Review: Popeyes - Red Hot Popcorn Chicken

New to the Popeyes menu, their Red Hot Popcorn Chicken features bits of white meat chicken marinated in a spicy 4-pepper blend of Cayenne, White, Black, and Habernero peppers and fried with a crunchy breading.

According to their website, a Red Hot Popcorn Chicken combo with cajun fries and a biscuit is supposed to cost $2.99. Perhaps they got their wires crossed, but my local Popeyes had an order of Popcorn Chicken for $2.99 while a combo with fries, a biscuit and a drink was listed at $5.99(!).

On average, Popeyes Red Hot Popcorn Chicken seemed bigger and meatier than KFC's Popcorn Chicken. I never felt like I was just eating a lot of breading (although my childhood self would have been thrilled were that the case) like I have felt eating KFC's version.

The breading of the Popcorn Chicken was crunchy but not as flaky as the breading on Popeyes' regular fried chicken or chicken strips. They ran out of Ranch so I got Spicy Honey Mustard sauce which was just fine by me; it went well with the chicken.

Initially the Popcorn Chicken didn't seem very "red hot" but it surprised me with a slow burn that built with each piece I popped into my mouth. The Sister felt that it was too spicy but she doesn't deal with spicy heat too well. I would say it was actually pretty spicy and deviously so.

Overall, Popeyes Red Hot Popcorn Chicken makes for a pretty good snack so long as you can deal with the heat. However, at $2.99, it is too expensive for what I got (your mileage may vary).

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Nutritional info not available.