• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • ABOUT

Swasthi's Recipes

Home >> Recipes >> Chicken Recipes

Chicken nuggets recipe | How to make chicken nuggets at home

By swasthi , on May 27, 2019, 40 Comments, Jump to Recipe

Chicken nuggets recipe – Learn how to make chicken nuggets at home. Chicken nuggets are one of the most commonly eaten dish in fast food restaurants. These are made either of meat slurry & ground chicken or chicken breasts. The nuggets made of meat slurry are highly processed and unhealthy when compared to the ones made using chicken breasts.

chicken nuggets recipe

Meat slurry is added to ground chicken then shaped to nuggets or even used to make patties for chicken burger. Frozen nuggets or the ones made using ground meat & slurry are highly unhealthy and made under unhygienic conditions.

Advertisement

In any good standard restaurants, one can find nuggets made of chicken breasts or ground meat with cheese. The chicken nuggets recipe I am sharing here is made of breasts with mild flavoring, you can add up your own flavors to suit your taste.

Most places one can find chicken nuggets that are mildly favored to hot and spicy. They can be of any size or shape. But usually nuggets are made about 1.5 * 1.5 inches. These chicken nuggets turn out crispy with a soft, juicy and delicious texture from inside. These can be eaten even by toddlers.

For more chicken recipes, you may like to check
Popcorn chicken
KFC Fried chicken
Chicken burger
Crispy chicken pakora
Chicken manchurian

Preparation

Brining for chicken nuggets recipe

1. You can skip this step, if you have tender meat. To keep the chicken juicy, soft and tender, I prefer to brine it for at least 2 hours to overnight in buttermilk or salted vinegar solution for most of my fried chicken recipes. Otherwise the meat turns tough resulting in chewy & fibrous chunks. To make buttermilk, add 1/4 cup plain curd / yogurt to 1.5 cups of water along with 1/4 tsp salt. Whisk well and add the washed and cubed chicken. Leave it to rest for 2 hours to overnight in the fridge. Drain up the buttermilk and set aside just before you want to make the nuggets.

Preparation for chicken nuggets

2. Sprinkle your favorite seasoning. I used freshly ground pepper and all spice. You can add 1/4 tsp of all spice powder or half tsp garam masala, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder or paprika. You can also replace ginger garlic paste with 1/4 tsp each of ginger and garlic powder. Toss well and set aside until you prepare the rest.

pepper powder salt for marinating chicken nuggets

3. We will need 3 wide bowls – 1 for egg, 1 for bread crumbs and the other for flour.
I used organic egg.
Unseasoned homemade bread crumbs.
Organic unbleached plain flour/ maida – added pepper, bit of salt and all spice. Mixed up and check the salt.
Beat the egg well set aside. If using packed bread crumbs, choose one that doesn’t have MSG in it. Usually corn flour is added to get the right crunch, but you will really not feel the difference if you replace with plain flour since nuggets are breaded.

prepare flour, egg for chicken nuggets recipe

How to make chicken nuggets

4. Get the moist chicken and put them in the flour. Coat them well. Make sure the meat is moist else it doesn’t coat the flour well.

coating marinated chicken nuggets in seasoned flour

5. Take off each of these with a tong and add to the beaten egg. Coat them well with the egg.

dip chicken nuggets in beaten egg

6. Immediately place them in the bread crumbs. Coat them well again.

coat chicken nuggets in bread crumbs
Advertisement

7. Allow them to rest for about 10 minutes. This allows the bread crumbs to stick on well.

resting breaded chunks

Frying chicken nuggets

8. Heat oil in a deep pan. Make sure the oil is not very hot, before you drop the chicken in the pan. It will brown the chicken nuggets without cooking well inside. When the oil is hot enough, Shake off the chicken nuggets a bit in the plate. This way any excess bread crumbs will fall off in the plate. Drop them one after the other. Fry them in batches.

frying breaded chicken nuggets in oil

9. Keep stirring and fry evenly until golden. Drain them on a kitchen tissue.

golden fried breaded chicken nuggets recipe
Advertisement

Serve chicken nuggets hot with ketchup or a cup of black tea.

chicken nuggets

Related Recipes

chicken burger

Chicken burge...

popcorn chicken

Popcorn chick...

kfc fried chicken

KFC fried chi...

garlic chicken recipe, indian style

Garlic chicke...

chicken pakora

Chicken pakor...

chicken manchurian

Chicken manch...

