Chicken Poppers
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These perfect bite-size Chicken Poppers are addictively good and take just 30 minutes to make! Lightly breaded in a sweet and savory flour mixture and then air fried until crisp golden brown, they are served with a creamy mayo honey mustard sauce. You can pop them right into your mouth, serve them over a green salad, or fry some up for a party!
Easy Air Fryer Chicken Poppers Recipe
Fried chicken is even better when it’s bite-size and cooked in the air fryer! Just like my Air Fryer Chicken Tenders, this chicken poppers recipe is incredible and cuts down on the fat by using the air fryer. So yes my friends, this recipe is both delicious and on the healthy side. Not to mention, the time you save not having to clean up a bunch of oil.
You may also notice a usual ingredient in the flour mixture. Powdered sugar! It’s actually a secret ingredient that a lot of well-known places add to the breading of the chicken on their famous sandwiches. The little bit of sweetness highlights the savory flavors and because powdered sugar is like powder it blends right in not impacting the texture at all. In fact, some say it adds to the crispiness due to the sugar, as well as helping to brown the chicken.
At my house, we normally have a hard time keeping these air fryer chicken poppers around long enough to make them more than a snack. We just love them around here with or without the sauce, though that sauce is to die for. But they could make a great appetizer at any party or protein to top your favorite green salad.
Why You’ll Love These Chicken Poppers
- Quick And Easy! From start to finish this simple recipe takes just 30 minutes! All you need is an air fryer, some chicken breasts, and a few basic pantry ingredients.
- Bite Size Deliciousness! With a lightly crisp savory sweet coating, these tasty poppers are so darn good. Then dip them in the yummy sauce and you are going to be hooked.
- Kid Friendly! Your whole family will love this delicious chicken that pops right in your mouth! Especially the kids! It’s the ideal healthy quick and easy snack or main.
- Mayonnaise: You can use any store-bought mayo or make your own Homemade Mayonnaise.
- Mustard: I like to use regular prepared yellow mustard, but Dijon is another option.
- Garlic Powder: Gives the sauce a little more flavor. If you are a garlic lover feel free to add as much as you like.
- Vinegar: Adds a lovely touch of acid. You could also use lemon juice.
- Honey: Sweetens the sauce up just a bit and is wonderful in combination with the mustard.
- Seasonings: Salt and black pepper are used to season the sauce.
- Chicken: You can use skinless boneless chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins.
- Flour: Used to coat the chicken and make it crispy.
- Powdered Sugar: Adds a bit of unexpected sweetness to the coating that contrasts wonderfully well with the savory flavors plus it helps brown the chicken.
- Seasonings: Salt and black pepper are used to enhance the flavor of the chicken and season the coating.
- Paprika: A dash of paprika adds another layer of flavor with its sweet peppery taste.
- Nonstick Cooking Spray: Cooking spray helps to both crisp up the nuggets more and keep them from sticking to the air fryer basket as they cook.
Air frying chicken is super easy! It’s a great way to cut back on the fat and still enjoy juicy fried chicken. Just follow these steps and your poppers are sure to come out perfectly!
Before you even start, preheat your air fryer to 380°F (193°C) if needed. But whether or not you need to preheat really depends on your particular air fryer. You will need to check the manufacturer’s guide of our model. I also like to spray a little bit of cooking spray on the bottom of my air fryer basket.
Now let’s season some chicken! First, cut each piece of chicken into bite-sized chunks. Then add the flour, powdered sugar, salt, black pepper, and paprika to a ziplock bag. Next, close the bag and shake it until the mixture is fully combined.
Now, add the chicken pieces to the flour mixture in the bag, close it again, and shake it once more until each piece is completely coated. Then remove the chicken pieces from the bag while shaking off the excess flour and place them in a single layer in the air fryer basket. If all the poppers don’t fit in the basket, you will need to cook them in batches.
To cook, put the basket into the air fryer, spray them with a little bit of cooking spray and cook for 15 minutes shaking the basket halfway through the cooking time to shake the poppers around. This helps them to evenly cook and get even more crispy. When done, the internal temperature of the chicken needs to have reached 165°F (74°C) when checked with a digital cooking thermometer. This is to ensure that it’s fully cooked and safe to eat.
While the chicken poppers are air frying you can make the sauce. To do this, just stir all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl with a whisk. Then put the sauce in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
When the air fryer chicken poppers are done cooking, remove them from the basket and serve them right away with the yummy honey mustard sauce. You can also serve them with buffalo sauce, bbq sauce or Ranch Dressing if you prefer.
Can I Make This Recipe Gluten-Free?
Yes! These air fryer chicken poppers can easily be made gluten-free by simply using your favorite gluten-free flour in place of traditional all-purpose flour.
Can I Bake The Poppers In The Oven?
Yes, simply prepare the poppers according to the recipe instructions until it comes time to air fry. Then lay the uncooked coated chicken on a nonstick sheet pan sprayed with cooking spray and put them in the oven to cook for 15 to 20 minutes at 380°F (193°C).
Expert Tips
- Pat the chicken dry. Pat the chicken dry before cutting it into pieces to remove any excess moisture. This will help to create a better coating on the chicken.
