Great to stash in the freezer for quick dinners and lunchboxes, these homemade baked chicken nuggets are a healthy alternative to shop-bought or fast food restaurant ones.
I mince chicken breast in my food processor for these nuggets. Mince is stickier than cubed chicken and so the crumbs stick to the outside without me having loads of bowls filled with flour, eggs, crumbs and all that palaver. Who needs all that mess and washing up? You could definitely use ready minced chicken from the supermarket, but I buy chicken breasts a lot more often, so that’s what I have in. I also think that the nuggets were a bit dry when I used mince rather than chicken breast.
On my first attempt at making these nuggets, I carefully shaped the mince into nugget shapes and then coated them in the crumbs. This took a long time! The fastest method I have found is to roll the mixture into meatballs, roll these in the crumbs and then flatten them. You could, of course, leave the crumbs off to make chicken meatballs, or you could roll them in the crumbs and leave them as crunchy chicken balls. I have done this with pork mince, breadcrumbs and dried mixed herbs to make ‘sausage balls’ – a bit like mini scotch eggs without the egg! The cooking time for all these options will be the same as for the chicken nuggets.
I bake these straight away, serve some for dinner, then freeze the rest once cool. That way they are ready to eat once defrosted, so they are a quick protein to put in lunchboxes. The crumb coating won’t stay crunchy for long once they’re cool unfortunately, but they will crisp up again if you reheat them in the oven. They can also be reheated in the microwave from frozen in about a minute (1 serving of 5 nuggets at a time). If you do this make sure they are piping hot all the way through before serving.
Notes on Breadcrumbs
It doesn’t matter whether the crumbs are fresh or dried to go inside the nuggets, but for the outside you’ll want to use dried crumbs to make crunchier nuggets. You can by all means use shop bought breadcrumbs, but I recommend checking the ingredients label. I saw ‘CONTAINS FISH’ on one supermarket own brand label 😳.
I tear up slices of my usual bread and whizz it in the food processor until it’s quite fine crumbs. Then I take out 50g/½ cup to go in the chicken mixture and spread the rest over a lined baking tray. I put this tray into my cold oven, then turn it on to preheat to 200°C. I leave it for 10-12 minutes to toast while the oven heats up, then take it out and leave to cool while I get on with the chicken mixture.
You might like to experiment with the kinds of crumbs you use for your coating. Here are some other things you can crush up to use instead of bread:
- Square crackers
- Ritz crackers (or similar)
- Cornflakes
- Puffed rice cereal
Great for a kid-friendly dinner or an alternative to sandwiches in lunchboxes, these chicken breast nuggets are a healthy alternative to shop-bought or fast food ones.
- 50 g (1/2 cup) Fresh or dry breadcrumbs
- 500 g Chicken breast minced
- 1 Chicken stock cube crumbled
- 100 g (1 cup) Dry breadcrumbs or other crumbs See notes
- Spray oil optional
-
Preheat oven to 200C.
-
In a food processor or a bowl, mix the minced chicken, the fresh breadcrumbs and the crumbled stock cube (you could use 1 tsp stock powder or liquid concentrate instead) until well combined.
-
Pour the dry breadcrumbs into a wide shallow bowl or onto a plate.
-
With damp hands (to prevent sticking), roll walnut-sized balls of the chicken mixture and roll in the crumbs.
-
Flatten the balls into nugget shapes and place on a rack over a lined baking tray.
-
Spray the prepared nuggets lightly with oil (optional), than bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until cooked through and lightly golden.
The nuggets can be frozen after baking and cooling. They will be ready to eat once thawed or they can be reheated from frozen in the oven or microwave. Make sure they are piping hot all the way through before serving.
You can dry your own breadcrumbs from fresh bread by spreading them on a baking tray and putting them in the oven for about 10 minutes while it preheats. Keep a close eye on them, the edges could burn quickly. Crushed crackers, cornflakes or puffed rice cereal can also be used for a crunchy crumb coating.
You may also be interested in these posts: