Is it Junk? Chicken Nuggets

All You Need:

3-4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts 
4 large eggs, beaten
2 cups breadcrumbs
2 cups all purpose flour
bowls
seasoning of choice (about 1/4 cup total)
baking sheets
oven
some sort of storage container
freezer

What You Do:

Preheat oven to 350°. Cut chicken breasts into 1" pieces that are about 1/2" thick. Place cut chicken, flour, beaten eggs, and breadcrumbs in separate bowls and line them up in that order. At the end of your little assembly line, place your baking sheets. (Note: if you have a nonstick baking sheet, great! If not, any baking pan lined with parchment paper will work.) 

Divide your seasoning (I use Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning, but any spice mix or simple salt and pepper would work.) between the chicken, flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs. Mix the seasoning into each bowl completely. Here is a picture of my chicken, and then my assembly line.




Using the "wet hand, dry hand" method*, dredge the chicken in the flour. Then, dip the chicken into the egg, and finish by pressing the chicken into the breadcrumbs. Lay the nuggets on a single layer of the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.



Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once the nuggets are cooled, transfer them to your handy storage container and freeze.

When ready to eat, place on a baking sheet and warm through at 350° for 10-15 minutes. 

The Wordy Bit

This recipe is super straightforward and ensures you know exactly what's in your chicken nuggets. You can seasons them anyway you want, too. I've tried: salt and pepper; lemon pepper; spicy; Italian; and Creole. The Creole flavored ones are our favorite. I dip mine in barbecue sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's Original). My husband uses a spicy mustard made from yellow mustard and Devil's Spit Barbecue sauce (or Frank's). Our toddler uses ranch on hers. 

On nights when our little doesn't want or like what we're having for dinner, we'll toss 3 nuggets and a small handful of frozen fries (also homemade) into our air fryer. To heat hers, we use the rotating basket in the air fryer, set the temperature to 400° and let it go for about 10-12 minutes. 

Below is the nutritional information for my methods and just for reference. This is not a guaranteed nutritional statement and the values can vary drastically depending on the seasoning, sizes, and other ingredients used. I estimate about 1 ounce per nugget, so the nutritional information is per nugget.

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