Get my Cookbooks! Homemade Chicken Nuggets
These homemade Chicken Nuggets are made with ground chicken and panko breadcrumbs. They can be oven baked, fried, or cooked in the air fryer. Your kids will love to eat these and can even help you make them!
Serve these nuggets with Buttered Noodles, Potato Wedges, French Fries, or Broccoli Mac and Cheese!
Homemade Chicken Nuggets
If my daughter asks for Chicken Nuggets for dinner one more time, I think she is going to turn into one. 👀 So needless to say, I much prefer to make homemade chicken nuggets from real chicken. I like to buy my own organic free range chicken and grind it myself in the food processor, but you can also purchase ground chicken at the store and skip that step!
These are made with an easy panade (a simple mixture of milk and bread), which keeps the meat nice and juicy (vs. heavy and dense). When meat cooks, the proteins expand and contract and in doing so, moisture escapes. The starch in the panade turns to a gel when cooked and lubricates the fibers in the meat as it cooks.
I like to brush these nuggets with a little bit of butter to get them extra golden and flavorful, but a light coating of cooking spray will also work!
Let’s get into everything you need to know so that you can make these in bulk and freeze them for easy chicken nugget dinners for you and the kids! (I love freezer food.)
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Combine the bread, milk, garlic salt, and black pepper in a small bowl. (This is called a panade and it keeps the chicken juicy/prevents it from becoming dense when it cooks.)
Add the ground chicken to a large bowl and use your hands to gently incorporate the panade. Don’t overmix.
Use a Tablespoon to scoop up the chicken and form nugget shapes.
Brush whisked egg over the nuggets and coat in breadcrumb mixture.
Bake at 375° for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush each side with melted butter. Bake for 8 more minutes. Let them rest for a few minutes prior to serving.
To Fry in a Skillet
- Heat 1 inch of vegetable or canola oil in a dutch oven to 350 degrees.
- Fry the chicken in batches on each side until golden, 2-3 minutes per side.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan or the edges won’t get crispy. Use kitchen tongs to remove and set on a wire cooling rack.
Air Fryer Method
- Brush the top and bottom of the nuggets with 3 TBS butter or spray with canola oil.
- Air fry at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. Flip them halfway through.
To Bake From Frozen
- If you plan on freezing, flash freeze the unbaked nuggets on a plate in the freezer for an hour, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes.
Pro Tips
- You can make your own ground chicken by placing cubes of chicken breasts in a food processor and pulsing to the right consistency. (You’ll need about 2 small chicken breasts for a pound.) Boneless chicken thighs can also be used.
- Crushed Cornflakes can be used instead of breadcrumbs if desired. They are more golden in color so the butter is not as necessary for color but can still be added for taste.
- Try my Baked Chicken Tenders and Fried Chicken Tenders next!
Storage
Refrigerating Leftovers: These are best if enjoyed fresh from the oven, however you can refrigerate them for up to 3 days and reheat in a 350° oven.
Freezing: Flash freeze the unbaked nuggets on a plate in the freezer for an hour, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to 3 months. See section above for instructions on baking from frozen.
Try These Next
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- Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
-
- One Pot Spaghetti
-
- Baked Potato Soup
-
- Homemade Shells and Cheese
-
- BEST Baked Chicken Tenders
-
- Cast Iron Skillet Pizza
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Tried This Recipe?
Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Homemade Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground chicken, see notes
- 3 Tablespoons milk
- 1 slice bread, or 1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
- ¾ teaspoon garlic salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 egg, whisked
- 3 Tablespoons melted butter, or canola oil spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Add the bread to a large bowl and pour the milk on top. Let it absorb for 2-3 minutes. (Note: If using breadcrumbs instead of bread, you my need to add 1-2 more tablespoons of milk.) Add the garlic salt and pepper and stir to combine.
- Add the ground chicken and mix until just combined. Use a tablespoon to scoop out the mixture, form into nuggets, and set aside.
- Combine the breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and parsley in a small bowl.
- Brush each side of the nuggets with the whisked egg. Transfer them to the breading and generously coat until completely covered. Transfer to a light-colored, lightly greased baking sheet.
- Brush half of the melted butter on the top of the nuggets.
- Bake for 7 minutes and remove from the oven. If some nuggets are darker than others, place the darker ones in the middle of the baking sheet and the lighter ones on the outside.
