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Crispy Chicken Nuggets are coated twice for a super crispy coating. Taste better than your favorite fast food restaurant!
Homemade Nuggets Taste So Much Better Than Store-Bought
Do you get tired of serving your children grisly, greasy chicken nuggets from the freezer or a fast food restaurant? Cook’s Country Magazine has the solution. A recipe that results in tender, juicy, well-flavored chunks of chicken breast with a crispy coating.
I don’t fry foods often, even though I’m from the South, aka the Land of Fried Foods. Frying makes such a mess, and I hate kitchen clean-up!
But these Crispy Chicken Nuggets, let me tell you. They are well worth the trouble AND the clean-up.
Moist Interior and Crispy Exterior
To keep the chicken nuggets moist, they are first brined in a solution of water, salt, and Worcestershire Sauce. I’m a huge fan of Worcestershire sauce and am always amazed by how many things it can make taste better. If in doubt, use Worcestershire sauce is a perfectly good kitchen rule. Brining helps keep the meat juicy while frying and it also gives a wonderful seasoning to the meat.
To create an extra-crispy coating, the chicken nuggets are coated in a flour/pankocrumb mixture, left to rest for 10 minutes, and then recoated. A touch of baking soda in the mixture helps the nuggets brown quickly in the oil.
The recipe calls for crushed Panko crumbs and after a few minutes of rather unsuccessfully trying to crush them with the bottom of a measuring cup, I put them through a quick whirlin my food processor.
I like to fry in peanut oil, but Yikes! that stuff seems to be getting more and more expensive. You could always use Vegetable oil as a lower cost alternative.
Dipping Sauce
I’m a big fan of chicken nuggets and honey mustard so I made a homemade honey mustard dipping sauce. Don’t like honey mustard? Dip these nuggets in BBQ sauce instead. Whether you cook these crispy chicken nuggets up for a weeknight meal or serve them on a platter for a football game, there are sure to be plenty of smiling faces.
In a medium bowl, whisk together water, 1 tablespoon of salt, and Worcestershire sauce until salt dissolves.
Add chicken, stir to coat chicken well, and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
While chicken is brining, combine flour, panko bread crumbs, onion powder, remaining salt, pepper, garlic powder, and baking soda in a pie plate or shallow dish. In a second shallow dish, whisk the egg whites until foamy.
Remove chicken from brine and discard the brine. Pat chicken dry with paper towels.
Coat chicken in egg white and then dredge in flour mixture. Place on a plate and let sit 10 minutes.
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat to a temperature of 350 degrees.
Recoat chicken in flour mixture, pressing mixture on with your fingers.
Working in 2 batches, fry chicken until golden brown, flipping once. This will take approximately 3 minutes total. Place chicken on top of a wire rack set in a large, rimmed baking sheet. Chicken can be kept warm in a 200 degree oven.
To make dipping sauce, combine mayonnaise, both mustards, honey, and cayenne pepper in a bowl.
Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: fried chicken
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Recipe adapted from Cook’s Country
Originally published Sept 3, 2013.
Disclosure: Spicy Southern Kitchen is an amazon.com affiliate.
Place a paper towel in the bottom of your food thermos and place the cooked nuggets on top. The paper towel will absorb some moisture to keep your nuggets crispy and delicious for hours! Secure the lid. Send your kid (or self, or spouse!)
Don't overcrowd: Overcrowding will leave you with chicken nuggets that are unevenly cooked and possibly soggy. For the best results, add the nuggets in a single layer with a little space around for the hot air to circulate for the crispiest nuggets!
The traditional process of making Chicken Nuggets involves dipping seasoned chicken in flour and then in the beaten egg. Lastly breaded with seasoned bread crumbs which are deep fried. Egg is the main ingredient here as it locks the juices in the chicken and keeps them soft even after frying.
Nervous tissue, connective tissue, bones, tendons, and fat are usually ground up together and then shaped into the common form of bite-sized oval meals. Many studies usually find nuggets that contain more fat than meat, along with some nerves, bones, and connective tissue.
Proper cooling sets the crust and ensures that the chicken will have done all its carryover cooking. I like to cool any leftover chicken completely and then store in a paper towel-lined airtight container in the fridge. The paper towel absorbs condensation and keeps that chicken crisp for midnight snacking.
Lightly spray the top of the McNuggets with cooking spray before placing the baking sheet on the middle rack in the oven.Bake for 10 minutes. *The rack allows heat to flow underneath the McNuggets ensuring the underside wont be soft and soggy but hot and crunchy.
Texture-enhancing binders (such as breading or powdered egg white) are added to help create a “gelling” effect that gives the nuggets shape. Flavors, natural and artificial, are mixed in. So are ingredients that hold in moisture, such as sodium phosphate, soy protein concentrate and autolyzed yeast extract.
Chicken skin needs to be dry in order for it to crisp when cooked. Whether or not you rinse the chicken before prepping, you need to make sure the skin is as dry as possible. After removing the chicken from the package (and washing it, if that is your preferred method) pat each piece dry with paper towels.
If the oil isn't hot enough when you start frying the chicken, the chicken will absorb too much oil and won't get crispy. You want to make sure that the oil is at the right temperature before you start frying the chicken. The ideal temperature for frying chicken is around 350°F.
If the meat isn't fried at an adequate temperature or for a long enough period, this undercooked gluten creates a sogginess that can ruin even the best-quality pork chops or chicken. To prevent this, swap out your flour for cornstarch.
Chicken nuggets are made with white meat from the breast or pectoral muscles of the birds, with other chicken parts mixed in. Tendons, bones, nervous and connective tissues, and fat can all be ground up together before being shaped into those bite-sized pieces.
Made with 100 percent white meat and hand-breaded with KFC's unique Original Recipe of 11 herbs and spices that made the fried chicken chain famous, the Kentucky Fried Chicken Nuggets can be enjoyed as a full meal, a snack on-the-go, complement to the bucket meal or even as an appetizer on the way home!
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Magazine has the solution. A recipe that results in tender, juicy, well-flavored chunks of chicken breast with a crispy coating.
