Air-fryer popcorn chicken with sweet sriracha dip
35 min · 42 g protein · 302 cals / serving
Little crunchy bites of chicken in a peppery, herby cornflake crust, air-fried until they rattle in the basket. Toss them in a bowl, grab a toothpick, and dunk them in a creamy sriracha-honey-lime dip, with cold cucumber spears for something fresh between handfuls.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 1/3 lb chicken breast, cut into 2 cm (3/4-inch) bites
- 1/3 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2 tsp cayenne pepper hot sauce
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
Crust
- 1 3/4 cups corn flakes, crushed fine, like coarse sand
- 1 1/2 tsp paprika
- 3/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp black pepper
- a light coat cooking spray
Sriracha dip
- 2/3 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 4 tsp sriracha hot sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp honey
- 2 tsp lime juice
To serve
- 1 large cucumber, cut into spears
Steps
- Stir the yogurt, hot sauce, salt and garlic powder together in a bowl, add the chicken bites and toss until every piece is coated. Leave 15 minutes, or up to 8 hours in the fridge.
- Mix the crushed cornflakes with the paprika, onion powder, thyme, oregano and pepper in a large zip-top bag or a lidded box. Add the chicken in two lots, shake until coated, and press any bare spots into the crumbs.
- Heat the air fryer to 400°F. Spread the bites in a single layer, spray lightly, and cook 8–10 minutes, shaking the basket halfway, until deep golden and a cut bite is white all the way through (165°F). Work in batches so they crisp rather than steam.
- Stir the yogurt, sriracha, honey and lime juice together. Pile the hot chicken into bowls with the cucumber spears and the dip on the side.
Good to know
Keep them crunchy at a party?
Hold them on a rack in a 210°F oven for up to 20 minutes. A covered bowl traps steam and softens the crust.
A milder dip for kids?
Swap the sriracha for 1 tbsp ketchup and 1 tsp mustard, or just the honey and lime for a sweet, tangy dunk. With ketchup it's about the same score.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 115
- Protein
- (57%)
- 16 g
- Fat
- (17%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (26%)
- 7 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 287 mg
More snacks
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 1210 kcal goes into the pot and 1249 g of ingredients comes out as about 1050 g of food: 115 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.