Home made chicken nuggets?!

[Twixthecat]

My little darling is a bit fussy and only seems to eat meat if it's covered in breadcrumbs or a sausage. So he lives vegetarian / chicken nugget/ fishfinger/ sausage diet. Not ideal.

I tend to have 'proper' chicken a lot but he won't try it. I want to give home made chicken nuggets/ goujons a go. Is it really just as simple as roll the chicken in breadcrumbs? I'd prefer not to use egg to coat the chicken to make breadcrumbs stick - any ideas on that?

Thank you!

Yes it really is that simple. I also use ground almonds instead of breadcrumbs but that's because DS1 is gluten free.

Bung some spices in if you can, garlic powder, but if cayenne and some paprika are my favourites.

Instead of egg I suppose you could use milk?

Bit of. Flipping phone

My parents used to have to do this for me to get me to eat chicken, fish etc. Why don't you want to use egg out of interest?

I use chicken breast fillets as they can be cheaper. If I want to avoid egg I put them into some buttermilk (or milk with a squeeze of lemon) for an hour or so. Dip in breadcrumbs and then shallow fry or oven bake. Any leftovers are good cold.

It can be that simple.
If you have more time, we make popcorn chicken by blending chicken with a splash of milk in a blender with the teensiest hint of fresh herbs and a little lemon juice, roll into balls, cover in flour or breadcrumbs and shallow fry.

We made our own fish cakes too with mashed potato and fish, cover in breadcrumbs if you want something different. You can add different herbs for different fish.

You can also use crushed corn flakes if you don't have breadcrumbs.

I know there's some sugar in them but you don't use much and they taste good.

We do a lovely version with cornflakes.

Dip chicken strips into flour, then egg, then into crushed cornflakes (put into a bag and bash with a rolling pin). Pan fry or grill.

You could probably use milk instead of egg, but not sure the cornflakes would bond as well.

Great minds think alike!

I think you could use milk instead of egg but I'm not sure if the breadcrumb would stick as well.

You can use mayonnaise instead of egg to stick the breadcrumbs on
(I also learned how to make these thanks to mn!)

We roll chicken strips in mayonnaise then Rice Krispies. Then oven bake for 20 minutes - very tasty! You can google it, we found it online

These work v well with my kids and lots of others we've had over - www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4670/crisp-chicken-bites

I use boneless skinless chicken thighs - cut them into 3 then dip in olive oil with a bit of soy sauce in then breadcrumbs

The need turning and take a bit longer than chicken breast to cook but the taste is amazing

I marinade chicken breast strips in buttermilk (and garliv but could skip that) then roll in a mix of seasoned flour and breadcrumbs. Oven bake or psn fry. The buttermilk keeps them really moust.

Here are a couple of recipes - mayo can be used instead of egg in the first one :)

www.eatdrinkcook.co.uk/crispy-baked-chicken-with-sweet-potato-fries/
www.eatdrinkcook.co.uk/pesto-crispy-chicken/

Mayo has egg in it, so not a suitable replacement if you need to avoid it

WOW thank you! There's no specific reason to avoid egg (we just don't eat many eggs so don't tend have them in all the time!) Mayo sounds a great alternative. I'll these a go doing the week! Yum yum :-)

Dip chicken strips in mayo then in Rice Krispies and back at 200 for around 20mins.

Panko works very well as well though maybe cost a little more than breadcrumbs.

I use polenta on its own quicker, less messy and kids are just as happy with them. Brush tray with a little oil and turn once or fry with a wipe of oil on pan so pretty healthy.
I buy sweet potato fries as never had much luck with homemade but always willing to try a new recipe so will give the option ones above a go, bit of corn or peas and some bbq dipping sauce. Yummy.

Even easier (and tastes just like nuggets) is to cut the chicken into strips, roll in flour then fry in butter. Simple and delicicous! DH loves them too although I sometimes add paprika, salt and pepper, herbs etc to the flour for us.

I sometimes use this recipe to sneak some veg in
www.cookingforbusymums.com/homemade-chicken-nuggets-with-hidden-vegetables/