Making Popeye’s Fried Chicken Meal At Home _ But Better

Popeye's is the reason the series exists .

So we're not gonna be gentle .

OK ?

So today we're making Popeyes at home but better , not just the Popeye sandwich .

This is their classic meal .

So it's gonna come with all sorts of different things .

Kind of like the KFC bucket meal , but it's the Popeye's version of it pretty straightforward , right ?

We got macaroni and cheese , red beans and rice , chicken .

So with all being said , let's make this , shall we ?

We're here .

I like how the sign says Popeyes and just like , who can dime ?

Why is this guy ?

What ?

All right , we're doing a three point test .

This is our first time back to Popeye's since we've done this first off building .

I hate the design but it's clean .

It's tidy five out of 10 menu because of its simplicity .

Eight out of 10 .

But that's not for the food though .

But I kinda have to wait for the customer service .

I can already tell .

Can I just get a uh chicken with uh uh Yeah , cool .

Thank you .

Thank you .

Well , we got the bag .

I mean , 6 20 minutes restaurants get busy .

I get it .

I just hated that experience .

Good .

All right .

So we've got the bag a whole lot of stuff in here .

This what you want .

It's not that bad .

Uh , ok .

The biscuits , these are like , clap Popeye's biscuits .

Ah , have you seen those Tik Toks where people are , like , eating blocks of like dried corn , starch ?

That's what that is .

All right .

Chicken .

Is it me or is this just like loki burnt ?

I like a leg , You know , I like a nice leg .

The face is all right .

The skin's super chewy though .

This is not much going on .

All right , red beans and rice .

Something that you cannot mess with .

It doesn't smell bad actually it smells all right .

Good Lord .

It tastes like it wanted to be good .

I definitely don't want another bite .

Um wanted to taste these .

He for some reason is really excited about seeing if they're good or not .

So you might come and give these a try .

Mhm All in all .

This is not a justifiable expense .

We can do much better .

So let's do that .

We're gonna start with red beans and rice .

Oh Josh , that's not very fun .

Listen , this might be one of the best spoonfuls of sweet southern goodness that you ever put in your mouth .

Plus it takes a while .

So we gotta start here .

So in a large pot and I mean big adding three tablespoons or 52 g of bacon fat or lard set over medium heat and once that's melted in adding one yellow onion , diced , one green bell pepper , diced four cloves of garlic , rough chopped a little bit of salt and pepper to taste , stir and saute .

And once it begins to soften adding 1.5 tablespoons or 14 g of your Creole seasoning of choice .

One tablespoon or 4 g of smoked paprika , two teaspoons or 4 g of cayenne saute that just until it starts to get a little fragrant , then add eight cups or about two liters of filtered water .

Fill that with £1 or 450 g of red beans .

Followed by two smoked ham hocks .

A Boni consisting of four sprigs of fresh thyme and three sprigs of fresh sage .

You tie that together with a little bit of kitchen time .

Make a nice little bow and look at that .

So pop that in , fed by two bay leaves , bring it up to a boil and simmer that for three hours .

Once that's done simmering , adding two ribs of celery , rough chopped and one pound of 450 g of and dey sausage , cut into bite sized pieces .

Bring that up to a simmer and cook for 45 to 60 more minutes .

Your beans should be cooked all the way through .

It should be salty smoky , beautiful and ready to be used .

Next .

We have biscuits .

So first in a food processor , add 2.5 cups or 375 g of all purpose flour , one teaspoon or 5 g of fine sea salt .

3.5 tablespoons or 42 g of granulated sugar .

Half a teaspoon or 3 g of cream of tartar four teaspoons or 22 g of baking powder lid on and pulse a few times one and a quarter cup or 280 g of unsalted cold butter .

It has to be cold if you want good biscuits .

That's what's gonna get you the flakes .

And I'm not talking about your friend that never shows up .

I'm talking about layers and pulse until the kale come home more specifically until you get little pea size lumps of butter , pour that into a bowl , then using a fork mix in one cup or 226 g of ice cold buttermilk .

Once it begins to form a dough , pour your scraggly looking dough onto a work surface and gently and quickly need until it just barely comes together .

Listen , the more you touch your dough , the more you ruin your dough .

You I'm going with that now , dusting with flour is necessary .

Roll dough out into a rough rectangle .

Fold it like a letter , roll it out again , fold it once more like a letter and then roll one more time until you get a rough rectangle .

That's about three quarters of an inch thick , using a round or fluted biscuit cutter , cut out all your biscuits .

Listen into a parchment line .

Baking sheet brush the tops of each of your biscuits with additional buttermilk lightly and place it in a hot oven set to 450 °F or 230 °C bake those bad boys for 15 to 20 minutes and while those are baking , this is not a necessity but hey , it's real .

Last .

Get a small pot or pan add in three tablespoons of 57 g of honey heat that over a medium until just hot , steamy but not boiling , turn off the heat and whisk it in a quarter cup or 56 g of cold salted butter not unsalted continuously .

