Chicken Nuggets selber machen
My kids would happily eat chicken nuggets every single day, and for years my answer was a bag from the freezer aisle.
Then I stood in the store reading the ingredient list on the back of that bag, and I decided we could do better at home. These homemade chicken nuggets beat the store bought ones every time. I double checked with my kids, and they agreed.
The recipe comes from Jenny Bohme, a nutritional consultant for infants, children, and teenagers. What I love about it is how little it asks of you. There is no long list of additives, no strange powders, and no special equipment. Just chicken, a few pantry staples, and about 20 minutes of your evening.
Here is the quick overview before we get into the details.
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 10 minutes
- Total time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 20 nuggets
- Main method: pan frying, with oven and air fryer options
Ingredients for 20 nuggets
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Chicken breast | 600 g |
| Egg | 1 |
| Cornflakes, unsweetened | 200 g |
| Wheat flour | 100 g |
| Salt | 1 tsp |
| Paprika powder | 1 tsp |
| Milk | 20 ml |
| Oil | for frying |
How to make the nuggets step by step
- Cut the chicken into nugget sized pieces.
- Put the cornflakes into a freezer bag and crush them with a rolling pin.
- Set up a breading station. Put some flour on a plate as the first station, whisk the egg with the milk and the spices as the second station, and spread the crushed cornflakes on a flat plate as the last station.
- Coat the nuggets one after another in the flour, then in the egg mixture, then in the crushed cornflakes.
- Heat some fat in a pan and fry the nuggets until golden brown on both sides. If you would rather not stand at the stove, bake them in the oven for 30 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius top and bottom heat, or cook them in an air fryer.
One thing I learned the hard way is that the breading station matters more than you think. When I rushed it and used one plate for everything, the cornflakes turned into a paste and the coating slid right off. Three plates, three quick dips, and the crust stays exactly where it belongs.
Nutrition per portion as given by the source
| Value | Per portion |
|---|---|
| Calories | 92 kcal |
| Carbohydrates | 18 g |
| Protein | 9 g |
| Fat | 2 g |
A batch of 20 nuggets rarely survives dinner in our house. If your crew eats like mine, make two batches and freeze one for a night when everything else is running late.
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5 einfache Rezept Tipps, damit die Chicken Nuggets ein Hit werden
These five tips are the ones I keep coming back to. They come straight from the source recipe, and they have rescued more than one dinner at my house.
- Season them your way. Curry powder and garlic powder are the two swaps I reach for most, and they change the whole character of the nuggets without adding any extra work. Just keep in mind that chili makes the nuggets unsuitable for small children. If a toddler is sitting at the table, leave the heat out of the mixture and add it to your own plate afterwards.
- Swap the coating. Crushed cornflakes give you that shatter crisp crust, but they are not the only option. Regular breadcrumbs, panko, crushed salted pretzels, ground nuts, and almond slivers all work well. I have used panko on nights when the cornflakes box was empty, and nobody at the table complained.
- Give every nugget room in the pan. When the pan is crowded, the nuggets steam instead of fry, and they glue themselves to each other. Fry them in batches, leave a little space between them, and the coating stays crisp and intact.
- Freeze the extras the right way. Let the finished nuggets cool completely, then pre freeze them individually for a short while before you pack them into an airtight container or a freezer bag. That way they will not turn into one solid block. They keep for about three months. Reheat them in the oven or in an air fryer and they come back crisp.
- Cut out shapes for the kids. For dinosaur, star, or heart shaped nuggets, mix the chicken meat with egg, milk, toast bread, and spices in a food processor until you get a workable dough. Roll it out and cut it with cookie cutters. It takes a little longer, and it is the kind of thing that makes a kid’s birthday table unforgettable.
My youngest likes to help with the crushing step, mostly because she gets to hit something with a rolling pin. It slows dinner down by a few minutes and it is worth every second.
Was passt zu Chicken Nuggets? Die besten Beilagen und Soßen
Nuggets on a plate are a fine start, and they get even better when something fresh and something dippable lands next to them. Here is what works at our table.
Beilagen und Seiten
- Fries with ketchup and mayo. If you want to sneak in extra vegetables, carrot fries work beautifully.
- A generous portion of vegetables, such as a pea and carrot medley with a light sauce, or a quick vegetable rice.
- Potato sides: wedges, air fryer potato chunks, rosemary potatoes, or croquettes from the air fryer.
- For dinosaur shaped nuggets, build a volcano out of mashed potato and let gravy be the lava. My kids ask for this one every single time.
Soßen und Dips
- Classic ketchup and mayonnaise
- Sweet chili sauce, if you want a mildly spicy option
- Honey mustard dressing
Nuggets also travel well in a wrap, which is my answer for lunchboxes, picnics, and light dinners on hot days when nobody wants to sit in front of a warm plate. Wrap them with a little salad and a spoon of sauce, roll it tight, and dinner is portable.
Die Hähnchen Nuggets im Backofen zubereiten: So geht’s
If you want to save fat, or you simply do not want to stand at the stove turning nuggets while someone asks you for the fifth time when dinner will be ready, the oven is your friend. The air fryer works too, and it is my go to on school nights.
For the oven version, place the breaded nuggets on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spray them lightly with vegetable oil so they turn crisp instead of pale. Bake them at 200 degrees Celsius top and bottom heat, and turn them once halfway through so both sides brown evenly.
About the timing: the recipe card lists 30 minutes at 200 degrees for the oven version, while the oven notes on the source page mention roughly 20 minutes. Nugget size and your own oven decide which one you need.
Start checking around the 20 minute mark, and give them up to about 30 minutes if your pieces are on the thicker side. When the crust is deep golden and the chicken is cooked through, they are ready.
Das solltest du wissen, wenn ein Beikost Baby mit am Tisch sitzt
If a baby is sitting at the table and gets to nibble on a nugget, season the chicken only very mildly. That is the one rule I would not bend, and it is easy to follow because you control the spice bowl.
Mildly seasoned homemade nuggets work well as a baby led weaning recipe, and they pair nicely with homemade sweet potato fries. The breading is thin and soft enough for little hands, and because you made them yourself, you know exactly what went into them.
Keep a few plain nuggets aside before you add anything spicy to the rest of the batch. Then everyone at the table eats the same dinner, which is my favorite kind of evening.
