Katie Lee's Baked Ranch Chicken Bites Recipe

The Kitchen cohost and presenter at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival serves up a crunchy dish to feed your crowd

Photo: Jennifer Causey

Katie Lee’s Baked Ranch Chicken Bites

2 cups lightly salted popped popcorn
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs
3 tbsp. finely grated Parmesan cheese
3 large eggs
2 tbsp. whole milk
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. onion powder
½ tsp. dried dill
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. black pepper
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-in. pieces

1. Preheat oven to 450°. Place an oven-safe wire rack on a baking sheet, and spray rack with cooking spray.
2. Process popcorn in a food processor until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium. Combine panko and ground popcorn in skillet; cook, stirring often, until panko is golden brown and toasted, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a shallow dish; stir in grated cheese.
3. Whisk together eggs and milk in a second shallow dish. Combine flour, salt, onion powder, dill, garlic powder and pepper in a third shallow dish.
4. Coat chicken pieces in flour mixture. Dip chicken in egg mixture, shaking off any excess; dredge in popcorn mixture.
5. Place chicken pieces in a single layer on prepared wire rack. Bake until a thermometer inserted in thickest portion registers 165°, about 12 minutes.

Serves: 6
Active time: 30 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes