Bite-sized and built for snacking, popcorn chicken is making a comeback on restaurant menus with new global spins and bold coatings.
Popcorn chicken’s crispy texture and grab-and-go format make it a favorite in fast-casual restaurants, and concepts inspired by street food.
In November, P.F. Chang’s introduced Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken to its menu. The item is lightly battered boneless chicken thigh pieces tossed with dry-rub five-spice seasoning, roasted guajillo chile, and basil leaves. It’s an outlier among popcorn chicken, which is usually made with chicken breast pieces.
According to market research firm Datassential, popcorn chicken is found on 1.4% of restaurant menus in the United States, a 53% increase over the past four years. It is known by 93% of the U.S. population, and 82% of consumers have tried it.
Click through the above slideshow to learn more about popcorn chicken and see how one restaurant in Portland, Ore., is using it on the menu.
