The marinade, which also doubles as a batter here (that’s right, it goes straight into the dredge), imparts flavor and tenderizes the meat from the inside out. This breading is built in two steps: (1) the marinade, and (2) the dredge. The key to popcorn chicken built for game day is a thin, shatteringly crisp outer coating that doesn’t overpower the chicken but that provides enough stability to be sauced. When developing my Harissa-Honey Popcorn Chicken, my goal was not only to achieve that elusive crispy-gone-just-barely-soggy bite, but also to fry up a snack that could withstand a couple hours of feasting (because, whew, football games are long). It doesn’t even keep its crisp until halftime. The one catch? When popcorn chicken is over-breaded, it can lose any semblance of crispiness and be straight up gloopy after only 20 minutes on a buffet. On any other day, I’m a wing girl, but on game day, give me the sauciest, glossiest, crispy popcorn chicken because the last thing I want is a plateful of bones.

The right game day spread can be magical-a wonderland of queso-doused nachos, slow cookers full of party meatballs, the obligatory veggie platter, dips galore, and, the pièce de résistance of football food: popcorn chicken. Some people go to Super Bowl parties for the game (or the halftime show), but me, I go for the food.

Dredging in cooking