AIP, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, No Egg, No Nuts, No Processed Sugar
This recipe was inspired by KFC Popcorn Chicken but is a lot healthier and can be eaten by anyone with allergies to gluten, dairy, eggs or nuts. It’s Paleo and AIP (Auto-Immune-Protocol) friendly with a few substitutions that are outlined in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
It is healthier than KFC Popcorn Chicken because there are no preservatives, additives, processed sugar, hormones, chemicals or other crap that you find in fast food. They also fry the chicken in shortening which is full of trans fats, highly processed, high in calories and has no nutritional content unlike a healthier oil like first cold pressed olive oil or coconut oil. And YES you can fry with olive oil but make sure you get good quality, if you are still in AIP elimination phase then stick with coconut oil.
This one from Amazon-Pompeian USDA Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil has a high smoke point and is perfect for shallow frying, but also versatile enough to be used in salads and recipes.
Cooking yourself also means you can source better chicken from local farms that are free range and don’t feed the chickens chemicals or feed with hormones. For people that are AIP you can make sure they are not fed corn or other grains that could affect your immune system.
This recipe is very similar to my Tempura Batter Recipe that can be used to make homemade fish and chips that is a lot healthier than fast food versions.
Simple but delicious….
This recipe is very simple and can be made in about 10 minutes, plus a few extra for frying time. Just cut your chicken up, put your batter together and fry away, I usually shallow fry so they are not soaking in olive oil, but it is definitely trickier and more skill is required.
The good thing about this recipe is it can be changed and adapted to whatever flavour you want or the spices you have in your pantry. If you have herbs in the garden then just use the ones you have, things like garlic powder and onion powder are nice to have but not essential.
Rosemary is a great herb to grow and can really add a nice flavour to this recipe if you add more than some of the other herbs. Sage and Parsley are also easy to grow and have a great flavour.
If you are not on AIP then definitely add the white pepper and black pepper to add a nice taste that compliments the sweet spices like cinnamon and ginger. Leave out the ground coriander if you are doing AIP but leave in the cilantro (Coriander leaves). Ground coriander will add an amazing flour combined with the other herbs so adding a little more than the recipe suggests will lift the flavour of the popcorn chicken.
Make sure you use good quality salt and not table salt, like the fast food restaurants, as the sodium content is like 99% and you can easily go over your daily intake. A mineral salt is best, one sourced from your local area rather than the popular Himalayan salt which is probably not from the Himalayans anyway.
Popcorn Chicken, let’s get cooking….
First step is to cut up the chicken to whatever size you want, but I would recommend to keep them small because they cook quicker and you don’t have to worry about the batter burning. You can leave the chicken out once cut up while you get the batter together so it gets to room temperature.
Get a small stainless steel pot to fry your popcorn chicken, small is good as it will take less oil to cover the chicken and you can cook like 3-4 at a time. Turn on to a low heat while you get the recipe going, then it’s a delicate process of turning up and down as you are cooking.
In a stainless steel mixing bowl place all the flours and spices into the bowl, like the photo below. If you have fresh herbs then chop them up really fine first then add to the bowl.
Now add the rest of the ingredients to the stainless steel bowl and combine, except the water which you add last and slowly.
Add a little of the cold soda water to the dry ingredients and mix together with a fork very lightly.
Keep adding the water slowly and mix gently until a batter forms. Check the picture below as it needs to be thick but not too thick. You can coat the chicken in Tapioca flour before you dip into the batter but I find it’s not necessary if you are hungry and can’t wait to eat them!
Once you are at this stage then turn the pot of oil to high so it gets to the right temperature. If you cut the chicken small then it should only take about 4 minutes to cook but always check the middle when you take them out just in case.
Below is the two methods that can be used to cook the popcorn chicken.
Use a dessert spoon to coat the chicken, then use the spoon to lower into the oil. I usually don’t have too much oil so the top of the chicken is just above the oil so I can spoon more mixture on top to create a thicker batter, but this is optional.
Once you have the pieces into the pot turn them within the first minute so that all sides start to cook. You can keep turning them every 30 seconds if the chicken is not fully covered with oil. Even if they are covered it is still best to turn them so they don’t burn on the bottom where the heat is coming up from…
Usually after a minute or so, I turn down the heat to medium and then to low at the end as the oil will get too hot and start to burn. When they are ready to take out definitely turn down to low to get ready for the next batch.
Use a frying pan to place the cooked chicken in to catch the dripping oil so its not wasted and can be used to cook something else in later. Don’t wait to eat them as they are best when hot. To reheat them later just use an oven at a high temperature or best is to use an air fryer for about 3 minutes on highest temperature setting.
If you like this recipe you will love my other recipes
If you try this recipe let me know in the comments below the post.
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- ½ tsp Black Pepper omit for AIP
- 3 dashes White Pepper omit for AIP
- ¼ tsp Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Ground Ginger powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Ground Coriander omit for AIP
- ¼ tsp Ground Coriander Leaves
- ¼ tsp Ground Oregano
- ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp Thyme Ground
- ¼ tsp Rosemary Ground
- ¼ tsp Italian herb mix Ground
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 1 tsp Xanthan gum swap with arrowroot for AIP/Paleo
- 3 tbsp Arrowroot flour for egg replacement
- 4 tbsp water for egg replacement
- ¼ cup Brown rice flour swap with Cassava flour for AIP/Paleo
- ½ cup Tapioca flour
- ⅓ cup Ice cold soda water
- ½ tsp Onion powder
Instructions
- Add arrowroot and water together for the egg replacement
- Cut up your chicken into the sizes you want.
- Use a small stainless steel pot with enough oil to cover a small piece of chicken.
- Put the arrowroot egg replacement and the rest of the flour into a large bowl.
- Add a little of the cold soda water to the dry ingredients and mix together with a fork very lightly.
- Keep adding the water slowly and mix gently until a batter forms.
- Put the chicken in the batter and make sure both sides are covered.
- Then lower the chicken into the oil using a spoon or a fork. Be careful when placing the chicken into the oil as it will spit.
- Once you have placed a few items into the pan then turn up the heat. If there are a few spots on the top of any of the chicken not covered with batter then spoon some more on those areas.
- Flip to the other side carefully, you might have to keep flipping a few times until you get a nice golden brown colour and the chicken is cooked through, usually about 5 minutes.
- If the batter is cooking too quick then turn down the heat a little, or back to a low heat.
- Use a frying pan to place the cooked chicken in to catch the dripping oil so its not wasted and can be used to cook something else in later.
AIP Pastry (AIP,Paleo,Vegan,GF,DF)
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