Baked Popcorn Chicken
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A healthier alternative to the deep-fried version with the best crispy potato chip crust!! No one will believe that this is baked!
Nope. The title is correct. This is baked.
Yes, completely baked from 0 to 100.
The secret? The epic potato chip crust!
And the beauty of the crust is how many variations you can use since Kettle Brand has so many bold flavors – pepperoncini, sriracha, maple bacon, etc. – you name it.
I used sour cream and onion here but you know Sriracha is next on my list.
Then the pepperoncini….then the roasted garlic……well, let’s just say I’m making my way down the list to hit them all.
Baked Popcorn Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 cups reduced fat buttermilk
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 cups crushed Sour Cream and Onion Kettle Brand® Potato Chips
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a cooling rack with nonstick spray and place on a baking sheet; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine chicken, buttermilk, garlic, basil, oregano, thyme, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper, to taste; marinate for at least 30 minutes. Drain well.
- Working in batches, dredge chicken in crushed potato chips, pressing to coat. Place onto the prepared baking sheet; drizzle with butter.
- Place into oven and bake, turning pieces halfway through, until crisp and cooked through, about 20-25 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Kettle Brand. As always, I only partner with brands that I love and truly believe in, allowing me to create more quick and easy recipes to get us through the week without breaking the bank. All opinions expressed are my own.
This was good
All I can say is YUMMY , eat them like popcorn nuggets.
I couldn’t get the chips crumbs to adhere to the chicken very well. I suspect the key might be that you have to really crumble them and then some how keep the texture. It was good though.
What sauce did you dip the Baked Popcorn Chicken into? Looks yummy
Looks like a honey mustard, search them on line.
This is a great recipe! Can you tell me the name of the dipping sauce in the picture? Would love to use too.
Hi, i loved your recipe, i was wondering can i make this using bone less beef cubes?
If i pre-cook the beef then coat it with buttermilk and chips then how long should i bake it in the oven?
Any ideas?
This looks delicious and will try. Question- the ingredient list says 1/4 cup butter but I didn’t see anywhere mentioning the butter in the directions. Am I missing anything? Thanks!
All the flavors were there but I had issues with the coating. It kept falling off and sticking to the pan every time I tried to flip. Any ideas on how to fix it?
I love popcorn chicken so much. And you gave me the baking version of this recipe. Simply superb. Will try this recipe AsAp. Thank you.
Great recipe! Turned out crispy and moist on my convection setting. My variations: cut up chicken breast tenders, almond milk, Kettle Brand buffalo bleu chips. Served with a homemade bleu cheese-buffalo dipping sauce and carrots and celery.
Delicious and easy! Thanks for sharing
Sorry, I’m realizing the error of my potato chip/gluten question! My bad!
Hi, this recipe looks great! I’m excited to try it! May I use gluten free potato chips?
(Also, I noticed people making comments about the potato chips being fried & if that’s an issue for some I’ve made other recipes using baked chips & had no issues. I haven’t tried it with this recipe, but just a thought.)
I forgot the butter! 🙁
This is just brilliant! Seriously.
My grandchildren & I made these last week. We marinated them several hours since we were busy doing other things, other than that we followed your directions exactly. They turned out wonderful. We didn’t have any problems with the chips sticking to the chicken. They looked exactly like your picture. Even though the chips are fried, they are certified gluten free, non gmo & 0 grams trans fat, all of the things are important to our family. Everyone loved them & we now have a new family favorite- thank you
These look amazing! I am dairy free. Does coconut or almond milk work as a buttermilk replacement? In other chicken finger recipes, I have used an egg to dip the chicken in before dipping the chicken in the flour. It’s a mess, but I think it works decently well. Which is the best option, do you think?
Thanks!
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
As a vegetarian, I wonder if I could use tofu instead of chicken ?
Yes, what a great idea!
You always knocking it out of the park, and you nailed it again. I cannot wait to make these. They look so yummy and very tasty.
OMG yum!!!! I could snak on that allll day. amazing (:
I’m always looking for good chicken recipes that are not fried.
You could use corn flakes (crushed) and just add some onion powder in them for flavor.
Oh my goodness! These look so good. I especially love that they are baked instead of fried. We don’t generally fry anything at my house so this is perfect. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Here in Canada we have Miss Vickie’s chips which come in many delicious flavours including, for those of us who need to control salt intake, Unsalted. They should work beautifully with this recipe.
Hi, it’s delicious but it’s not baked if you’re using fried potato chips…sorry…
Yes, but the chicken is baked, right? 🙂
Love this recipe!! I tried them tonight but I had the same issue as another commenter– the potato chip breading fell off. :(. Any suggestions on how to avoid this. I was thinking if I blended the chips in a blender or food processor maybe? Thank you for posting such a delicious recipe!
These were so yummy and moist. Mine didn’t look as golden brown as yours but that might be because I didn’t have a cooling tray to cook them on. I used a broiler pan instead but they still turned out so tasty! I matched them with a copycat Chick Fil A Sauce and some french fries made out of daikon.
wish these actually turned out like the picture. coating just falls off when you flip them, so you end up with steamed little nubbins of chicken. boo.
