Chicken Nuggets are so easy to make at home and you control exactly what goes in them. These are extra crispy with a light and airy batter!
Chicken Nuggets Recipe
I don't think I've ever met someone who doesn't love chicken nuggets! Tender and moist chicken coated in a crispy batter and fried to perfection. Served with your favorite dipping sauce. Chicken nuggets are simply amazing!
Everyone loves chicken nuggets but sometimes it is hard to find a good quality nugget with 100% meat filling. By making your nuggets are home you control what exactly goes into them. My recipe uses boneless skinless chicken breast and no filler at all... just delicious seasonings!
To achieve an extra crispy and light coating a wet batter is made. These nuggets can be made ahead and stored frozen until ready to cook. The recipe makes 30 nuggets but I like to double the recipe and keep a batch in the freezer so I can have homemade nuggets any time!
What is in Homemade Chicken Nuggets?
- Homemade chicken nuggets mean you control exactly what goes in them. We can limit the sodium and eliminate any filler in the meat mixture. These nuggets are 100% white meat but you can use a 50/50 blend of white and dark meat or 100% dark meat. I prefer using 100% white meat as the nuggets form together easier and it keeps them healthier.
- The only ingredients mixed in with the chicken are spices and 1 egg to help bind the meat together. If using boneless skinless chicken breast you will need to either process the meat in a food processor (my recommendation is below and linked here) or you can use a knife and pound the meat for 5-10 minute or until a paste like consistency is formed. Or you can use store bought ground chicken.
- Once the nuggets are shaped they are flash frozen to firm them up to make it easier to coat them in the batter. First the flash frozen nuggets are coated in cornstarch which will help the wet batter stick.
- The wet batter is what gives the nuggets their extra crispy exterior. It is a water and flour based wet batter seasoned with spices and mustard being the secret ingredient which not only adds the perfect color to the batter but a delicious flavor.
How to Make Chicken Nuggets
Full Printable Recipe at Bottom of Page
1 Place the chicken in a food processor. Depending on the size of your food process you may need to work in batches. Process for 30 seconds or until small pieces form. Add the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and one egg. Blend until it forms a paste like consistency.
2 Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using wet hands, take a handful of blended chicken and shape into a nugget. Shape all of the nuggets and place the baking sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes. This will make it easier to coat the nuggets.
3 Add the cornstarch to a small bowl. In a large bowl, mix together the water, one egg, onion powder, garlic powder, mustard, pepper, salt and flour. You should have a thick but runny batter.
4 In a large skillet or deep pot, heat enough oil on medium-high heat to come 2” up the sides.
5 Coat each nugget with corn starch, shake off the excess and then coat in the wet batter. Let the excess wet batter drip off.
6 Carefully place the nugget in the heated oil and fry for 2-3 minutes per side. Remove the nuggets from the oil and drain on paper towel or wire rack for 3-4 minutes.
7 Deep fry the same batch of nuggets again for 5 minutes. This ensures that the chicken cooks all the way through without getting too dark and the batter will be extra crispy. Remove the nuggets from the oil and drain on a paper towel or wire rack.
Serve with dipping sauce of choice and enjoy!
Food Processor Recommendation
New digital MagicCos 14 cup 7-in-1 Food Processor (Linked Here)!
Some of favorite things to make:
- Sorbet - simply blend a bag of frozen fruit!
- Pizza Dough - processor comes with a dough hook!
- Salads - the shredding blade makes it so quick and easy
- Fresh Ground Meats - for nuggets, meatballs, hamburgers
Key Features
- 14 Cup Capacity & Powerful 1000W Copper Motor
- It is versatile and large enough to handle various tasks like making ice cream, sorbet, coleslaw, and chopping meats for your own ground meats!
