Chicken nuggets -- specifically Dino Nuggets -- used to be a staple in the Reading household. Without thinking, I would just grab a huge bag, or two, at Costco, and throw them at the kids whenever I didn't feel like cooking.
Well, over time, things have changed. After I took 2 seconds to actually read the back of the Dino Nugget bag and couldn't pronounce a lot of the ingredients (what is methylcellulose?) -- I about croaked when I saw how many calories there were in just 5 nuggets: 260! Holy cow! And the Doc would easily eat triple that on a weekend afternoon. I had to get rid of them ASAP.
We've been Dino Nugget free for several years now.
But my family never forgot.
I sent out a plea on the Trainer Momma Facebook page recently for some healthyChicken Nugget ideas with ingredients that were actually food -- and several of you came through. I plan on trying all of them.
This was my first attempt -- and my family loved them.
Chicken Nuggets
adapted from One More Moore by www.trainermomma.com
2 lbs chicken breasts, boneless, skinless cut into chunks
1 cup whole wheat flour
dash of Salt & Pepper
1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs (recipe coming soon!)
2 tsp Italian seasoning (find recipe here)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
2 eggs
2 Tb water
2-4 Tb olive oil
Preheat oven to 350. Roll up your sleeves for some fancy schmancy cookin':)
You will need 3 bowls OR 2 large zip lock bags and 1 bowl (think Shake 'N Bake. Since I'm always running behind schedule, this is my preferred method).
Bag/bowl #1:
Mix flour, salt and pepper.
Bowl #2:
Whisk eggs and water until combined.
Bag/bowl #3:
Mix cheese, bread crumbs, and Italian seasoning.
Take your chicken chunks and put them in Bag/bowl #1, the flour mixture, and coat.
Remove chicken and dunk them in bowl #2, the egg mixture, and coat.
Now put chicken in Bag/ bowl #3, the bread crumb and cheese mixture, and coat.
Heat a large pan on medium heat. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add the nuggets and cook around 2 minutes per side until browned (work in batches if you have to). This part seals in some of the moisture and prevents them from drying out.
After browned, place on a cookie sheet that is lined with foil and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Cook in the oven for around 10-12 minutes.
Remove from oven -- Tada! Your very own chicken nuggets that your kids will love and you will even eat some too!
4 oz. (around 5 nuggets) is 160 calories.
For a printable version of this recipe, click here.
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11 comments:
LOL dino nuggets. cough. um. yeah. so we just shifted from dino nuggets to the round ones but yes i recently read the bag and if I won't eat them why on earth am i feeding them to my poor poor children who can't read words like that methylwhateveritis.
I'm gonna try this! They honestly like mine better than any bagged ones anyway! LOL thanks for the recipe! The first lines made me laugh out loud on Twitter.
I love homemade nuggets, but I havne't found a recipe that my kids will eat yet. I've heard (but haven't tried, it's on my "list") to use ground chicken & give it a whirl in a food processor with an egg and some flour before shaping them into nuggets and coating as you described. Supposedly it gives it the same texture as those dino thingys.....again, I haven't tried it, but I plan to!
Oh yay!! I've been looking for good chicken nugget recipes! I did find one that had broccoli or spinach or sweet potato or beet puree (whichever one you wanted) as one of the ingredients...We'll see which one we like better!
These look good but they involve actually cooking. I'll admit that dino's are our go to on nights I don't cook! I wonder if there is a healthier frozen nugget at Trader Joe's or something. Or try freezing yours and tell me how they turn out re-heated!
I should have mentioned that I have frozen these. They turn out great when reheated in the microwave ( but not as crisp as right after cooked). I like to turn on the oven at 350 and cook them for around 10-15 minutes to reheat them, then they are a bit crispier.
This is awesome! I found a recipe on allrecipes.com for battered fried pork using whole wheat crackers, and adapted it using chicken. I made it with the same process described here, but I never thought of making it into chicken nuggets too! Yummy!
This looks yummy and what a fun way to change up chicken dinners! Thanks so much, I think my kids will love these!
Just made these tonight and they were a hit with all 7 of us- which is rare! Thanks.
I could mix do all of it in the morning and then put them in the fridge until I'm ready to cook them.
I do a similar version but cook them on the George Forman instead eliminating my need to fry them in oil. My kids (19 months and just 3 years) LOVE them!!
Keep the recipes coming!! Thanks for all your hard work!
Made these tonight and everyone (including my dino nugget loving 3 yr old) LOVED them! I did have to use regular bread crumbs, anxiously awaiting a recipe for ww ones! :) Thanks, I think our dino nugget days might be over.
Yahoo! These were a bit more complicated that my usual recipes (dump and cook) -- so I'm thrilled to hear they worked out for you!
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