

Note: Today’s Feed the Freezer section is the best Feed the Freezer Section ever so make sure you scroll all the way down.
Today is homemade chicken nugget day!! If you eat chicken and don’t like chicken nuggets, you should probably go see a doctor or something.
“If you eat chicken nuggets too much, you should also go see a doctor or something,” you might reply.
“Not if you make these tasty chicken nuggets,” I’d say to you.
These crispy oven baked chicken nuggets are quick, inexpensive, and perfect for freezing. They’re baked in the oven rather than fried which automagically makes them better for you than most nuggets (nuggets from the freezer section are fried before you get them) and, because they’re homemade, you know exactly what’s in them (ahem…freezer nuggets and most fast food nuggets).
These may not end your kids’ love affair with the giant clown’s fried chicken pieces but I guarantee they’ll eat them if you make them.
- 1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs, Cut into 1” Nuggets
- ¼ Cup All Purpose Flour
- ¼ tsp Kosher Salt
- ¼ tsp Cracked Black Pepper
- 1 Egg, Beaten
- 1 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs
- 1 Tbs Dried Parsley
- ¼ Cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
- Preheat the oven to 400°, line a half sheet pan with parchment paper, and spray that with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine the bread crumbs, parsley and parmesan cheese. Toss to thoroughly combine and set aside.
- Place the nuggets, flour, salt, and pepper in a quart-sized zip top plastic bag, seal and shake vigorously until all of the nuggets are completely coated with a thin layer of flour.
- Dump the egg into the bag, reseal and shake again until the nuggets are all coated with eggs.
- Using your hands and working in batches of 5 – 7 nuggets at a time, shake off the excess egg and place nuggets in the bread crumb mixture, toss the nuggets in the crumbs until they’re completely coated, shake off excess and place in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining nuggets.
- Spray the tops of the nuggets with non-stick cooking spray and cook for 20 minutes or until the nuggets get to 165° – 175°.
Because there is very little fat on the outside of the nuggets, there’s not much to encourage browning. That’s just fine with me but if you’d like to brown them a wee bit more when they’ve finished cooking, turn the broiler on for a couple of minutes. Be careful not to burn them because that would be very sad.
I’m pretty sure God invented chicken nuggets so that people would buy freezers. Nuggets and freezers were made for each other so double or even triple this recipe and stash the excess in the freezer before cooking.
For Homemade Frozen Chicken Nuggets, put them in the freezer in a single layer on a sheet pan after breading but before cooking until they are frozen solid. Once they’re frozen, transfer to a large zip-top bag and store in the freezer for 3 – 6 months.
When you’re ready for nuggets, remove the desired number from the bag and cook as directed above, increasing cooking time by 5 – 10 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a probe thermometer, and enjoy!
Tangled and Flynn Ryder (who my friend Lisa is a little in love with) make a cameo in Disney’s Frozen.