Advertisement
chicken nuggets

Chicken nuggets

These chicken nuggets made at home are much delicious and better than the ones from fast food chains.
Pin Recipe Print Recipe

For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card

Prep Time2 hours
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time2 hours 30 minutes
Servings4
AuthorSwasthi

Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )

  • 250 grams chicken breast cubed
  • ¼ to ½ cup all-purpose flour or maida (prefer organic)
  • ¼ tsp salt or as needed
  • ¼ to ½ tsp pepper powder
  • ½ tsp garam masala or ¼ tsp all spice powder
  • 1 tsp ginger garlic paste or ¼ tsp each in powder form (optional)
  • 1 egg
  • ¾ cup bread crumbs

for brine or tenderize the chicken

  • ¼ cup curd or yogurt or 2 tbsp vinegar
  • 1.5 cups water
  • 1/8 tsp salt
Advertisement

Instructions

Preparation for chicken nuggets

  • Brine the chicken in salted buttermilk for 2 hours to overnight. Keep refrigerated.
  • Drain it completely and sprinkle half of the pepper powder and spice powder. Mix well.
  • Add little salt, rest of the pepper powder and spice powder to the flour. Mix well.
  • Beat the egg in a different bowl.
  • Transfer the bread crumbs to another bowl.
  • Coat the moist chicken in flour, then dip in the egg mixture. Then coat in bread crumbs. Repeat this for all the nuggets.
  • Rest them for 10 mins. Heat oil in a pan.

How to make chicken nuggets

  • Heat oil in a deep pan. Check if the oil is hot by dropping a bread crumb. If the oil is ready, bread crumb comes up without browning too quickly.
  • Shake off the excess crumbs and fry until golden, Drain them on a kitchen tissue.
  • Serve chicken nuggets hot with your favorite dip or sauce.
Advertisement

Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.

For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.

NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)

Nutrition Facts
Chicken nuggets
Amount Per Serving
Calories 239 Calories from Fat 36
% Daily Value*
Fat 4g6%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Cholesterol 80mg27%
Sodium 460mg20%
Potassium 302mg9%
Carbohydrates 27g9%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 20g40%
Vitamin A 125IU3%
Vitamin C 0.7mg1%
Calcium 69mg7%
Iron 2.3mg13%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Mention @SwasthisRecipes or tag #swasthisrecipes!

© Swasthi’s Recipes

WhatsApp
Share
Pin
Reddit
Tweet
Email
FOR MORE RECIPES

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.


WhatsApp
Share
Pin
Reddit
Tweet
Email

Related Posts

Advertisement

FEATURED RECIPES

Breakfast Recipes

Upma recipe (r…

upma recipe

Cake Recipes

Banana cake re…

banana cake recipe

Breakfast Recipes

Aloo paratha r…

aloo paratha

vegetarian

Paneer recipes…

paneer recipes

Dal Recipes

Dal makhani (S…

dal makhani recipe

Rice Recipes

Veg biryani re…

veg biryani

Advertisement

POPULAR RECIPES

Idli recipe (S…

soft idli

Samosa recipe …

samosa

Pav bhaji reci…

pav bhaji

Eggless chocol…

eggless chocolate cake

Palak paneer r…

palak paneer

Rajma recipe |…

rajma

Advertisement

Paneer butter …

paneer butter masala

Kadai paneer r…

kadai paneer

Paneer tikka r…

paneer tikka

Advertisement

About swasthi

I’m Swasthi shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthis recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills.
Read more..