Whisk until it's beautifully emulsified .

And you have a salted honey butter topping .

Now , once your biscuits come out , they should look lovely and ready to get a nice brushing of your honey butter topping and cool in a away rack .

Next mac and cheese , we do this a million times .

So I'll make it quick and this one's a wee bit different .

Bring a large pot of water to a boil season generously with salt £1 or 450 g of macro me and cook just until or you know , follow the package directions .

Once your macaroni's done , stream it and then a pot , add a third cup or 76 g of unsalted butter instead over medium heat and once your butter is melted and bubbling , adding a third cup or 50 g of all purpose flour whiskey or stirring constantly and let that cook for about 45 seconds to a minute .

Then whisk in one in three quarters of a cup or 315 millis of whole milk and a quarter cup or 60 millis of heavy cream .

Whisk that together and look if it starts to thicken a little too much .

Depending on your flour , you can always add additional milk if needed .

Now , once you have a velvety smooth , beautiful ba milk , you'll then cut off the heat and stir in five ounces or 141 g of fresh grated sharp cheddar , three ounces or 85 g of fresh or technically , it's pronounced a little bit of salt to taste option , a little pinch of onion powder .

And once that Bad Boy is as smooth as physically possible with no chunks of cheese , please add in your hot macaroni stir together for a little symphony .

And finally , once it's all done , stir in two cloves of garlic , very finely chopped .

Now , keep that Bad boy hot in order to serve .

All right , the moment of truth .

Sure .

We got our biscuits , our mac and cheese , red beans and rice .

But don't you think that I forgot about the chicken first , the chicken dip , which you can use as a marinade , but honestly , you actually don't need to it at all .

First , you need a large bowl , add in two cups of 475 millis of buttermilk , a quarter cup of 60 millis of dill pickle juice .

Two enough teaspoons or 14 g of kosher salt one teaspoon or 5 g of MS G two teaspoons or 2 g of paprika , one tablespoon or 9 g of garlic powder .

Half a teaspoon or half a gram of onion powder .

One teaspoon or 4 g of your Creole seasoning of choice .

A little splash of hot sauce whi together .

Now add in two chicken thighs , two drumsticks and two wings .

Oh , wait , that's not eight and two of whatever the hell else you want .

You want more drumsticks .

Cool .

There you go .

Look .

The main thing is you want eight pieces .

Please just pick dark meat .

Ok .

There's not much point to the breast here and once all of your chicken is saturated with your dip , get a separate large bowl and add in three cups of 450 g of all purpose flour , 1.5 teaspoons or 7 g of MS G , half a teaspoon or half a gram of onion powder , 2.5 teaspoons or 6 g of garlic powder .

Half a teaspoon or half a gram of ground white pepper , one teaspoon or 4 g of that same Creole seasoning you used earlier in one tablespoon or 7 g of kosher salt was together until thoroughly combined .

You've seen chicken breaded before you take the chicken from the wet .

You add it to the dry and you aggressively press the dry into it .

Make sure that brother covering every little crevice , take it out , shake off the excess flour and guess what heat the oil to about 350 °F .

Adding half of your breaded chicken and you're obviously going to fry this into two separate batches .

Now , what will happen is that oil should drop to around 300 to 325 °F .

Listen carefully .

This is an important element to frying .

Great fried chicken .

Hold the temperature around that 3 25 zone .

Don't let it go back up to 350 .

It's gonna get too dark .

The goal is to get the chicken to cook all the way through to the boom while maintaining crispiness and without going too dark and once an internal temperature of 165 is reached and you have a exterior , you pull it out , let it drain and cool slightly .

I think it's chicken time .

Now , let's see how we did .

Let's do this .

You need to hear this .

We actually managed to match what Popeye's tastes like .

But this is cleaner mac and cheese , no competition .

Red beans and rice smoky rich .

But the biscuits , I think these might be the best biscuits we've ever made on this channel .

You see that I'm calling us a winner but let's do a taste test .

Kendrick is up .

It's been a while .

Come on in pal .

You ready ?

Number one , number two at the first one .

Obviously got that first one is way better .

That honey , that honey , that's the key right there .

Number 122 .

It's a little gritty .

You right here .

Oh my goodness .

Www Holy that spice .

Just kicks you right in the throat and it's refreshing mac and cheese time .

Yeah .

Yeah .

This one I'm interested to see how this goes .

They're kind of similar .

I'm gonna say number two on this one because there's a lot more cheese glass is chicken .

That's number one .

I already know which one .

This is .

Number two .

Wow .

Mm .

I'm sorry , Popeye's , I'm going with number two .

That was some good chicken josh .

And I say that as a person who's eating chicken a lot , take that however you want , you can find a little bit more of that salty savory flavor and the crunch , the crunch is what took it over .

How can you have fried chicken without crunch ?

That's not what you want .

But you know what you do want bee roll .