Homemade Chicken Nuggets with Ground Chicken

This is an easy way of how to make homemade chicken nuggets with ground chicken. It’s a healthy way to make baked nuggets in your oven to extra crispy, or homemade chicken nuggets in air fryer too.

Tired of processed and want to make a batch of homemade nuggets for your family? We will show you how to bake them at home. You can even include hidden vegetables inside of them. Know exactly what is in your food from now on y’all.

Ok let’s be honest, this is likely your toddlers favorite food group. Anything shaped into a nugget is a win and they don’t flinch before digging in. If you make them yourself you can be rest assured that healthy ingredients will be integrated for their bellies. Especially if they have allergies, this is a great way to tailor it just for them.

They are easy to tweak to your liking or dietary needs, you could use ground turkey or even sausage instead. I don’t know about y’all but over the years McDonalds nuggets and other fast food joints have definitely changed. They taste a lot more processed now and aren’t my favorite at all. If you’re with me you should give this one a whirl.

Ingredient Notes

As expected the main ingredient to start with would be a package of Ground chicken (or even ground turkey works). We use this to make Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes too. Keep in mind this is looser than beef and more wet but the breading will help with binding it together.

Eggs will help to gather all of the items together and bake into the shape desired. We prefer organic free range, large sizes for the richest flavor and best outcome.

Italian breadcrumbs is better than Panko because it is thicker and will soak up more of the liquid in the meat, a bit of cornstarch and all purpose flour will solidify them as well.

Seasonings we add is garlic powder, white pepper, salt, pepper and anything else you usually add when making something like a meatloaf mixture.

Substitutions and Variations

You can make these a gluten free option with the following substitutions. Of course you should ensure that the brand of meat you bought is GF, but the main ingredients that would need to be changed would be; Panko GF breadcrumbs would be best. Almond flour or your favorite GF flour is a great flour substitute. Arrowroot can be used as a thickener instead of cornstarch

How to Hide Veggies in Chicken Nuggets

To make things faster use a food processor if you want to add shredded carrots or zucchini. Press into a few paper towels to remove moisture, then throw them all in and make it real fine at first, then you can adjust later as they get used to the flavor. Blend chicken mixture in a bowl and just incorporate together. Have baking sheet ready after you form them into nugget shapes.

This is a great way to get kids to eat vegetables. I have three girls who used to ewwwww every time I served carrots or anything else out of the ground for dinner. Once I started integrating shredded pieces into other foods though (and telling them after they said they loved it) they over time gained a love for them.

Why won’t my breading stick?

If you coat but they feel still really lose to pick up and transfer to your baking sheet, pan or air fryer you can; bread, set on sheet pan and refrigerate for an hour to firm it up a bit more.

Pan Fried

In a frying pan, add oil and heat over high / medium heat. Add breaded nuggets and fry for 2-3 minutes cooking time on both sides until golden brown. Place on a few paper towels to remove excess oil.

In the Oven

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Liberally spray the nuggets with cooking spray on the tops and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Air Fryer Directions

Preheat air fryer to 400 F for 5 minutes. Spray chicken with olive oil spray. When full but not overlapping cook for 8-12 minutes (depending on size) flipping pieces over halfway through. For extra crispy pieces spray with olive oil again after flipping over at minute 4. You could throw them into your Ninja Foodi and air crisp as well.

Tip: Ideally you should flip all of them over to the other side halfway through the baking time to get really crispy on the outside. Serve with chicken nugget dipping sauce options of all kind and enjoy.

Can I freeze raw homemade chicken nuggets?

Yes you can! If you love batch cooking you could easily double or triple it, lay on a sheet pan, freeze before frying until solid, then throw them into a freezer bag. Take a few out later to cook when you’re ready. You do not want to cook and then freeze or they won’t come out quite as well.

How to Freeze Leftover Homemade Chicken Nuggets

To freeze the chicken nuggets that have already been fried and baked, allow them to cool completely. Store them in an airtight container. The best way to reheat is to use your air fryer and follow our air fryer frozen chicken nuggets directions. To have a crispier coating, use panko instead of breadcrumbs

The best way to store them is to follow up to step 4. Lay these prepared pieces on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put this into the freezer for 2 hours. Remove the tray and move frozen pieces into a freezer bag.

Store in the freezer until you’re ready to cook them. When you’re ready, lay on a plate to defrost and continue on as directed below with steps 5 and 6 and then enjoy as though they were fresh.