Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Why I love these homemade chicken nuggets?

One thing I love about cooking is that I know what ingredients go into my food, so I know I’m serving my family the best. Today’s recipe means no more store-bought chicken nuggets that have mystery ingredients and additives! This is a wholesome meal that also happens to be more cost-effective.

And don’t worry, they’re easy to make! I know chicken nuggets may seem involved since we mostly eat them pre-prepared for us, but I’ve broken this down step-by-step to take the guesswork out of the process. All you really need to do is mince your meat, season it, coat it, and fry. 

My family loves how flavorful and crispy these nuggets are, especially since we can customize them to our own preferences. I prefer them crispy so I fry them in oil, but I’ve also shared instructions for air frying and baking if you prefer those methods. 

I’ve been making this recipe for a decade, and it has never once failed to please people of all ages. I serve it as a side dish, at a family lunch, at parties, or as a weeknight dinner. One thing is for sure: these nuggets will be everyone’s favorite part of the meal!

*For more chicken dishes, try these recipes:

• Chicken Bread Pockets Recipe
• Spatchcock Chicken Recipe
• Chicken Samosa Recipe
• Crispy Chicken Fry
• Best Chicken Cutlets

Ingredients you'll need

Boneless Chicken: Chicken makes up the protein and main part of this dish. Cut the boneless chicken into small bite-sized pieces before pulsing it into a coarse mince. 

Chicken Seasonings: Once you have a coarse mince, you’ll mix the chicken with the following seasonings for superb flavor: garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, freshly ground black pepper, lemon zest, lemon juice, and melted butter. Each of those ingredients plays a part in adding delicious flavor to your nuggets. 

Coating: For the crispy outer coating, you’ll need flour, salt, freshly ground black pepper, eggs, and panko bread crumbs.

Oil: For frying, you’ll need vegetable oil. You can use an alternative oil, but make sure it has a neutral flavor and a high smoke point. 

How to make chicken nuggets at home?

Step 1: Make the Chicken Mixture

1. Add bite-sized 1.1-pound boneless chicken, to a chopper or food processor and pulse 2-3 times until it resembles coarse mince.

2. Then, add 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1½ teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon paprika, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, ¾ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper and process until combined. you may find a few coarse minced meat, that's fine.

3. Transfer the chicken mixture to a clean bowl, add 3 tablespoons melted butter and mix.

4. Take approximately 1 tablespoon of chicken mixture and slightly press it with your fingers to form a nugget. Do not worry about the shape.

5. Shape the remaining mixture into nuggets, place them on a lined sheet pan, and pop them into the freezer for 30 minutes.

Step 2: Make the Coating

6. Season ½ cup plain flour with ⅛ teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper and mix.

7. Coat each chicken nugget well with flour.

8. Then dip into the egg.

9. And finally coat with panko breadcrumbs.

10. Repeat the same for all the nuggets. At this stage, you can fry them directly. I usually refrigerate them for 30 minutes and then deep fry them.

11. Heat enough oil in a deep pan or a pot. Once the oil is hot, carefully slide in the nuggets.

12. Deep fry on medium-high heat for 6-7 minutes or until golden brown and crisp

13. Remove them using a slotted spoon. Fry the remaining nuggets similarly.

Serve them hot and crisp with ketchup or dip of your choice.

Expert tips

• Be careful to not overblend your chicken. It’ll get way too moist and the texture will be both too moist and unpleasant to eat. 
• Feel free to season your chicken with the flavors you like best. You can make them teriyaki flavored, barbecue, or sweet and spicy. It’s up to you!
• Instead of blending your own chicken, you can use ground chicken for this recipe. 
• If you want to try an alternate coating to panko breadcrumbs, you can use cornflakes like I did in my crispy fish nuggets recipe. 
• Don’t overcrowd your chicken while frying (or baking, or air frying). In the cooking process, your chicken needs room to cook or it won’t get crispy enough. 
• You can fry your chicken nuggets immediately, but I like to refrigerate them for 30 minutes and then deep fry them. This reduces the chance of them falling apart in the fryer.

Serving Ideas

There are so many delightful ways to enjoy your homemade chicken nuggets! Kids tend to scarf them down with some ketchup and that’s it, but I like to build more of a complete meal around them. Here are some ideas!

Start with sweet potato fries because everyone loves fries with their nuggets, right? Then I like to incorporate some sort of vegetable, whether it’s arugula salad or air fryer Brussels sprouts. 

If you’re serving these nuggets at a party, you can whip up some lemon dill potato salad, pesto pasta salad, or corn avocado salad. They’re all crowd pleasers!
And finally, wash your meal down with a refreshing cup of peach iced tea or watermelon strawberry ginger lemonade. Yum!

Storage & freezing

Store Leftovers: Keep your leftover chicken nuggets in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. 

Freeze: For frozen nuggets, spread them onto a parchment-lined sheet pan so that they don’t stick to each other. Pop them into the freezer and freeze for 2-3 hours. Once the nuggets are frozen, gather them all, place them in a ziplock bag, and freeze. they keep well up to 4 months.

Reheat: To enjoy leftover nuggets that have been in the fridge, reheat them in the microwave, air fryer, or oven. To cook frozen nuggets, deep fry or bake them in the oven. 

If you made and loved this Nuggets recipe, please be sure to rate and review it below! I always love hearing from my readers and take your suggestions into account.

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