Will curdle. Use per recipe.
    Non dairy - Use plain flavoured non dairy yogurt and milk (quantities as above), and it the yogurt is not acidic at all like dairy yogurt is, just add 1 teaspoon of white vinegar.
    3. Salt - Halve if using fine table salt, increase by 2% if using salt flakes (and crush with fingers to make it finer).
    4. Breading notes:
    • Cornflour makes it crunchy while flour makes it fry up golden (cornflour stays white). 
    • Add 1 tsp cayenne pepper for hot & spicy!
    • Spices - Fine if you're missing one or two, maybe even 3, there's plenty of other spices to keep it flavourful. See ingredients section for what to substitute with for each spice.
    PS In my world, crumbing = breadcrumbs, crushed cornflakes etc, breading = flour coatings. Mash up of Aussie/US culinary speak that seems practical to me, and also, I just can't use the word "crumbing" when there's no breadcrumbs involved!!
    5. Frying vessel - You're working with volume here, lots of little pieces of chicken that cooks fast. Up and coming cooks - I recommend using a smaller cooking vessel (~20cm/8") and cooking in smaller batches which is easier, less speed to worry about. Capable cooks - feel free to use a larger cooking vessel ~25cm/10". With a skillet, you can cook all the chicken in 3 batches in 6 minutes flat!
    6. Batch cooking - Depending on how fast you work and how well your chicken is flour coated, the chicken may sweat (ie change from white to dark) while it is waiting around on the tray. If so, just toss the chicken in the flour on the tray just before frying.
    7. Oil temperature - use a thermometer to check the temperature. If you don't have one, test by throwing in a lump of breading - should sizzle straight away but not burn quickly. OR stick a bamboo chopstick in and touch the base of the pot - if bubbles rise from floor of pot, oil is hot enough.
    8. Spider - Cooking utensil that is like a handheld colander / wire mesh, very useful for scooping things out of water / oil. See pictures in post / video for the one I have.
    If you don't have one with holes large enough for the flour to easily fall through, shake excess flour off before transferring into a regular finer mesh spider or slotted spoon before lowering into the oil.
    9. Recipe source: Some techniques adapted from Kenji’s recipe on Serious Eats with some steps simplified / amended based on my testing. Spices are my KFC copycat “11 secret herbs and spices” mix.
    Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge but crust will lose crispiness and inside is not as juicy as freshly cooked. Reheat with a quick 30 second fry or 3 minutes in a very hot oven.
    Oil reuse - Oil gets infused with the seasoning flavour so while it's ok to re-use once or twice more, be mindful that whatever you cook will be infused with the seasoning flavour from this recipe. I used the same oil to make this same popcorn chicken 3 times. I let the flour bits settle then poured off the clean oil, and topped up a bit as needed.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 100g | Calories: 280cal | Carbohydrates: 9.4g | Protein: 21.8g | Fat: 17.3g | Saturated Fat: 3.7g | Sodium: 589mg | Sugar: 1.5g