Baked Chicken Nuggets

Tips for chicken tenders

Chicken nuggets were a huge hit the first time around at 15-month-old, and I kept making them since then. I also learned a few tricks along the way.

I soak the chicken in cow’s milk for 1 hour up to overnight. (I found that even 20 minutes of soaking helps when I’m short on time.) This soaking process makes the chicken much tender and gets rid of the unpleasant chicken smell.

When Munchkin was younger, I cut the chicken into tiny pieces, but oh boy. Coating those tiny pieces of chicken with panko was painful. I would get so frustrated half-way through. So nowadays, I try to cut into bigger chunks.

I tried a couple of methods to get the fried effect without actually frying the chicken. I tried spraying cooking oil and broiling the chicken for the last few minutes. Then, I tried toasting panko in a pan before coating the chicken. The latter tasted closer to the fried version.

Now, coating the chicken with bread crumbs is the most tedious and difficult part. If the crumbs become wet, they won’t stick to the chicken, and a lot of them will go to waste. Spread the panko crumbs thin on a dish. Place a batter-dipped chicken on the crumbs and roll only once or twice. That’s it. Rolling it over and over again won’t necessarily get more crumbs on the chicken. It’s best to use chopsticks to minimize contact.

You can add thyme or your favorite herb to Panko bread crumbs.

Also, check out my meatball recipe.

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Baked Chicken Nuggets

Baked chicken nuggets. Perfect for freezer stash. These nuggets are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. 

Servings 3

Author whiteblankspace

Ingredients

• 1 lb boneless chicken thigh or breast
• 2 cups cow's milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

1. Soak chicken in milk. Let it sit in the fridge for 1 hour up to overnight.

2. Shake the milk off of the chicken and season with salt and pepper. 

3. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Meanwhile, heat a large pan over high heat. Add olive oil and panko bread crumbs. Toast until slightly browned, stirring constantly.

4. In a bowl, whisk eggs. Add all-purpose flour and water. Whisk to combine. In a shallow dish, spread toasted panko bread crumbs.

5. Dip the seasoned chicken pieces into the egg-flour-water mixture. Take out one piece at a time and roll on panko using chopsticks. Place on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet in a single layer.

6. Bake for 17~20 minutes based on your oven.