Fast Food Copycats | Fried Chicken | Sandwiches
ByThee Burger Dude
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A vegan Popeye’s Chick’n Sandwich! The VEGAN version of the iconic sandwich that made everybody go wild!
I went vegan before Popeye’s came out with their sandwich, and thus, I’ve never had the famous dish. But I have had many a fried chicken sandwich before going vegan, and this thing more than satisfied those cravings! I had two non-vegan friends over and they devoured it! Easily one of the best chick’n sandwiches I’ve had vegan or not!
It’s a fairly simple sandwich, but simplicity can oftentimes be the key to deliciousness. You don’t need much more than a few pickles, some tangy sauce and some well seasoned fried chick’n now do you?
The Cajun Mayo is my current favorite sauce, so definitely make it! We’re also making some hot honey aka HOTTIE SAUCE (by Megan Thee Stallion) which is super good too. I personally like the Cajun Mayo better, but I actually tried the sandwich with both and that was pretty ridiculously good too!
This will leave you with plenty of leftover cajun seasoning, mayo and hot honey, but you won’t be mad about it!
The base of the Hottie Sauce is vegan honey made out of apples from a recipe by Mary’s Test Kitchen found HERE! We’ll be taking that recipe and adding some stuff to spice it up!
Here’s a HANDY DANDY video!
TIPS FOR VEGAN FRIED CHICK’N
- Use a heavy bottomed pot (Stainless Steel,Cast Iron,Carbon Steeletc)
- I highly recommend aDeep Fry Thermometerto monitor the oil temp.
- Use a neutral tasting, high smoke point oil (Canola, Vegetable, Peanut etc.)
- Make sure to use UNSWEETENED plant milk. I likeRIPPLEthe best.
- Add flour as needed to thicken the vegan buttermilk mixture.
- Shake off the excess flour and batter when you dredge.
- Fry a test nugget to test the seasoning and adjust as needed.
- Let the chick’n rest on aWire Rackafter frying to prevent soggy chick’n.
SAFETY TIPS FOR DEEP FRYING
- Don’t leave the pot unattended.
- Keep children away from the pot.
- Don’t fill the pot more than halfway with oil. Don’t overcrowd it as well.
- Turn the handles of the pot away from you to avoid accidental spills.
- Keep a lid nearby so you can cover the pot if it catches fire.
- Never use water to put out an oil fire.
- Get aFire Extinguisherjust to be extra safe. This isn’t just good for deep frying, but for having in the house in general!
DEEP FRY ALTERNATIVES
If you want to see about alternatives to deep frying, check out myBEST WAYS TO FRY VEGAN CHICKENpost!
I’m using Gardein Scallopini filets in this recipe, but you could just as easily use my recipes for Tofu Fried Chick’n HERE or my recipe for Fried Seitan Chick’n HERE or even my recipe for Fried Oyster Mushrooms HERE.
Vegan Popeye’s Chick’n Sandwich
Thee Burger Dude
4.70 from 13 votes
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Ingredients
- 8 Gardein Chick’n Scallopini filet thawed*
- Dill pickle slices
- 4 Vegan Brioche Buns or use any bun you like
Cajun Seasoning
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp cayenne
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp white pepper
Wet Batter
- 1 cup unsweetened plant milk
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Louisiana hot sauce
- 2 Tbsp dill pickle brine
- 1/3 cup flour
Dry Batter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 2 Tbsp cajun seasoning
- Salt & pepper to taste
Cajun Mayo
- 1/2 cup vegan mayo
- 1 tsp cajun seasoning
- 1 Tbsp vinegar
- 2 cloves minced garlic
Hottie Sauce (Hot Honey) adapted from Mary’s Test Kitchen
- 2 cups apple juice
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Aleppo pepper
- 2-3 habanero peppers sliced in half
- 1 drop red food coloring optional
Instructions
Combine ingredients for Cajun seasoning and set aside.
Combine ingredients for Cajun mayo and refrigerate.
For the Hottie Sauce (aka Hot Honey) combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium and reduce to half (about 30 minutes or so), you should have about 1 cup of honey. It will be very liquidy, but put it in a heat proof jar and refrigerate, it will thicken up. Reduce more for a thicker honey. Make sure to discard the habanero peppers, and you can strain out the Aleppo pepper flakes if you want (I kept mine in).
Take 2 of your thawed Scallopinis and smash them into 1 large patty. Once all your patties are formed, throw them in the freezer for at least 1 hour to firm up.
Prepare your dredging station. Combine all the wet batter ingredients in one bowl or dish, and then all the ingredients for the dry batter in another bowl or dish.
Bring a pot of neutral oil (peanut, vegetable or canola for example) up to 375° F.
Once oil is up to frying temperature, dredge your filet(s) first in the dry batter, coating thoroughly and shaking off the excess, then into the wet batter, again coating well and letting the excess drip off, then one last time back into the dry.
Carefully add your breaded filet into the hot oil, fry for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy. Let them rest on a wire rack. You can keep them warm in the oven set to 250° F.
Once all your patties are fried, toast and dress your buns with the cajun mayo, some pickles, hottie sauce if you wish, the fried chick'n and ENJOY!
Notes
*or use whatever Vegan Chick'n you like, each patty should be around 5 oz.
Keyword vegan chicken sandwich, vegan popeyes, vegan popeyes chicken
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