- Use the powdered sugar. The sugar takes this air fryer chicken poppers recipe to the next level by creating a savory sweet coating on the chicken pieces and it also helps brown the chicken.
- Temp the chicken. To ensure that chicken is fully cooked, use an instant-read digital thermometer to make sure that it has reached an internal temperature of at least 165°F (74°C).
Storage
Leftover air fryer chicken poppers will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months in an airtight container or sealed freezer bag. Then when you are ready to reheat, simply pop them in the toaster oven at 350°F (177°C) for about 7 minutes.
You can also reheat them in the microwave for about 3 minutes on medium power. However, if frozen, just lay the poppers out on a baking sheet and put them in the oven at 350°F (177°C) for about 20 minutes or until warm.
Other Delicious Chicken Recipes To Try
- Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
- Butter Chicken
- Crispy Baked Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings
- Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
- Chinese Lemon Chicken
- Baked BBQ Chicken Drumsticks
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Chicken Poppers
Ingredients
Sauce
- ½ cup mayo
- 2 tablespoons mustard (regular prepared yellow mustard)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- salt and pepper (to taste)
Chicken
- 1½ pounds chicken breasts (skinless or boneless, or chicken tenders, cut into bite sized pieces)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Preheat your air fryer to 380°F (193°C) if needed.
- Add all the sauce ingredients to a small bowl, whisk well and refrigerate until ready for serving.
- In a large ziploc bag add the flour, sugar, salt, paprika and pepper. Close the bag and shake it so that all ingredients are mixed well.
- Add the chicken pieces to the ziploc bag, close it and shake it until each piece is fully coated in the flour mixture.
- Remove the chicken pieces from the ziploc bag, shake all the excess flour from them and spray the bottom of the air fryer basket with a little cooking spray. Place the chicken in the basket in a single layer and spray them as well with a bit of cooking spray. Put the basket into the air fryer and and air fry the chicken for 15 minutes. Remove the basket halfway through the cooking time to shake the poppers around.
- Serve hot with the mayo/mustard sauce or your favorite dipping sauce.
Equipment
Notes
- Pat the chicken dry. Pat the chicken dry before cutting it into pieces to remove any excess moisture. This will help to create a better coating on the chicken.
- Use the powdered sugar. The sugar takes this air fryer chicken poppers recipe to the next level by creating a savory sweet coating on the chicken pieces and it also helps brown the chicken.
- Temp the chicken. To ensure that chicken is fully cooked, use an instant-read digital thermometer to make sure that it has reached an internal temperature of at least 165°F (74°C).
- Leftover chicken poppers will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months in an airtight container or sealed freezer bag.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Fantastic! I just got an Emeril Lagasse French Door 360 airfryer and I’m trying to learn to use it. These are the best thing I’ve cooked so far. I did follow mIKE’s suggestion of soaking the chicken in milk before tossing with the flour mixture. Next time I will try using a bit less sugar and a bit more salt, but this is a good basic recipe/technique. Seasonings can be tailored for different flavors (smoked paprika, Italian seasoning, Mexican, etc) and served with a myriad of sauces. Would even be good for a sweet and sour chicken! Thank you for a great recipe.
They look great, so glad you enjoyed them!
Love it
Third was easy to make and very tasty
Just got done eating these a few minutes ago. Made the recipe to the T. They turned out fabulous! For my second batch, I decided to change up the breading a bit as I found it just didn’t stick well.
(Yes, I realize these aren’t supposed to be breaded, and doing the following will not make them breaded like a chicken nugget, they actually turned out even more close to a real chik-fil-a nugget).
Before dropping the chicken pieces in the bag to coat, soak them in a bowl of milk and drop them in in batches. Again, this doesn’t “bread” them in the traditional sense, but it yielded a more tasty result in my opinion.
Thanks for the tip! Mine turned out great and did seem “breaded” to me!
Can I make these in the morning and reheat them in the evening for a party? Will they be soggy?
I don’t think they’ll be soggy because they’re not breaded. However I would maybe heat them up in the oven and not the microwave, because it might make the meat a bit chewey. These poppers are best served when they’re first made though.
Anyone ever try baking these instead of frying?
I find it interesting that you use sugar in some of your recipes…as I do too! Also put it in my Chicken batter..By looking through all your recipes I can tell you are a fantastic cook, and again thank you so much for sharing your recipes…They will make my family and friends happy diners!!
I am so happy to have found this site through a very old friend of ours who was looking for a good chicken pot pie !
This looks awesome. I would love to try this recipe!! Thanks for sharing this.
http://cosmopolitancurrymania.blogspot.com/
I love chicken recipes…They make my kids enjoy dinner more. Thanks for sharing!
It is so interesting to see powdered sugar in a breading recipe! Do the poppers end up tasting sweet as a result? Thanks!
–Holly
Hi Holly,
No, I didn’t find them sweet at all, especially once you dip them in the sauce. 🙂
This looks really tasty! : )
You make such awesome food! These chicken poppers look sooo delightful and delicious!
Thank you Tia. 🙂