Reader Interactions

Share Your Comments & Feedback: Cancel reply

Recipe Rating




Comments

  1. Advertisement
  2. Saritha Cuddapah says

    November 26, 2020

    Hi,
    I love ur recipes and have tried some too. I have a question, my kids are allergic to egg but they can eat chicken and fish. While preparing chicken patties or nuggets, I can’t use egg to coat them in bread crumbs. Can u please give me an alternative for egg. I want to prepare them at home especially now during the pandemic – I don’t want to go for frozen foods. Ur tip will be very helpful. Thank u.

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      November 27, 2020

      Hi Saritha
      Thank you! You can use thick buttermilk (yogurt diluted with water). Egg is used in many recipes to retain the juices in the meat so they don’t turn hard after frying. Buttermilk to some extent works well if the chicken is brined overnight. So I usually soak it in plain buttermilk overnight. The next day drain and then again dip in thick buttermilk and then crumb them. The other option is to make a batter of besan / gram flour. Hope this helps.

      Reply
  3. Reshma says

    June 3, 2020

    Hi,
    Can we bake this?
    If so at what temperature and how many minutes ?

    Thanks

    Reply
  4. NGO says

    April 20, 2020

    Hello Swasthi,
    What can I use for coating the nuggets, instead of the egg?
    Thanks in advance.

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      April 21, 2020

      Hello
      You can make a batter with any gram flour/besan or maida. Even wheat flour works but the flavor will be different. The consistency should be same as that of beaten egg. Not too thick and not very runny

      Reply
  5. Amreen says

    April 9, 2020

    5 stars
    I tried chicken nuggets step by step by your recipe..it was so yummy and crispy.
    Thank you for sharing your recipe.

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      April 9, 2020

      Welcome Amreen
      Glad they turned out good.

      Reply
  6. Sengberth Sangms says

    April 21, 2019

    Very nice recipe. Steps are easy to follow.

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      April 23, 2019

      Thank you

      Reply
      • J.J says

        August 3, 2020

        Yeah thanks.
        What a lovely recipe, Keep up the good work

        Reply
  7. Shalee says

    April 12, 2018

    Hi swasthi, what is plain flour? Is it rice flour?

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      April 12, 2018

      Hi shalee
      Plain flour is maida. You can also use rice flour

      Reply
  8. Advertisement
  9. shbnm says

    August 15, 2017

    5 stars
    All recipes are fabulous

    Reply
  10. Bishnu Raj KC says

    April 30, 2017

    5 stars
    Following your instruction here in Nepal and its quite started working. Keep up the good work dear.

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      May 1, 2017

      Thanks Bishnu Raj
      Happy to know the instructions are useful

      Reply
  11. Simmi says

    January 4, 2017

    5 stars
    Which bread crumbs you use.
    Fresh bread slice grind it.
    Bread slice toast then grind it.

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      January 4, 2017

      Toasted bread then pulse it

      Reply
  12. Aruna says

    November 22, 2016

    4 stars
    I prepared your chicken nuggets. Why does the oil become frothy.
    Otherwise regarding taste it’s good

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      November 22, 2016

      Hi Aruna,
      There are a few reasons for the oil foaming up or turning frothy
      1. Too much moisture in the nuggets. Hope you followed the recipe as it is . i.e using dry flour to coat the chicken first to remove excess moisture. This can also happen due to too much of egg mixture on the nuggets or not enough bread crumbs to remove excess moisture.
      2. Secondly, using too much oil for frying nuggets can make the entire pan foamy. Use oil just to barely immerse the nuggets. You can see in the pics. Too much oil or too much moisture can also cause foam.
      3. beating the egg a lot can also make this.
      4. Thirdly the quality of oil or making use of used oil. For any recipe, I highly recommend using fresh oil for deep frying.
      Hope these help you

      Reply
  13. Niki says

    November 12, 2016

    5 stars
    Can I skip Egg in chicken nuggets or chicken popcorn recipe? I am allergic to egg

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      November 13, 2016

      Hi Niki
      Yes you can skip. make a batter using little plain flour and milk. Beat the batter very well. Then use it inplace of egg. Hope this helps.

