I don’t know about your toddlers, but mine LOVE chicken nuggets. Especially dunking them in sweet and sour sauce from McDonalds – my husband taught my son very young to enjoy them!
PICKY EATER?
Since he loves chicken nuggets so much sometimes it’s hard to get him to eat chicken in other forms. We often refer to other meals we are eating as a “chicken nugget” just to get him in a good mindset to try what we’ve made. When I found this real, crispy, homemade chicken nugget recipe from Annabel Karmel I was so excited to try it out! Truth be told they are not the easiest things to make – but I’m excited to share that they were worth the effort! The chunks of whole white meat under a crispy coating was so much better than the McDonalds or the store bought frozen forms. I loved the flavor the marinade gave the chicken so that step was very worthwhile.
Here are the ingredients to start, with all my raw chicken chopped, and the milk, lemon juice, garlic and spices for the marinade.
KIDS GET INVOLVED!
Now I wasn’t planning on having my kids help make this but they were in the room and saw everything set up and just had to get involved. Normally I don’t let them help me with anything involving raw meat so I had them mix the marinade ingredients together and pour it over the chicken, without contacting the raw chicken at all.
MARINADE 4 HOURS TO OVERNIGHT
Here is the chicken plus marinade – this goes in the fridge to sit for a while. The recipe says 4 hours to overnight, and I had it in the fridge for about 2 hours and still got a nice flavor to my chicken.
FOOD PROCESSOR
Above you see the rice krispies dumped into my food processor – and below is after they have been processed into crumbs. Then you add the cheeses and mix it a few more times on the food processor until it’s nicely combined.
ASSEMBLY LINE FOR CRISPY CHICKEN: FLOUR, EGG then RICE KRISPIES
This part was really messy and my fingers kept getting caked in the batter. You drip off the excess marinade, dredge the piece in flour, then egg + 1 Tbsp milk, then in rice krispy crumbs. The picture on the bottom left shows the raw chicken chunks all ready to fry.
I just loved the solid chunks of white chicken meat inside this delicious crispy coating. Truly, truly delicious. I had to stop myself from eating them all so my kids could get their fill. We ate these with a new recipe I found for an easy homemade sweet and sour sauce.
FREEZABLE!
I did freeze some of my raw nuggets to see how that would work, and then I used the oven method to heat them – they turned out delicious as well! I think in the future if I make these again I will make a BIG BATCH (double, triple or more) and then freeze them to have on hand and pop in the oven. I love to do this with my favorite Cilantro-Lime Chicken Taquitos as well. Having a stocked freezer sure gives me peace of mind!!
PLUS THE SAUCE!
This sweet ‘n sour sauce is delicious and easy to make. You just dump all the ingredients into a saucepan, stir them, bring to a boil until it’s thickened. A note about it – I made it ahead of time and stuck it in the fridge. When I did this, the sauce congealed into a completely solid chunk, not dippable or pourable at all! So when we went to eat our nuggets I had to warm it up in the microwave in small batches. It softened back up for me but remained a little thicker than you’d want, and also a little chunky. I’d recommend just leaving it at room temperature if you make it the same day!
Homemade Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients
- 7 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1/2 cup milk, plus 1 Tbsp
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies
- 2 Tbsp finely grated Cheddar
- 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup flour
- 3-4 Tbsp canola oil
Instructions
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Cut chicken into 1/2 inch cubes and place in a medium bowl.
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Mix together 1/2 cup of milk with garlic, thyme, lemon juice, 1/4 tsp salt and some pepper. Pour over chicken. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.
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Put Rice Krispies in food processor and whiz until fine crumbs. Add cheeses with a little salt and pepper, whiz to combine. Transfer to a large plate.
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Whisk egg in a small bowl with the extra tablespoon of milk.
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Mix flour with a little salt and pepper and spread onto a large plate.
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Remove chicken pieces from marinade, shaking off excess. Toss in seasoned flour, then dip in egg, and finally roll in Rice Krispie coating.
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Put the oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Fry nuggets for 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden and crisp. Drain on paper towels and allow to cool slightly before serving.
Oven Method
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Alternately, preheat the oven to 400F. Reduce the oil to 2 Tbsp, and add 1 Tbsp oil to Rice Krispies crumbs in food processor. Grease baking sheet with remaining Tbsp oil. Coat chicken as directed above and put on baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes until cooked through, turning halfway.
Recipe Notes
Recipe credit to Annabel Karmel's Top 100 Finger Foods page 77.
*May be frozen. Put uncooked, coated chicken on a baking sheet lined with plastic wrap, freeze until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag. Cook directly from frozen, either on the skillet or in the oven. Add 1 minute of extra cooking time for frying and 3-4 minutes for baking.
Sweet and Sour Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- 1/3 cup water
- 3 Tbsp vinegar
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
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Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan.
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Cook over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly.
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Use as a dip or pour over chicken, meatballs or veggies.
Recipe Notes
Recipe credit to Food.com: The Best Sweet and Sour Sauce