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Homemade chicken nuggets are healthier and tastier than the fast-food and frozen chicken nugget. Chicken nuggets are a common staple in the diet of many kids.
Contrary to popular believes, chicken nuggets are easy to make. They are fresh, delicious and you don’t have to wonder what type of meat is ground up and packaged in your nuggets.
What Are Chicken Nuggets?
A chicken nugget is a food product consisting of a small piece of deboned chicken meat that is breaded or battered, then deep-fried or baked.
What Ingredients Do You Need For Homemade Chicken Nuggets?
The great thing about my recipe is that you use everyday ingredients…nothing fancy here! Here’s a quick rundown of the ingredient list:
- Chicken Breasts. You will use boneless skinless chicken here and cut it into 1- inch chunks. Don’t get too hung up on the size, just try and keep them all the same(ish) size so they cook evenly!
- Milk. I use milk to brine the chicken, which flavors and tenderizes the chicken!
- Hot Sauce. I use a tablespoon of hot sauce, like Franks, or Louisiana Hot Sauce in the brine to add a little flavor. It doesn’t make the chicken spicy, it just adds another layer of flavor!
- All Purpose Flour and Plain Breadcrumbs. I love the combo of the 2 in the breading. You get the crunch the from the breadcrumbs, while getting an even coating from the flour.
- Seasonings: Salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and powdered sugar is the combo I use. You could also just use seasoned salt and pepper to simplify the process of you prefer! OR adjust the seasonings to your own taste!
What Oil Is Best?
When you are deep frying in your home kitchen, you want to choose a neutral-tasting cooking oil with a high smoke point.
Good options for this include vegetable oil or canola oil. Not only do these hold up well at high temperatures, but they will also impart very little flavor to your chicken nuggets, which really lets the taste of the chicken shine.
Which Bread Crumbs Are Best?
There are a number of options when it comes to breading your chicken nuggets. Optimally, you can make bread crumbs at home from leftover bread which allows you to control any additives. Prepackaged bread crumbs are also fine, and this is where you have even more options.
You can go with traditional bread crumbs for a finer crust or try panko bread crumbs for something a bit of a lighter and crunchier exterior.
How To Make Chicken Nuggets
To make the homemade chicken nuggets, you will need a food processor or something to ground the chicken breast. The grounded chicken is battered, breaded then deep-fried in vegetable oil.
However if you want to make super addictive, extremely juicy and tender chicken nuggets then you have to try out with the extra step of brining the chicken. This extra step is worth the effort! If you are in a rush to make them quickly you may skip this step. But nothing beats the brined crispy chicken nuggets!
With this technique and recipe, you can feel confident about serving really tasty chicken nuggets that your family will love.
Can I Bake These Nuggets Instead Of Fry Them?
Yep, if you prefer not to fry your nuggets you can absolutely bake them. Just follow these steps for best results:
- Prepare the nuggets the same as you would if you were frying.
- Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the coated nuggets onto the baking sheet and liberally spray the nuggets with cooking oil spray or if you have a refillable oil spray that works great too!
- Bake 20 minutes, flipping once halfway through, so both sides get crispy.
Can I Make Chicken Nuggets In An Air Fryer?
Absolutely. I wouldn’t recommend coating them in flour as the final step though as the flour won’t cook the same way in the air fryer as it does in hot oil.
Instead, coat the chicken in flour, egg and then in seasoned breadcrumbs. Drizzle over a little olive oil and cook in the air fryer for 15 minutes at 180ºC/350ºF until crisp and golden.
Freezing And Making Ahead
- Freezing: Bread chicken nuggets per instructions then place on a baking sheet in a single layer. Freeze until solid then transfer to a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Fry from frozen until golden brown and crisp.
- Make ahead: Cooked nuggets can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days and reheated in a hot oven until warmed through.
Here is a quicker and printable recipe that shows you how to make this recipe. Enjoy!
Easy Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients
- 4 - 5 chicken cutlets cut into cubes
- 1 tbsp parsley
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 glass milk tea
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp brie cream
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp milk
- pinch of salt
- bread crumbs
Instructions
- Trim off the fat from the chicken breasts. Then, chop them up into cubes.
- Blend the chicken, garlic, parsley, pepper
- Add the flour, milk and the brie cream. Stir for 30 second.
- With lightly oiled hands shape balls and drop as you go on the plate. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Spread the breadcrumbs in one bowl and the beaten egg, milk and salt in another.
- Place in a cool place time to heat frying oil and fry each kibble until golden brown.
- Drain and place on paper towels.
- Serve hot with the sauce of your choice or simply mustard.
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