      Reply
  14. Advertisement
  15. As"ccfgvbnkvb says

    October 14, 2016

    5 stars
    I like it, nice
    Very useful

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      November 13, 2016

      Thanks

      Reply
  16. As"ccfgvbnkvb says

    October 14, 2016

    5 stars
    I like it ,
    Nice very useful

    Reply
  17. vidhya says

    September 13, 2016

    4 stars
    Hi Madam,

    The recipe looks yummy. Can we replace maida with any other flour? Please advise

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      September 15, 2016

      Hi Vidhya
      Not sure, may be rice flour and corn flour in equal quantities may work.

      Reply
  18. Priya Varghese says

    July 1, 2016

    5 stars
    Dear Swasthi,
    I have been trying your recipes for the past one month and I couldn’t stop myself from penning down my appreciation. Your recipes are great and the taste is awesome. 🙂

    I tried the KFC fried chicken recipe and it tasted awesome (my 7 year old loved it) however, since my hubby prefers more spice, I tried the chicken nugget recipe and instead of bread crumbs I used slightly crushed oats. Look was exactly like KFC fried chicken and taste was amazing with the required spice. So it turned out really nice. Thank you dear 🙂 Now both hubby and Ryan – my son enjoy it.

    A quick question – instead of maida can I use corn flour?

    Thanks,
    Priya

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      July 4, 2016

      Hi Priya
      You are welcome
      I am really sorry for the late reply. I am a bit busy with the kids’ holidays. Very glad to know you liked the recipes. Yes you can also use corn flour, I try to minimise corn flour since I am unable to find organic corn flour. Corn flour is heavily processed and it is hard to find organic one. SO i have used organic maida here. YOu can use both the flours.
      Have a wonderful week ahead

      Reply
  19. Manisha says

    June 28, 2016

    5 stars
    Made these. Turned out very good. Thanks

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      June 28, 2016

      Welcome Manisha

      Reply
  20. Advertisement
  21. manzoura says

    June 7, 2016

    excellent

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      June 9, 2016

      Thanks

      Reply
  22. Aishatu says

    June 5, 2016

    5 stars
    Simply awesome!

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      June 5, 2016

      Thanks Aishatu

      Reply
  23. Aishatu says

    June 5, 2016

    2 stars
    I really love these recipes. They are just great. Thanks!

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      June 5, 2016

      Welcome & Thanks Aishatu.
      Glad to know you liked them

      Reply
  24. Sita says

    May 10, 2016

    My kids helped with the preparation and had fun. The chicken nuggets turned out pretty good.
    Is it possible to bake them instead of frying?

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      May 11, 2016

      Yes you can bake them, but they will not be as crunchy as this.

      Reply
  25. Bhavani says

    April 3, 2016

    This is wonderful site. Thank you for providing such awesome recipes that to in detail with pictures. I tried some recipes and result is very tasty.

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      April 3, 2016

      Hi Bhavani
      You are welcome. Glad to know the recipes turned out good. Thanks for the feedback

      Reply

Primary Sidebar

Advertisement

DIWALI RECIPES

JALEBI RECIPE
RASGULLA RECIPE
RASMALAI RECIPE
GULAB JAMUN
BESAN LADOO
KAJU KATLI
RAVA LADDU
Advertisement

CATEGORIES

DINNER RECIPES
SANDWICH RECIPES
BREAKFAST RECIPES
RICE RECIPES
CHUTNEY RECIPES
SNACKS RECIPES
SWEETS RECIPES

Follow me on social media

Facebook

Like

Instagram

Follow

Pinterest

Follow

Twitter

Follow
Advertisement

HEALTH CORNER

RAGI RECIPES
OATS RECIPES
MILLET RECIPES

Advertisement
Advertisement

© 2012 - 2020 - Swasthi's Recipes. The content is copyrighted to SWASTHI'S and may not be reproduced in any form.