Air Fryer Popcorn Chicken is the perfect recipe for making a quick dinner, feeding a crowd, or serving up as a party appetizer or a snack on game day. You’re going to love this super crispy chicken.
Suitable for gluten free diets. Post includes Weight Watchers points.
If you are looking for one of the easiest and tastiest recipes you can make in your air fryer, this is it!
If you’ve got picky kids who only like chicken, you want this recipe in your repertoire. Serve up this air fryer popcorn chicken with a few dipping sauces and a side dish for a true whole family friendly meal.
Table of Contents
Easy Air Fryer Popcorn Chicken
This popcorn chicken cooks up in less than 10 minutes and makes a perfect meal, family dinner, snack, or appetizer.
You can get creative and roll some in a tortilla with cheese and lettuce for a tasty wrap. Or serve it over mashed potatoes and gravy for a copycat version of KFC’s Chicken Bowls.
This is one of those healthy recipes that is better than take out Air Fryer Nachos and really delicious Air Fryer Egg Rolls and just as loved as our Air Fryer Chicken Wings .
Popcorn chicken in air fryer uses corn flakes for the coating, so it’s gluten-free and comes out incredibly crispy without deep frying.
Why Make This Recipe
- Easy – Coat the chicken and toss it in the air fryer.
- Kid-friendly – Kids love chicken, and it never hurts to have a new chicken recipe.
- Versatile – this dish is great as an appetizer or as a main course. And simply double the recipe to feed a crowd.
- Healthier – way less calories than using a deep fryer.
- Frugal – Serve with some sides and a little chicken goes a long way.
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken – Skinless Chicken breasts cooks up tender and juicy. You can also use boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of the chicken breast.
- Spices – We’ve added garlic powder and kosher salt separately because it helps control the amount of salt. You can use garlic salt in place of the two ingredients, but it tends to be a little saltier.
- Buttermilk – If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can add 1 Tbs. of white vinegar or 1 Tbs. of lemon juice to milk and allow it to sit for 2-3 minutes. Alternately you can use plain greek yogurt.
- Cornflakes – crushed cornflakes gives these chicken pieces their delicious crunch – the crispy breading this recipe is know for. I prefer coarsely crushed cornflakes but you have a few finely crushed cornflakes to even it out.
How To Make Popcorn Chicken in Air Fryer
Get full ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.
- Preheat Air Fryer to 350F / 180C.
- Combine crushed cornflakes, garlic powder, and salt in a large bowl or a large plastic bag.
- Dip the cubed chicken pieces into buttermilk, then roll them in the cornflakes mixture.
- Press lightly to make the cornflakes stick to the chicken.
- Place in a single layer in the air fryer basket and air fry for 10 minutes at 350F / 176C until they are golden brown all over and cooked through.
- Serve immediately or save air fried chicken till later.
Tips For Success
- Spray your air fryer with cooking spray or olive oil, or use a piece of parchment to prevent the chicken from sticking to the basket.
- If possible, allow the air fryer chicken to rest for about 10 minutes after coating and before air frying. This helps the coating to adhere to the chicken.
- Leave space between the pieces of chicken during air frying so the air circulates and the pieces cook evenly and crisp up.
- Depending on the size of your air fryer you may need to cook these in batches.
- Shake or turn the chicken halfway through cooking.
- Check for doneness with a meat thermometer. The internal temperature of chicken should reach at least 165F / 76C.
- Feel free to spray the pieces with a little olive oil or cooking spray for extra crunch.
Variations
- Spicy Popcorn Chicken – add a bit of cayenne pepper to the cornflakes coating to give the chicken bits a bit of heat.
- Italian Popcorn Chicken – add Italian seasoning and a bit of grated parmesan cheese to the coating mixture.
- Vary more spices – add more dried spices like onion powder, cajun seasoning, greek seasoning, poultry seasoning etc.
