
This paleo popcorn chicken is crispy, crunchy, & full of flavour! Paired with this tangy honey mustard sauce & you have a match made in heaven!
Bake or fry this paleo popcorn chicken
I tested this recipe two ways: baking & frying. When I fried it I used avocado oil which is a great high heat cooking oil. When I baked the chicken I used a wire rack over a baking sheet. I found both methods were delicious & resulted in incredible crunchy & juicy chicken!
Try it with other proteins
I tried this coating recipe with shrimp as well & LOVED it! Don’t hesitate to get creative & please share in the comments below what worked & what didn’t. If you’re vegetarian I would recommend trying it out with tofu. I have no idea how this would work out with the tofu but might experiment myself in the future.

Ingredients you will need for the paleo popcorn chicken:
- Chicken breasts
- Eggs
- Cashew milk (or dairy-free milk of choice)
- Cassava flour
- Tapioca flour
- Apple cider vinegar
- Paprika
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Avocado oil potato chips (I used these), they only have 3 ingredients: potatoes, avocado oil (no other inflammatory oils), & Himalayan pink salt!
Ingredients you will need for the honey mustard sauce:
- Avocado oil mayo (you can make this yourself or I get this one from Costco)
- Honey
- Dijon mustard
- Yellow mustard
- Apple cider vinegar
- Paprika
- Pink salt
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Black pepper

How to make paleo popcorn chicken
Fried version:
- Add all of the ingredients for the coating (except the chips) into a bowl & mix well, until a thick batter is formed.
- Add the diced chicken to this mixture & coat evenly. Let sit while you make the chip topping.
- In a large Ziplock baggie add the bag of potato chips & crush them until little pieces have formed. I used a rolling pin to do this.
- Then dip the chicken pieces in the crushed chips to evenly cover each piece. Dust off the excess & place them on a baking tray to get ready to fry.
- In a medium or large saucepan, add 1/4-1/2 cup avocado oil so that there is about 1/4 inch of oil covering the bottom of the pan. Note that the smaller the pan, the less oil you will need to cover the bottom, however, the more batches you will need to do to cook all the chicken.*
- Heat the oil over low-medium heat. Test that it is ready by sprinkling with a little water. When the oil is ready for frying the water will sizzle.
- Place each piece of prepared chicken into the pan. I used a pair of tongs for this & an oven mitt to prevent any burns from the splattering oil.
- Cook for about 5 minutes on each side. You might need to do a couple extra minutes on each side again as you want them to be thoroughly cooked & there should be not pink in the middle when you cut into them. You can also test them using a meat thermometer as well. I cut open a few pieces when they were golden brown after cooking 5 minutes on each side & then about 3-4 more minutes on each side again.
- Remove the chicken using your tongs & place them on some paper towel to cool off.
- Continue with the rest of the chicken pieces, until all the chicken is fully cooked throughout.
- You can top them with a bit of pink salt & enjoy like this or set aside while you prep the sauce.
Baked Version:
- Follow all of the steps above from 1-4.
- Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Line a baking tray with a wire rack & spray with avocado oil.
- Place the prepared chicken onto the wire rack on the baking tray & coat with a little avocado oil spray.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes & then flip, baking for another 15-20 minutes until crispy & golden brown & fully cooked throughout.**

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Paleo Popcorn Chicken + Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: american
Description
This paleo popcorn chicken is crispy, crunchy, & full of flavour! Paired with this tangy honey mustard sauce & you have a match made in heaven!
Ingredients
Paleo Popcorn Chicken
- 4–5 chicken breasts, diced into tiny bite sized popcorn chicken pieces
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup cashew milk (or dairy-free milk of choice)
- 1/2 cup cassava flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1–2 bags of avocado oil potato chips (I used these), I needed two bags to coat all the chicken
- Green onions, to serve
Honey Mustard Sauce
- 1/2 cup avocado oil mayo (you can make this yourself or I get this one from Costco)
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp pink salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- Black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Paleo Popcorn Chicken
Fried version:
- Add all of the ingredients for the coating (except the chips) into a bowl & mix well, until a thick batter is formed.
- Add the diced chicken to this mixture & coat evenly. Let sit while you make the chip topping.
- In a large Ziplock baggie add the bag of potato chips & crush them until little pieces have formed. I used a rolling pin to do this.
- Then dip the chicken pieces in the crushed chips to evenly cover each piece. Dust off the excess & place them on a baking tray to get ready to fry.
- In a medium or large saucepan, add 1/4-1/2 cup avocado oil so that there is about 1/4 inch of oil covering the bottom of the pan. Note that the smaller the pan, the less oil you will need to cover the bottom, however, the more batches you will need to do to cook all the chicken.*
- Heat the oil over low-medium heat. Test that it is ready by sprinkling with a little water. When the oil is ready for frying the water will sizzle.
- Place each piece of prepared chicken into the pan. I used a pair of tongs for this & an oven mitt to prevent any burns from the splattering oil.
- Cook for about 5 minutes on each side. You might need to do a couple extra minutes on each side again as you want them to be thoroughly cooked & there should be not pink in the middle when you cut into them. You can also test them using a meat thermometer as well. I cut open a few pieces when they were golden brown after cooking 5 minutes on each side & then about 3-4 more minutes on each side again.
- Remove the chicken using your tongs & place them on some paper towel to cool off.
- Continue with the rest of the chicken pieces, until all the chicken is fully cooked throughout.
- You can top them with a bit of pink salt & enjoy like this or set aside while you prep the sauce.
Baked Version:
- Follow all of the steps above from 1-4.
- Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Line a baking tray with a wire rack & spray with avocado oil.
- Place the prepared chicken onto the wire rack on the baking tray & coat with a little avocado oil spray.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes & then flip, baking for another 15-20 minutes until crispy & golden brown & fully cooked throughout.**
Honey Mustard Sauce
- Add all of the ingredients to combine in a small bowl. Serve with the paleo popcorn chicken & top the chicken with chopped green onion, if desired.
Notes
*You can save oil by using a smaller saucepan, but you will need to do a few more batches to cook all the chicken.
* *I like to flip them with tongs but you can also use a fork, careful not to burn yourself as the chicken will be very hot.
Keywords: popcorn chicken, chicken, dinner, avocado, paleo
Oh my, this is a match made in heaven for sure! It looks absolutely amazing.
★★★★★
Thank you so much Katerina! They were such a hit!
My daughter, Charlee, made this for us tonight. It was so good! It is very quick to put together, as well. We will be making this on a regular basis. Thanks for this recipe, Lauren!
★★★★★
So happy you loved the recipe! it can seem intimidating at first but the recipe is actually pretty straight forward! I am glad it is a new staple!