- Brush each side with the remaining butter and bake for 8 more minutes. Remove and serve!
Notes
- You can make your own ground chicken by placing cubes of chicken breasts in a food processor and pulsing to the right consistency. (You’ll need about 2 small chicken breasts for a pound.) Boneless chicken thighs can also be used.
- Crushed Cornflakes can be used instead of breadcrumbs if desired. They are more golden in color so the butter is not as necessary for color but can still be added for taste.
- Try my Baked Chicken Tenders and Fried Chicken Tenders next!
Air Fryer Method:
Brush the top and bottom of the nuggets with 3 TBS butter or spray with canola oil. Air fry at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. Flip them halfway through.
To Freeze: If you plan on freezing, flash freeze the unbaked nuggets on a plate in the freezer for an hour, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
To Bake From Frozen: Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes.
Nutritional information is an estimate and is per nugget. This recipe makes approximately 17 chicken nuggets.
Nutrition
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These turned out great! I used heavy cream to soak the breadcrumbs because that is all I had. I also cooked them for a few extra minutes until they were a little crispier. So good!
I’m sooo happy that you loved the nuggets Michelle! Thank you so much for the great review!! ❤️
I followed this recipe pretty closely in terms of the general structure, the panade, the cooking time, etc., but I changed the ingredients slightly. I didn’t use the parmesan because I have allergies, and I added 1 TBL each of garlic powder and onion powder to the chicken mixture. I didn’t use the egg at all: I just breaded the nuggets directly in the panko, and it stuck perfectly well. I fried half of them on the stove and baked half of them in the oven. Both of them were really good. This recipe is a keeper!
Delicious recipe and toddler approved! The chicken mixture is very sticky however and hard to work with. Simple solution for me was to just add in the whisked egg right into the mixture and it made it easier to work with and form into nuggets!
I’m so glad that you love the recipe, thank you for sharing your tip about the egg as well! Wonderful!
They look like they will be amazing at the end, but mine may end up looking more like popcorn chicken bites than nuggets. I wish this recipe included a tip/trick to keep the chicken mixture from sticking to your hands while trying to scoop and shape. I don’t know if I did something wrong or if there is something that needs to be done to keep that from happening. My daughter and I love cooking and creating food together, but this one has been a little frustrating so far.
Hi April! You can try wetting your hands before shaping them, or you can rub a little olive oil on your hands first. Chilling the mixture will also help, or you can also try wearing disposable food-safe gloves.
This recipes gets 10 stars! My great grandson did not even notice that the chicken nuggets did not come out of a bag from the freezer . THANK YOU,THANK YOU, THANK YOU, especially for the tip about using the food processor to grind the chicken.
WONDERFUL!!! I am so happy that it was a hit with your great grandson! What a compliment, and I’m so glad that you found the tip helpful about grinding the chicken, thank you so much for the wonderful review! -Stephanie
We have an egg intolerance in our family. Is there an egg substitute for the wash prior to breading?
HI Janet! You can apply a layer of milk or buttermilk on the outside of the chicken before transferring to the breading mix. It may not adhere quite as well, buttermilk would be better as it’s thicker. A combination of sour cream/milk can be used to mimic the flavor and consistency of buttermilk as well.
I don’t need to make these to know I will love them. One thing I always missed from Mickey D’s was the nuggets. You also gave me a reason to finally buy an air fryer 🙂
Great! I can’t wait for you to try them!
I am 70 years old and I cannot stop making and eating these. They are absolutely delicious and a long way from the fast food. I ate for many years. Thank you so much for creating this.
AWWWW I am SO thrilled to hear that Kathi!!! We love making these too, my daughter and I can’t get enough! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, you’re the best!
I didn’t read far enough into the recipe and I cooked the chicken nuggets but planned on freezing them, is this still ok if I freeze them after cooked?
You can absolutely freeze them after river cooked them, yes! ❤️
Great recipe! They came out really good. The only issue that I had with them was about them being a little bit too sticky, would adding more bread crumbs work to make them less sticky?
And a side question, if you have tried this or if you think it will work, if I used raw shredded shrimp, ground up in a food processor, do you think this would work the same?
Hi Jay, is it possible that you may have overmixed the meat mixture? This can cause it to be more sticky. Using chilled chicken usually helps as well, but not chicken that was recently frozen/thawed and therefore excessively wet. More breadcrumbs may help! I haven’t tried this with ground shrimp 🙂