Chicken nuggets: the recipe for delicious and easy to prepare nuggets

The chicken nuggets o chicken nugget (in English chicken nuggets) are small pieces with a flattened shape made with chicken meat, soft inside, golden and crunchy on the outside: a great classic of American fast food together with cheeseburger and at chips.

Soft on the inside and with a crunchy breadcrumb coating and corn flakes on the outside, they are prepared at home and in a few simple steps: just chop the chicken nuggets with the bread, the herbs and spices in a mixer, form the croquettes and bread them with flour, egg and breadcrumbs.

We recommend preparing them in large quantities, as they can also be frozen after breading. In addition, they are a very versatile preparation. In fact, they can be flavored according to your tastes, with sweet paprika, pepper, parsley or other spices.

We offer them in the classic version, fries in plenty of oil, but, to get one lighter variantit is possible to cook them in the ovenin static mode, at 180 ° C for 20 minutes, in the pan for about ten minutes, or even in the air fryer for 7-8 minutes.

Excellent as a second course, but also ideal to serve for a aperitifand antipasto o one buffetare perfect to accompany with Mayoof ketchup or other sauces: they will be appreciated by young and old.

If you are looking for an alternative that will please your vegetarian guests, instead, we suggest you try the chickpea nuggets of the potato croquettes.

How to make chicken nuggets

To prepare the chicken nuggets, start with the chicken breasts: arrange them on a cutting board and cut them into small pieces, no more than 6 cm long. 1.

Finely chop the onion 2 and mince the bread.

At this point, equip yourself with a mixer, add the chicken pieces, the chopped onion, the bread and the garlic powder. Season the mixture with salt and pepper, turn on the mixer and let it run for a few minutes, until you get a compact and easy to work mixture. 3.

Now move on to preparing the croquettes. Moisten your hands to prevent the dough from sticking and form oval, squashed bites 4. Once the morsels are formed, proceed with the breading.

Chop the corn flakes and mix them with the breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan. Pass each nugget in flour first 5.

Then, with the help of a fork, dip it in the egg and, finally, pass it back into the mix of breadcrumbs and corn flakes 6.

In the meantime, prepare the pan with the vegetable oil and wait for it to reach a temperature of 180 ° C, ideal for frying.For this step use a cooking thermometer or, if you do not have one, insert a toothpick in the pan and make sure that bubbles form around: if this reaction occurs, the oil is at the optimum temperature. Arrange the breaded chicken nuggets on a plate 7.

Fry the nuggets 2-3 at a time for a few minutes, until crisp and golden 8.

Place the chicken nuggets on absorbent paper to remove excess oil. Finally, serve the chicken nuggets on a serving plate, accompanying them with sauces of your choice 9.

Advice

To speed up the preparation it is possible to use the minced chicken directly: in this way, you will avoid cutting the chicken breast and chopping it in the mixer.

To enrich the dough, we recommend adding flavorings and spices, such as currythe paprika o l’chives. To make the chicken nuggets spicy, however, you can add some chopped hot pepper in breading.

Chicken nuggets are usually paired with mayonnaise, ketchup or salsa barbecuebut nothing prevents you from accompanying them with one allo yogurt sauce or one guacamolefresher and more summery.

Variants and vegetarian alternatives

I chicken nugget they are a truly versatile second course. In fact, by modifying the cooking or enriching the base dough with other ingredients, it is possible to prepare it in new and tasty versions.

Below, we propose them in two variants: one with cooking in the oven and the other with potatoes. In addition, we also want to provide avegetarian alternative to the classic chicken nuggets: excellent to serve to guests who do not eat meat, it is also a delicious way to offer legumes to children.

Baked chicken nuggets

To make this dish lighter, you can prepare one light version of chicken nuggets, baked in the oven instead of fried. Once you have made the breading as indicated in the recipe, arrange the croquettes on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and sprinkle them with a drizzle of oil. Bake in static mode at 200 ° C for 20 minutes, until they take on a golden appearance.

Chicken and potato croquettes

Chicken and potato croquettes are a richer variant of the classic nuggets and include the addition of a boiled potato inside the dough. To make them, follow the procedure of the classic nuggets but replace the bread with a boiled potato. Mash the potato with a fork or potato masher, add it to the previously chopped chicken with onion and garlic. Then form the croquettes and proceed with the breadcrumbs with flour, egg and breadcrumbs (to which you can add the grated Parmesan cheese and the spices you prefer). Chicken and potato croquettes can be both fried and baked in the oven and are crunchy on the outside but very soft on the inside: a real goodness that brings together young and old.

Chickpea nuggets

If you have vegetarian guests or would like to try a light version of the nuggets, you could make the chickpea nuggets. These delicious legume-based morsels are made by blending chickpeas with oatmeal, an egg and spices. Finally, they are covered with a crunchy corn flakes breading and baked in the oven or pan.

Potato croquettes

Delicious and tasty, the potato croquettes they are perfect to serve as antipasto or for one buffet, to satisfy not only vegetarian guests, but also children. They prepare themselves with firm-fleshed potatoes, boiled, mashed and then combined with eggs, cheese and spices. They are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, thanks to the thick breading and final frying.

storage

Chicken nuggets are ideal to be enjoyed hot, freshly fried. However, it is possible freeze him before cooking. Just place them in the freezer on a dripping pan or plate, well spaced and covered with cling film, so as not to stick them together, and keep them in bags once completely frozen, after about 24 hours: they will keep for 2 months.

Before preparing them, we recommend leaving them in the fridge for 1 night to favor their natural defrosting at low temperatures.