These are amazing! Normally when I bake breaded chicken it comes out dry, but these were perfect! Thank you!
FYI- the reason these are so good is because the breading IS FRIED, NOT BAKED. Potato chips are already fried, which is why the breading tastes so good and crispy.
That’s totally fine- I’m all for a good fried coating. But don’t be fooled by the “healthy” claims in this post.
Stupid question….so I bake them on the cooling rack? Or on parchment paper?
You can bake these directly on a cooling rack that is placed on a baking sheet.
Looking forward to making these! Do you think halving the recipe would be okay?
Yes, absolutely.
Do you have to put a cooling rack on it?
A cooling rack will help suspend the chicken as they bake, significantly uping the crunch factor! 🙂
These look incredible Chungah! I can’t wait to try them.
Can you freeze these?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I made this last night with chicken breast chunks. Marinated in homemade buttermilk for about 3 hours. This was very very good. Chicken was crunch and tender and juicy inside. Only thing I would do different (and this is my fault) I would crunch up the chips a little bit more so they would be finer and would coat the chicken a bit more. Thanks for a great dish!!
This looks utterly delicious, but also potentially dangerous as I would gobble this up so quickly!
Just an FYI, kettle cook chips are still fried in oil, so the claim of “Yes, completely baked from 0 to 100” is a bit mis-leading. My daughter cannot have ANY fried foods, so we’re very careful and have to look for baked chicken recipes.
Anyway, LOVE your recipes, but I will modify to use baked chips. Just thought you might want to update for other people in our situation.
Making this tonight, and also need to try out your homemade honey mustard. Thanks!
I liked the overall flavor of these, but had a big problem with getting the chips to stick to the chicken bites. Those that did stick mostly fell off when I turned the chicken. Any tips?
The chicken should still be a little bit wet from the buttermilk mixture – that should help with the coating. Hope that helps!
I made this last night…the 4 kids and the hubby loved it! I cheated though and marinated in spices and buttermilk ranch overnight. The chips were fun for the kids to crunch up 🙂 Will def make this again!
Family Loved this. Thanks. 🙂
OMG! This looks absolutely delicious and I’m so glad it’s baked. I’m going to make the dip with it as well 😛
http://www.wildfirecharm.com
Your recipes always filled my mouth with water …. damn awesome .. thanks for sharing
I never remember to leave comments for recipes from websites, blogs, etc. but these little chicken nuggets were seriously delicious and very easy to make. I just so happened to have time to marinate them for almost 3 hours (I didn’t have buttermilk so substituted almond milk) then followed the rest of the recipe and they were amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever cooked chicken thighs and was a little hesitant but they are so much more juicy and delicious than chicken breasts! The Kettle Brand chips (which I love anyway) add such a great crunch and flavor. My husband and I LOVED these and I’ll definitely be making them again. Thank you, Chungah, all of your recipes I’ve tried have been awesome! 🙂
I agree, these recipes are fantastic. Thanks Molly for advice re Almond Milk – I’m dairy free, it’s good to know that worked also. Cheers 🙂
You can add white vinegar to non dairy milk to create a similar effect that buttermilk has
Kettle has some fantastic flavors to choose from! I can think of a few I’d like to try with this!
Harry
Why do you use chicken thighs vs boneless/skinless chicken breast? Looks good. Thanks
I sometimes switch from white (breast) to dark meat (thigh) because of a taste preference but it comes at a price – higher calories, fat and saturated fat. But at the end of the day, you can use either/or – it’s up to personal preference.
Is that a type of mustard?
I used my homemade honey mustard recipe!
What type of dipping sauce?
I used my homemade honey mustard recipe!
Damn Delicious .. i really love your recipy
Aren’t the potato chip fried?
What is the dipping sauce? These look delicious.
I used my homemade honey mustard recipe!
Love all your receipes..delish and easy to make…Question:What sauce are you dipping these Baked Popcorn chicken?
I used my homemade honey mustard recipe!
KFC just got owned (;
What are you dipping this chicken in??
I used my homemade honey mustard recipe!
Have you tried this recipe with whole chicken thighs and if so how long would you cook them for?
I actually haven’t – sorry!
I cook chicken pcs alot using chips as a coating, you can just dip them in butter or beaten egg or even water, then bake them as you would any other time. I put parchment paper down on a cookie sheet but Im thinking a baking rack would work just as well. Always a tasty treat, and I have also used different flavoured chips ie: Barbq, onion and garlic, etc. I bake mine at 350 F.
Is that honey mustard for the dipping sauce? Do you have a recipe for your own?
I used my homemade honey mustard recipe!
Love all your recipes! Really delicious and easy to follow!
Looks great, have to try this. Unless I missed it you neglected to tell us what the dipping sauce is.
I used my homemade honey mustard recipe!
This looks fantastic! The pictures show some sort of dip. What do you recommend?
I used my homemade honey mustard recipe!