I’ve been searching for a delicious, yet easy chicken nuggets recipe for a long time. Chicken nuggets are a staple childhood food (at least they were for me) and I didn’t want to deny Arik of these delicious little things, but I also didn’t want to serve him some pre-made frozen version. Unfortunately, all the recipes I was finding required me to coat each little nugget in flour, egg, and breading and then fry them in a pan, which as most of you parents know, is pretty impossible to do when you’ve got a hungry toddler hanging out in the kitchen.
Then I found this little gem of a recipe. It requires only 4 ingredients and promised no elaborate breading of the chicken nuggets. I was sold, and tried it out immediately. It truly is a really easy recipe, which all three of us loved. You just simply put the cut up chicken and some red pesto in a bowl and mix. Then you toss that chicken in a freezer bag with crushed cornflakes and shake. Lastly, you place the nuggets on a cookie sheet and bake…so easy, and more importantly, a lot less messy than breading and frying. The other great thing about the recipe, is that you can easily freeze the uncooked breaded nuggets and save them for a busy weeknight.
I personally find, that the red pesto provides enough seasoning for the nuggets (especially since I am cooking for a 21 month old), but if you prefer a little kick to your nuggets you can season the crushed cornflake mixture however you desire. The original recipe calls for breadcrumbs instead of cornflakes. I went ahead and tried regular breadcrumbs, panko breading, and cornflakes and in the end cornflakes were a clear winner with all three of us. I served them with oven-baked potato wedges and green beans….and of course, ketchup.
- 2 skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into small cubes
- 3 tablespoons red pesto
- 2-3 handfuls cornflakes, crushed into small pieces
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- Preheat the oven to 400℉/200℃.
- Place the cubed chicken pieces in a bowl, add the pesto, and mix together until all pieces are covered.
- Pour the oil onto a shallow baking tray, just enough to cover it, and place in the oven for 5 minutes.
- Put the cornflakes in a freezer bag, crush them into small pieces, and add the chicken in small batches. Shake each batch around until each piece is coated with cornflakes.
- Place the chicken nuggets onto the heated greased baking tray so that no pieces are touching each other and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
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8 Responses to “Easy Crispy Chicken Nuggets”
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I’ve always made the nuggets for my son with cornflakes. What I really like here is the idea of the red pesto. Great!
Thanks Meeta! The red pesto is what intrigued me as well…just makes the whole breading process so much easier and faster. 🙂
I’m am a major chicken nugget enthusiast! These look so crispy and moist and I can’t wait to try them!
Chicken nuggets are the best, aren’t they? Hope they live up to your expectations!
I tried them with honey bunches of oats ( all I had), it made them ridiculously yummy! Oh I didn’t use the red pesto but salt and pepper with oil and vinegar. My 17 month old devoured them and he is super picky! Thank you so much for the idea , it saved dinner tonight!
Now that’s an interesting twist on the recipe! I like the way you improvise. 🙂 So glad your little guy liked them. Thanks for taking the time to let me know!
Just made these for my gluten and nut free kiddies and they loved them!! I’ve tried all kind of coatings to replace the panko, lemon zest, egg and parmesan which I fried and we’re delish but can’t do with the gluten issue. We’ve tried different coatings and this has been the best. I actually replaced the red pesto for humus as we can’t eat any nuts and it worked really well. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing Marianne! I’m so glad your kiddies liked the nuggets…and i’m loving the use of hummus. I will have to try that out next time. 🙂