Ground chicken nuggets are loved by kids and grown-up all alike. What makes the homemade ground chicken so delicious is that nuggets made with chicken pieces are soft and juicy. And because they are homemade you season them as you like. Did, I tell you these are freezer friendly, just like store-bought fried nuggets. Obviously, fresher and healthier.
Updated: 27 November 2020
You can make these chicken nuggets in no time. But since it requires a breading station, I prefer making a large batch and freezing the extra for next time. I love making frozen nuggets so I can fry them quickly in the morning and give them to my kids for lunch at school. Or they make a quick snack for unexpected guests.
Making chicken nuggets is simple, just mince chicken, add flavors, cover it with egg and bread crumbs and they are ready to fry. So simple! The taste of these homemade chicken nuggets is really mild spiced. This recipe uses ground chicken instead of chicken pieces, this makes the nuggets very soft and toddler friendly.
Why this Homemade Nugget recipe works?
This ground chicken nuggets recipe work because you are not diluting chicken flavor with potato or or bread crumbs. I'm using only chicken and seasoning for the basic mixture. This keep the chicken very moist and doesn't taste like kabab. Afterward, when I generously coat the chicken with bread crumbs, it holds the shape of the nuggets and gives you that ultimate crispy crust with juicy nuggets inside.
The taste of these nuggets is also very close to store-bought frozen nuggets. I like very basic but essential seasoning to make these nuggets and let the chicken flavor shine. If you add stronger spices like ginger and green chillies, these homemade nuggets will taste like kabab. So please no kabab masala in the nuggets.
Variation in a freezer-friendly chicken nugget
You can take inspiration from store-bought nuggets to like to create variation and your own unique version.
- Adding your favorite herb, fresh or grounded would taste great. If using cilantro or parsley make sure to grind the herb in to paste. The nugget will be green too and are called Hariyali or Hara or Green nuggets.
- You can fry nuggets and cut them into bite-size halves. Then roll them in any of your favorite sauces like orange sauce, sweet and sour, Manchurian, or buffalo for next level snacking.
- Once, I served the fried and sliced nuggets over my alfredo fettuccini, and they were a perfect match of crispy chicken and creamy pasta.
- You can add ready-made seasonings too, like taco, ranch, Italian and so on but I recommend trying the original recipe which is so delicious.
Ingredients For Homemade Ground Chicken Nuggets
So the ingredient super simple, and alsmost always available in your pantry. Here are few altervatives too.
- Chicken breast or substitute with finely ground chicken or chicken mince.
- Bread crumbs
- Lemon juice, or vinegar
- Minced garlic or garlic powder or garlic paste
- Minced onions, or onion powder
- Chicken powder: if you don't have chicken powder, use chicken cube or bullion mixed with cornflour to make chicken powder.
- Eggs to make an egg wash
- Salt and pepper
How to make Chicken Nuggets (fried) with ground chicken?
Making chicken nuggets is so easy, you also involve kids and I assure you, it'll be a pleasure.
- Dry chicken with a towel and then mince it finely to form a paste in the food processor.
- If using finely ground chicken, skip the above step and proceed to add all ingredients directly.
- Add finely chopped onion (squeeze the juice of onion and discard as excess water can make the rolling difficult.) and all seasoning. Mix well.
- Roll out small balls. We will shape these balls into squares later. You can make different shapes too.
If you wish to make different shapes of nuggets for a fun experience with kids like stars. Grease the board and the rolling pin generously with oil. Roll seasoned dough into a flat but thick sheet (more than half cm). Add a little bread crumb to the dough if needed and difficult to handle.
Cut out shapes like circles, crescent, and stars. Remove the shapes and transfer to a lined baking sheet. Freeze the shapes to tighten for 1 hour. Once hard, roll into bread crumbs and follow the rest of the steps of breading.
- You can fry one of these balls directly on the pan with little oil to cook and taste test it. Although, not needed but recommended.
- Whisk eggs, add salt and pepper.
- Dip balls first in the egg mixture and then in bread crumbs.
- As it gets relatively firm with a coat of egg and bread crumbs, we can easily shape them into squares.
- Now, the second dip in egg and bread crumbs.
That's a large batch so you may cut down the recipe by half to try this for the first time.
How do you freeze homemade chicken nuggets?
Put these nuggets on a baking sheet in the freezer and freeze for 1-2 hours until solid. Then store in zip-lock plastic bags or in an airtight container with layers of plastic or butter paper in between.
- For frying, throw nuggets directly in hot oil, cook on medium heat for 4 minutes, and high heat for another 4 minutes. Do not overcook, that will make the nuggets dry.
- Take out on a kitchen towel and serve with any dip or ketchup.
Hungry for fried chicken? Check these!
- Sesame Fried Chicken Nuggets
- Spicy Cornflakes chicken
- Chicken Dynamite
- Chicken 65
- Bohra fried chicken
- Chicken Charga
What is your favorite toddler food? Please share in comments.
Ground chicken nugget (fried)
Ingredients
- 750 grams boneless chicken breast, (about three chicken breast) or 750 grams of ground chicken
- 3 tablespoon finely chopped onion, excess juices squeezed and discarded, or ½ tablespoon onion powder.
- 2 teaspoon garlic paste, or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1½ teaspoon chicken powder, or ½ chicken cube/bullion mixed with little cornflour.
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¾ teaspoon salt , more to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2-3 large eggs, for egg wash
- 3 cup bread crumb, to coat
Instructions
Ground Chicken
- Dry chicken breast with a kitchen towel. Cut each breast into small pieces. Then ground into a fine paste in a food processor. Skip this step if using finely ground chicken.
Season the ground chicken
- Add garlic, onions, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to chicken mince and mix well. The chicken mixture will be sticky, It's ok. Set aside.
Prepare Breading Station
- In a bowl, whisk eggs, add salt and pepper to make egg wash. Take some bread crumbs on a large plate. Also, keep baking sheet or large trays to set prepared nuggets.
Roll Out nuggets
- Grease hands with oil and roll out small from ground chicken mixture balls. Coat each ball with bread crumbs. This will make balls firm enough to handle.
- Now shapes the balls into squares or circles with your hands. Dip each nugget in egg wash and then again in bread crumbs.
Frying Instructions
- For frying, throw few nuggets directly in hot oil. Do not crowd the wok and fry on medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Then increase heat and fry for another 2 minutes until golden. Do not overcook, that will make the nuggets dry.
- Take out on a kitchen towel and serve hot with any dip or ketchup.
Freezing Instructions
- Put nuggets on a tray and freezer for two hours until rock solid. Don't stack , keep each nugget separated.
- Once frozen, store plastic zip lock bags or in a container putting layers of butter paper in between the nuggets. To fry frozen nuggets, throw nuggets directly in hot oil. Fry on medium heat for 4 minutes. Then increase heat fry for another for 2 minutes until golden from the center.
Umm-e-Aimen Taaha says
Interesting recipe, i usually keep chicken pieces marinated in the freezer when my kids they want it coat them with flour egg n bread crumbs and they love it. But i will give it a try to this one. Thanks
Mariam Sodawater says
Thank for the lovely suggestion Umme-Aimen, do give it a try as the minced chicken taste different from chunky chicken and let me know too.