Please recommend your baked chicken nugget recipe

[Anonymous]

I am trying to get away from store bought chicken nuggets for DD. I tried a very popular one on allrecipes that was basically pieces of chicken breast dipped in butter (I tried it with egg also) and then a panko/parmesan cheese mix, but my picky DD wouldn't eat it either time. Anyone else have a recipe their toddler likes? TIA.

[Anonymous]

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Twice-Cooked-Coconut-Shrimp/Detail.aspx is very popular with my DS, substituting boneless chicken thigh for the shrimp.

[Anonymous]

Ellie Krieger on the Food Network has one that uses crushed corn flakes. It looks really good. I think she calls it baked fried chicken.

[Anonymous]

We make them from scratch for our kids, and we have found they like it when we use ground chicken breast versus unground chicken. It makes the nuggets softer and more like the ones you buy. We season the ground chicken, form it in a log and freeze to make it easier to cut. Then we slice them, flour them, dip them in egg and then in cornmeal and bake.

[Anonymous]

Bite size piece of chicken, dredged in egg wash seasoned with salt and pepper (diluted with a bit of water), then coasted with panko seasoned with salt, pepper, cayenne. Bake at 375 20 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

[Anonymous]

I don't think panko is going to make your nuggets close enough to store-bought to pass muster with your kid.

I also don't understand why you're trying to get away from store-bought. The Bell & Evans ones don't seem any less healthful than the recipes people are suggesting here.

[Anonymous]

My kids like it when I dip the thin-sliced chicken breasts in mayo, and then coat with mashed pototo flakes and saute them. They brown up nicely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think panko is going to make your nuggets close enough to store-bought to pass muster with your kid.

I also don't understand why you're trying to get away from store-bought. The Bell & Evans ones don't seem any less healthful than the recipes people are suggesting here.

disagree - they're flash fried before they're frozen.

[Anonymous]

disagree - they're flash fried before they're frozen.

OK, but what if a little fat for your kids doesn't bother you? Or them?

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks everyone for the suggestions. I will definitely try using ground chicken next time along with some of the other ideas. I don't have an issue with store-bought chicken nuggets in general, I just find that I am relying on them way too much because they are one of the few foods that DD will eat and would like to move to something healthier if I can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

disagree - they're flash fried before they're frozen.

OK, but what if a little fat for your kids doesn't bother you? Or them?

You asked why people were trying to get away from Bell & Evans, which are as healthful as homemade ones. I disagree that they're as healthful, because they are flash fried, and therefore contain more fat. People can make their own judgments about whether a little extra fat warrants the hassle that is making one's own chicken nuggets, but objectively speaking if you can make them without flash frying them, they will be more healthful. Just answering your question.

[Anonymous]

Also Bell & Evans is just really expensive. So making your own is healthier and way cheaper.

[Anonymous]

We follow the recipe from How to Cook Everything with some tweaks...

Essentially you dredge the chicken stripes in flour, dunk in an egg mixture (seasoned with paprika and S/P) and then coat with Panko. I've done both Panko and regular bread crumbs...I like Panko better but either works.

You then refrigerate for at least 10 minutes and at this point can also freeze.

Then, you fry them in peanut oil or some similar oil. You can bake them as well, but I don't think they taste as good.

[Anonymous]

14:26, you're equating "more healthful" with "lower fat." That seems like a questionable equation. You can't reduce the healthfulness of a food to a single component, and not all foods are equally healthful for all people at all times.

That's not to say that a certain homemade option isn't going to be better for a certain family. Just that it would be helpful to know what the OP wants her family eating more and less of before anyone starts recommending alternatives.

[Anonymous]

We use ground chicken as well, we freeze, slice, coat in egg, dip in a mixture that consists of 50% wheat germ, 50% crushed corn flakes and a little season salt. We place the nuggets on a cooling rack on top of a baking pan and bake them for about 30 minutes. The cooling rack serves to make the nuggets crispier on both sides. My kids love them.