- 7 Multifunctional Accessories
- Comes with chopping blade, dough blade, reversible shredding/slicing/mashing blade disc and a spatula
- 7 Variable Speeds & Pulse Function
- Features 7 variable speeds and pulse function, dicing onions, mincing parsley, and uniformly slicing tomatoes in seconds. Plus, pulsing lets you incrementally chop food and control the blade to limit your risk of over-processing
- Rotary Switch & Digital Touch Panel
- Instead of the normal physical buttons, MagicCos electric food chopper is DIGITAL! Featuring a touch panel & LCD display with a timer. There are even pre-programmed settings for meat copping, smoothies, ice crush, and more!, smoothie & meat chopping & ice crush functions are surprises for you!
- Dishwasher Safe & Dual Protection
- Double safety lock on the base and lid allows for safe use. There are 4 suction cups on the feet to keep the food processor safely in place on your kitchen counter! Also, all removable parts are dishwasher safe (base can not be washed by the dishwasher). We know the last thing you wanna be do is doing the dishes.
Looking for More Easy Dinner Ideas
Try some of my favorite easy dinners:
- Halifax Donair - a Canadian classic thinly shaved meat served in a pita with tomato, onion and a creamy garlic sauce!
- Spicy Crispy Chicken - one of my all time favorite recipes! If you try any recipe from me, make it this one.
- Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin - an easy dinner the whole family will love... I mean who doesn't love bacon?!
Enjoy!
- Sab
Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, may earn me a small commission.
Crispy Chicken Nuggets (McNuggets Copycat)
Ingredients
Chicken
- 3 chicken breast (boneless skinless)
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 egg
Dry Coating
- 1 ½ cups corn starch
Wet Batter
- ¾ cup water
- 1 egg
- ½ tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- ½ tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Place the chicken in a food processor. Depending on the size of your food process you may need to work in batches. Process for 30 seconds or until small pieces form. Add the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and one egg. Blend until it forms a paste like consistency.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using wet hands, take a handful of blended chicken and shape into a nugget. Shape all of the nuggets and place the baking sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes. This will make it easier to coat the nuggets.
- Add the cornstarch to a small bowl. In a large bowl, mix together the water, one egg, onion powder, garlic powder, mustard, pepper, salt and flour. You should have a thick but runny batter.
- In a large skillet or deep pot, heat enough oil on medium-high heat to come 2” up the sides.
- Coat each nugget with corn starch, shake off the excess and then coat in the wet batter. Let the excess wet batter drip off.
- Carefully place the nugget in the heated oil and fry for 2-3 minutes per side. Remove the nuggets from the oil and drain on paper towel or wire rack for 3-4 minutes.
- Deep fry the same batch of nuggets again for 5 minutes. This ensures that the chicken cooks all the way through without getting too dark and the batter will be extra crispy. Remove the nuggets from the oil and drain on a paper towel or wire rack.
- Serve with dipping sauce of choice and enjoy!
Melinda says
Made these, didn't have onion powder so I spiced it up with paprika and cayenne. Very good and fairly easy to make!!
Cc says
Crispy and tasty!
Candice says
The kid and I like them. Recipe saved for the future. I made them too thick though so will adjust next time. At what point would you freeze these for cooking another day? At the press and form stage or fully cooked?
fedbysab says
I would recommend freezing them fully cooked. Then they will be easier and quicker to reheat instead of having to deep fry them.
Ciera says
Definitely delicious 😋 Definitely needs less salt for sure. But other than that absolutely delicious 😋
Kari Johnson says
Do you think they could be air fried inside of deep fried?
fedbysab says
Since the nuggets are coated in a wet better they do not have the best results when air fried. It is recommended to deep fry or shallow fry them in a frying pan stove top rather than air frying them. Leftovers can be reheated in the air fryer but the initial cooking should be done deep fried.
Jessica says
my family devoured all of it...
Lori W says
Could you just use ground chicken in this recipe rather than putting whole chicken breast in the food processor?
Sabrina says
Yes you can 🙂
Hana says
easy but the taste is really good!