Air Fryer Skinny Popcorn Chicken

About

If you have an air fryer, there’s no need for adding extra carbs to your fried Keto meal with gluten-free flours to get a crispy outside. Instead of spending time dredging and dipping popcorn chicken for frying, you can make this “skinny” version: no breading and no skin on the chicken. Bite-sized pieces of popcorn chicken are heavily seasoned with 10 special spices that taste almost identical to what you’d order at your local fried chicken drive-thru. The popcorn chicken is then quickly fried in the air fryer, resulting in juicy bites of chicken with crispy outsides and tender insides. After making the recipe, you can store any cooled portions of popcorn chicken in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to 3 days. This is a fantastic Keto recipe for meal prepping, so meal pairing suggestions are made further below. Otherwise, use this recipe when you want a quick snack to dip in some Keto ketchup or another favorite low-carb condiment.

Meal Pairing Suggestions

This recipe is very easy to multiply to make multiple servings for your Keto meal prep. If you want to pair your skinny popcorn chicken with a side dish, you have hundreds of options available to your on Carb Manager. To keep things fast and easy, the simplest Keto side dish would be vegetables sauteed in butter or olive oil. Keto vegetables include cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, cucumber, or mushrooms, to name a few. For a larger meal, you can prep using the skinny popcorn chicken, check out the Carb Manager Low Carb Copycat Popcorn Chicken Bowl recipe.

How Does An Air Fryer Work?

Before air fryers were a popular appliance to have at home, most people had to fry their foods using thick batters and a lot of unhealthy oils. Air fryers work similarly to a confection oven, meaning it blows hot air at a rapid pace to flash-cook foods, unlike if you were to cook at the same temperature in an oven. This removes the need for coating foods in frying batters to create the crunchy factor. By cooking food at a higher temperature for a shorter time in a more confined space, you get that crunchy outside and tender inside effect.

Ingredients

4 oz chicken breast boneless skinless raw
¼ teaspoon olive or extra virgin olive oil
1 dash salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper, ground
⅛ teaspoon thyme, dried
¼ teaspoon basil, dried
¼ teaspoon oregano, dried
⅛ teaspoon celery salt
⅛ teaspoon mustard powder
⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon paprika
⅛ teaspoon ginger, ground

Instructions

Turn on an air fryer and preheat it to 350 degrees for 5 minutes. While the air fryer is preheating, cut the chicken breast into 1-bite, “popcorn”-sized pieces – about 8 pieces for 1 serving. Trim away any excess fat before you weigh out your chicken. If it’s available to you, you may wish to use chicken breast that has already been cut into tenders, as this helps ensure your popcorn chicken pieces are even in size.
Add the pieces of chicken breast to a small mixing bowl, and drizzle the olive oil in. Quickly toss the chicken with olive oil. Then, toss the chicken a second time with all the seasonings listed until the chicken is completely coated. Line your air fryer tray with parchment paper, if necessary, and arrange the seasoned popcorn chicken on it.
Cook the tray of popcorn chicken in the air fryer for 10 minutes. Then, flip or rotate the chicken and cook for an additional 5 minutes. To test for doneness, the outside of the chicken should have a crispy outside with golden-brown edges all around. You can cook for longer if necessary. Serve hot with your preferred Keto dipping sauce.