Healthy Air Fryer Popcorn Chicken

Step 1

In a large bowl combine softened cream cheese, egg and lemon/lime juice and 1 tablespoon of homemade chipotle seasoning. Use a hand mixer if desired. Add in chicken pieces and stir. Allow to marinate at least 30 minutes up to overnight in the refrigerator.

Step 2

In a large ziplock bag, add flour, 2 tablespoons of chipotle seasoning, kosher salt, pepper and paprika.

Step 3

Preheat air fryer to 375°.

Step 4

Add a few pieces of chicken to bag and shake, and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Step 5

Do this for all of the chicken pieces. (At this point you could air fry now, but the chicken won’t look like the pictures, it’s best to coat it twice. You can also decide to splurge and deep fry, then it’s fine to deep fry at this stage).

Step 6

When finished breading all the pieces, dip the coated pieces in milk and back into flour mixture again-second breading.

Step 7

When you have enough ready for one batch, place chicken in air fryer, spray well with olive oil sprayer and air fry for about 8 minutes. Flip over if necessary and spray again, then air fry another 5-7 minutes. If you have the Breville Smart Oven air you won’t need to turn your pieces over. (Times are approximate, each air fryer is different so watch carefully on a small batch so you know when to take them out). Total air frying time is about 12-15 minutes depending on your air fryer. Be sure and serve hot!