The BEST Homemade Chicken Nuggets Recipe - 100K Recipes (2024)

If you ask my children what their favorite food is, hands down they will say chicken nuggets. Not bad for a favorite food! They are packed with protein, easy to make, and delicious.

You would think they’d get bored from eating them so much but they never did and I’m sure they never will. Every restaurant we went to, every fast food place, they asked for chicken nuggets.

They loved some more than others, but by far their favorites were homemade chicken nuggets cooked by their mama. They also love my Chicken Parmesan Slider Bake, and my very cheesy Crispy Cheddar Chicken and delicious Chicken Parmesan.

Children never get bored of eating chicken nuggets. There is nothing quite like biting into a freshly made steaming hot piece of breaded chicken.

INGREDIENTS FOR CHICKEN NUGGETS?

• All-purpose flour: It makes the egg wash stick to the chicken. Season your flour well to achieve a flavorful nugget.
• Salt and pepper: you need to season the flour. Each layer adds flavor to the nuggets and this one is maybe the most important one.
• Onion and garlic powder: the amount of flavor these two ingredients add is amazing. Onion and garlic in powder form are flavor-packed.
• Ground mustard imparts a little spice to the flour. You won’t be able to taste the mustard, but you will know there is something in the batter that provides great flavor.
• Eggs make the breading really stick to the chicken. Without them, there is no way you can achieve a uniform layer of breading.
• Italian-style breadcrumbs: I like to use the Italian style, because they are seasoned with parsley and other Italian spices, as well as a bit of Parmesan cheese which gives the nuggets an amazing flavor.
• Vegetable oil is a neutral-tasting oil. I like my nuggets to taste of all the delicious spices and seasonings I add to them, and not of oil.

STEPS FOR MAKING CHICKEN NUGGETS:

1. Cut the chicken breasts into 1 ½ inch cubes
2. In a small bowl, mix together flour, salt, pepper, onion, garlic powders, and ground mustard
3. Prepare your “breading station” in one bow, add your seasoned flour, another for your beaten eggs, one for the Italian-style breadcrumbs, and one for the finished nuggets. First coat the chicken pieces with flour, then with beaten eggs, and finally roll them in the breadcrumbs.
4. Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the nuggets until golden brown

AIR FRYER OPTION

For a low-calorie version, prepare nuggets as usual, until the last step.

Instead of deep or pan-frying them, spray the nuggets with non-stick spray or oil spray and fry in the air fryer at 390F for 4-5 minutes if they are fresh, or 8 minutes if frozen.

WHAT TO SERVE WITH CHICKEN NUGGETS?

What goes better with nuggets than potatoes? Pan-fried potatoes and onions are a great option. Cheesy Mississippi Mud Potatoes, are another of my family’s favorite potato dishes, as well as Cheesy scalloped potatoes, If you want to kill two birds with one feather and feed your family some veggies, Roasted Potatoes, and Carrots, are a great option. Mexican Potatoesor The Best Sweet Potato Fries. are delicious if you want to step up your potato game!

VARIATIONS ON CHICKEN NUGGETS:

1. Try using different spices to season the flour. You can use cayenne pepper for added heat, oregano, and cumin for a Mexican flavor, or make them in the Mediterranean using coriander, cumin, turmeric, and paprika. The mix of spices you use determines the taste of the nuggets. If you want an Indian taste, try using Garam Masala, or use Chinese Five Spice for an Asian twist.
2. The breading also can change the flavor of the nuggets. Try using regular breadcrumbs, crushed cereal like cornflakes, or Panko breadcrumbs, and see which one you like best.
3. Condiments can definitely make a great variation too. Instead of serving them with ketchup, try barbecue sauce, teriyaki sauce, pink sauce (ketchup plus mayo), spicy yogurt sauce (yogurt plus cumin, coriander, paprika, lime juice, and hot sauce), buffalo wing sauce, or Sriracha mayo for some heat.

OTHER RECIPES YOU MIGHT ENJOY

• OVEN-BAKED BBQ CHICKEN WINGS
• CILANTRO LIME CHICKEN
• BAKED TERIYAKI CHICKEN THIGHS

Answering Your Burning Questions:

How Do You Cut Chicken Breast Into Nuggets?
I like to cut the chicken breast into three pieces. One is the tip of the chicken breast. If the breast is a big one, I cut the tip in two, and the other pieces in three. If the breast is not too big, I leave the tip as is, and the other two pieces I cut in half. I basically try to make all pieces as close in size as possible.

Can You Freeze Homemade Chicken Nuggets?
Yes. You can freeze them before or after frying them. You can freeze the uncooked breaded nuggets in a freezer bag and thaw them in the fridge the night before frying them, or you can freeze them fully cooked. Just make sure they are completely cold before storing them in a freezer bag. You don’t want soggy thawed nuggets.

Freeze both of them for no more than three months. To reheat fully cooked nuggets, the oven is your best option.

You can reheat them in the microwave, but the oven or toaster oven will yield crispier nuggets.