- Breaded chicken – if you prefer you can make your homemade popcorn chicken with seasoned flour mixture and bread crumbs. You might need to dip chicken in flour, an egg mixture and then the breadcrumbs before frying.
- Dipping sauce – serve these as is or with things like honey mustard sauce, bbq sauce, homemade ketchup and more.
- Nuggets – You can use this same cornflakes and seasoning to make chicken nuggets.
Budget-Friendly Tips
- Purchase Chicken in Bulk – Buy chicken breasts when it’s on sale or buy it in bulk to get the best prices. Freeze what you don’t use right away for later.
- Use Stale Cornflakes – Didn’t eat all the cornflakes before they went stale? Save them in a bag in the freezer to use for coating chicken.
- Cook Once, Eat Twice – Make a big batch of crispy popcorn chicken pieces and serve it in wraps for dinner the second night.
Make Ahead And Storage
Prep Ahead – You can cube and soak the chicken in the buttermilk for up to 24 hours before cooking the popcorn chicken.
Store – Store leftover chicken for up to three days in the fridge.
Freeze – Follow the handy tips below for how to freeze these;
- Lay cooked popcorn chicken in a single layer on a baking tray.
- Freeze for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Place chicken into freezer bags for up to four months.
- Take out what you need and reheat in the microwave, oven, or air fryer.
FAQs
Yes! Most brands of Cornflakes cereal are gluten-free, and since there is no flour in this coating, this recipe is gluten-free.
If you prefer larger pieces of chicken, you can coat chicken tenders with the cornflake mixture. Be sure to check for doneness with a meat thermometer, as the larger pieces may take a bit longer to cook.
More Delicious Recipes You May Like
For more air fryer chicken recipes and other delicious recipes you might like check out these below.
- Air Fryer Chicken Sandwich.
- Air Fryer Southwest Egg Rolls.
- Air Fryer Chicken Wings.
- Air Fryer Orange Chicken.
- Air Fryer Whole Chicken.
- Air Fryer Chicken And Potatoes.
- Air Fryer General Tsos Chicken.
- Air Fryer Ranch Pretzels.
- For something a little different try Kung Pao Chicken.
Serving Suggestion
To make this a family dinner serve with Garlic Parmesan Fries, or with Dump and Start Garlic Butter Red Potatoes or Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice.
You can also serve alongside some Smothered Green Beans.
Weight Watchers Points
There are 3 Blue Plan SmartPoints in one serving of this.
Tools To Make This
- Air Fryer.
- Handy mixing bowl.
- Measuring cups and spoons.
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Get The Popcorn Chicken in Air Fryer Recipe:
Air Fryer Popcorn Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts boneless and skinless
- 1 cup (28g) crushed Cornflakes cereal
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (240mL) buttermilk
Instructions
- Combine crushed cornflakes, garlic powder, and salt in a dish or a large plastic bag.
- Pour buttermilk into a separate bowl, dip the cubed chicken in the buttermilk, then roll them in the cornflakes mixture.
- Press lightly on the Cornflakes coating so it sticks to the chicken.
- Place chicken pieces in a single layer in the air fryer and cook for 10 minutes at 350F / 176C.
- Repeat process until all of the popcorn chicken is cooked.
Notes
- Spray your air fryer with cooking spray, or use a piece of parchment to prevent the chicken from sticking to the basket.
- If possible, allow the chicken to rest for about 10 minutes after coating and before air frying. This helps the coating to adhere to the chicken.
- Leave space between the pieces of chicken.
- Shake or turn the chicken halfway through cooking.
- Check for doneness with a meat thermometer. The internal temperature of chicken should reach at least 165F / 76C.
- Purchase Chicken in Bulk – Buy chicken when it’s on sale or buy it in bulk to get the best prices. Freeze what you don’t use right away for later.
- Use Stale Cornflakes – Didn’t eat all the cornflakes before they went stale? Save them in a bag in the freezer to use for coating chicken.
- Cook Once, Eat Twice –
- Make a big batch of chicken and serve it in wraps for dinner the second night.
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