“These oven fried chicken nuggets are better than Chick-fil-a! – Tillie, age 6
Is there anything better than a home cooked southern meal? I love fried chicken. Even more, I love chicken nuggets…with mashed potatoes and gravy and a side of either corn or green beans. There really is nothing better.
I’ve had several versions of homemade chicken nuggets but these oven fried chicken nuggets are by far my favorite. They’re tender and crispy and freeze well.
Oven Fried Chicken Nuggets
You start off with chicken breasts cut in bite sized pieces. For my family of four, 2 chicken breasts makes plenty. But I like to make extra to freeze for lunches so I usually use 4 chicken breasts. Last I counted, 4 chicken breasts makes about 60 nuggets.
Then you dip them in flour. I’m lazy and like to get things done quickly so I dump my flour in a gallon ziploc bag (or I guess you could use a plastic storage container with a lid) and then add my chicken and shake….kinda like the shake and bake method.
Once the chicken has been lightly coated with flour (too much and the crust won’t stick), they get bathed in an egg wash. This is where it gets a little messy. Again, I want to get done quickly so I beat my eggs in a bowl and dump the chicken in and stir it all up.
After the egg wash, then it’s off to get a good coating of the bread crumb mixture. This mixture gives the nuggets just the right about of crispiness. Yum!
Now this is where the fried part comes in. Are you ready for the secret? It’s butter. You melt butter and pour it on a baking sheet and then set the little nuggets on top. Pop that baby in the oven and let them “fry”. Oh my goodness I can’t wait to eat them! Of course if you don’t do mashed potatoes & gravy, you can always pair them with a dipping sauce.
I’ve made these so many times that I don’t use exact measurements….it’s just a little bit of this and a little bit of that but I’m going to do my best to steer you in the right direction. This recipe is really hard to mess up though.
*Looking for a low carb/keto version? Try this one!
- 1 lb Chicken Breast, cut into strips or nuggets
- 2 Eggs, beaten
- 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
- 1/4 Bread Crumbs, Plain
- 1/4 Panko
- 2 tsp Paprika
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 Stick of Butter
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Melt butter and pour on a rimmed cookie sheet.
- In a shallow dish, combine bread crumbs, panko, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. In another shallow dish, add the eggs and beat well. In a third shallow dish, add flour.
- Dip the chicken in the flour, then the egg and then the bread crumb mixture and place on the rimmed cookie sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes then flip over and bake for another 10-12 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
I had chicken tenderloins out to make homemade chicken fingers tonight; trying this recipe! I am so sick of pan frying them in small batches.
Good timing! You’ll have to let me know how you liked it!