From breaded-and-baked cauliflower to battered-and-fried tofu, there’s more than one way to make exceptional vegan popcorn chicken.
The vegan chicken game is getting stronger by the day. Showing up in force in supermarkets, there are plant-based nuggets, frozen grilled chicken-free strips, and even plant-based popcorn chicken is starting to enter the mass retail scale. But while we wait for the flood of fast-food options (KFC, we’re looking at you to lead the way), here are seven tasty vegan popcorn chicken recipes you can make at home.
What is popcorn chicken?
Popcorn chicken consists of bite-sized, breaded fried chicken pieces, which are roughly the same size as popcorn (no surprise there). It’s synonymous with fast-food giant KFC, and that’s because the chain was the first to develop the dish (invented by Gene Gagliardi, a food technologist) and make it accessible to the masses in the 1990s. Since then, it has been added to the chain’s menus around the world and inspired many branded, frozen copycat products.
What is vegan popcorn chicken made of?
A few vegan brands have already developed products that emulate KFC’s iconic menu item, but, of course, they’re not made with real chicken. Both UK brand VFC and South African brand Fry’s make vegan versions of popcorn chicken with soya and wheat protein, for example. And, as the plant-based meat market grows, they’re likely to be faced with more plant-based popcorn chicken competition in the coming years. But until then, you can make your own at home using ingredients like tofu, cauliflower, soy curls, and seitan.
** Click here to read the full-text **
