Lemon Pepper Popcorn Chicken
Crispy, juicy and delicious. This recipe for lemon pepper popcorn chicken is the ultimate snack or simple meal. It’s delicious served with a dipping sauce as an appetizer for game day or with a side dish for a family dinner.
Ingredients
- Chicken. Boneless chicken thighs or chicken breasts can be used.
- Flour.
- Lemon pepper seasoning. Other spices like paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chilli powder or dried herbs like oregano, parsley or basil can all be used too.
- Salt.
- Eggs.
- Panko bread crumbs. Panko crumbs gives an incredibly crisp crust to the chicken but use any breadcrumbs you like. Fresh, dried or Italian breadcrumbs all work.
- Oil, for frying.
How to make lemon pepper popcorn chicken
- Prepare and bread the chicken: In a shallow bowl, whisk together the flour, lemon pepper seasoning and salt. Whisk the eggs into a separate bowl and combine the panko, a tsp salt and two tsp lemon pepper seasoning into another bowl. Cut the chicken into bite size chunks. Coat chicken pieces first in the flour, then in the egg and finally in the panko. Make sure the chicken is thoroughly coated with every step.
- Fry: Heat enough oil to deep fry the chicken in a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken in batches and cook until golden brown on the outside and cooked through on the inside. Remove the chicken from the hot oil with a slotted spoon and allow to drain on paper towels or a wire rack.
- Serve: Serve the chicken with lemon wedges and sauce of your choice for dipping.
Can I make this ahead?
Yes, you can prepare popcorn chicken ahead. Bread the chicken and place in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper then freeze until solid and transfer to a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months and cook from frozen.
What to serve with popcorn chicken
Popcorn chicken is the perfect game day snack, lunch or easy dinner. It’s great served with a dipping sauce like ketchup, bbq sauce, ranch, honey mustard etc. Adding side dishes like potato wedges, fries or a simple salad will turn this recipe into a family favorite meal.
FAQ
Yes, this recipe works very well cooked in an air fryer. Prepare the popcorn chicken as directed then add to the air fryer basket in a single layer. Air fry at 400°F/200°C for 15 minutes, turning over half way, until crisp and golden.
Popcorn chicken can be baked, fried or cooked in an air fryer. Frying definitely results in the best tasting chicken but for a lighter version, baking or air frying works very well.
Crispy chicken recipes
Ingredients
- 500 g (1lb) chicken cubed
- 1 cup flour
- 4 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs beaten
- 2 cups panko bread crumbs
- oil for frying
Instructions
- In a shallow bowl, whisk together the flour, 2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning and half a teaspoon of salt.
- Whisk the eggs into a separate bowl and combine the panko, the rest of the salt and two tsp lemon pepper seasoning into another bowl.
- Cut the chicken into bite size chunks. Coat the chicken first in the flour, then in the egg and finally in the panko.
- Heat enough oil to deep fry the chicken in a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add the chicken in batches and cook until golden brown on the outside and cooked through on the inside.
- Remove the chicken from the hot oil with a slotted spoon and allow to drain on paper towels.
- Serve the chicken with lemon wedges and sauce of your choice for dipping.
Do you use 4 or 6 tsp of lemon pepper? Step one says to add it to flour, but step 2 says add 2 tsp to panko so how many tsp do you add in step one?
2 tsp in panko, 2 tsp in flour mixture.