Easy Homemade Popcorn Chicken Recipe

Flavorful and crispy popcorn chicken is my favorite food to nibble on. With this easy popcorn chicken recipe, you will be able to make this yummy bite-size fried chicken at home for any occasion at any time. 

Irresistible Crispy Popcorn Chicken is My Comfort Food

Popcorn Chicken is one of my favorite guilty pleasure deep-fried foods. I remember when I was younger I always had to secretly go buy popcorn chicken behind my mom’s back because my mom would yell at me: “Fried chicken, yeet hay!” “Yeet hay” is a Cantonese word that usually refers to deep-fried, unhealthy food.  But this crispy bite-size fried chicken is so irresistible that I would risk to be “Yeet Hay” and still have it at least once a week. I still love to have popcorn chicken occasionally. There is one Asian cafe near my apartment, and they have this incredibly delicious popcorn chicken that is very addictive. Their popcorn chicken is very crispy outside and juicy and garlicky inside. So I decided to figure out how to make it at home from scratch so that I can enjoy it as an afternoon snack or an appetizer for a party.

What we need for Homemade Popcorn Chicken

Good news! We only need one piece of skinless chicken thigh (about half a pound), flour, eggs as our key ingredients for popcorn chicken. But without marinating the chicken, it would be so plain! In order to make the chicken flavorful and garlicky, we need to marinate the chicken thigh before popping them in the blazing hot cooking oil. 

Salt, sugar, white pepper powder, soy sauce, and garlic are the secret ingredients to infuse the alluring umami into the chicken thigh. 

How to make popcorn chicken – The Easiest Way

These are a few simple steps to make popcorn chicken at home: cutting, marinating, flour coating, and frying. Let’s take a closer look at each step.

Prepping

Cut the chicken thigh

On a cutting board, cut the chicken thigh into even bite-size pieces. My tip on cutting is to use your knuckles to guide the knife, this will prevent the knife from cutting your fingers. 

Marinate for at least 20 minutes

Marinating the chicken cubes is a key step to make the popcorn chicken flavorful. If you are in a rush, I recommend marinating the chicken for at least 20 minutes. It’s not the most ideal way, but I have done it before when I just suddenly crave popcorn chicken so badly. Quickly marinate the chicken meat for about 20 minutes is good enough. If you have time, the best way is to marinate the chicken cubes for one hour. That way, the flavor of garlic and other ingredients can be fully soaked in the meat. If you could plan ahead, marinating the chicken cubes the night before could save some troubles. 

Coat the chicken cubes with beaten egg and flour

The next step is to coat the chicken cubes with egg and flour. Beat two eggs in a wide bowl, and put flour in another bowl. Dip the chicken cubes in the egg then coat them in the bowl of flour, piece by piece. Make sure every side of the chicken cubes are coated by egg and flour.

Frying

Heat up the oil

Be generous with the cooking oil when making popcorn chicken, because frying requires more oil than other cooking methods. In a small pot, add 2-3 inches of cooking oil. Note that it’s better to use cooking oils that are meant for high-heat cooking, such as sunflower oil and canola oil. Heat up the cooking oil over medium-high heat.

Deep-fry in cooking oil on medium-low heat

When the oil is hot and ready, turn the heat down to medium-low. Put the chicken cubes in the oil to fry for about 3 to 4 minutes until it’s browned. Use a strainer to pick up the popcorn chicken and place them on a paper towel to absorb the extra oil. In this step, you should make sure that the chicken cubes are separated from each other in the oil. To prevent the chicken cubes from sticking together, fry them in batches.

Refry the chicken on medium-high heat

After frying the chicken cubes on medium-low heat, the popcorn chicken is not done yet! Turn up the heat to medium-high, fry the chicken cubes again for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Pick them up and absorb the extra oil using a paper towel.

With these simple steps, your flavorful popcorn chicken is ready! At the end serve it with a lemon wedge, drizzle some lemon juice on top.

Bonus Tips to Make Popcorn Chicken Juicy and Crispy

How to tell the temperature of the oil

The oil at the right temperature is the key to make the popcorn chicken crispy. If the oil is not hot enough, the popcorn chicken would be soggy. However, it’s difficult to tell when the oil is ready to fry. Don’t worry, I felt the same when I did it the first few times.  My mom taught me a trick – use a wooden chopstick. Stick the chopstick in the oil, if you see the little bubbles around the chopstick, the oil is hot and ready to fry. 

Bread crumbs to make crispier popcorn chicken

In this recipe, I used flour and the popcorn chicken turned out pretty great! But if you have bread crumbs, you could use bread crumbs to coat the chicken cubes and it would make the popcorn chicken crispier. 

Refry the chicken to make it golden brown

In order to have beautifully golden browned popcorn chicken, remember to fry the chicken cubes for two times. The first time is meant to “cook” the chicken. You will see the chicken being lightly brown after the first frying. Cool down the popcorn chicken for about five minutes before refrying. The second time is to “color” the popcorn chicken over medium-high heat. 

Can You Save The Leftover Popcorn Chicken for Later?

The answer is yes. You could make more popcorn chicken and save the leftover in the fridge for a day or two. When you want to eat the leftovers, heat it up in the oven at 400 F for about 15 minutes. Toss the popcorn chicken halfway.

Recipe