Grain-free / gluten-free version made with chickpea crumbs.

We love these easy 4-INGREDIENT CRUNCHY CHICKEN NUGGETS. This is an essential weeknight recipe that I default to again and again because it is just so easy to prepare and because how much my girls love them! Four ingredients including salt, 15 prep time, 25 mins bake time. Yes BAKED, not fried. Over the years, I’ve even stopped putting the fourth ingredient, the parmagiano / nutritional yeast from sheer laziness and they are just as yum.

And for all my grain-free or gluten-free friends, you can make these with chickpea crumbs and they are incredible! So crunchy. See my note below about “gluten/grain-free substitution”.

There is no reason to buy packaged nuggets EVER. I also make this recipe regularly with ground turkey with wonderful results too but of course it will be a tad less juicy. I always make a double-batch and freeze a portion of uncooked nuggets for future school lunches. See recipe below for freezing tips.

MAKE IN ADVANCE + NOTES:

The ground meat: If you can specify, get your meat double- or triple-ground which simply means it goes through the grinder two or three times. I prefer this for a finer texture more akin to commercial nuggets. Secondly, a mixture of dark and white meats is most ideal. If you prefer all white meat, it will just be less juicy because it has less fat.
Breadcrumb + Gluten / Grain-free substitution: I use Sha Sha Organics (Canadian company) spelt bread crumbs because it is all natural, crunchy, and without additives. But most any bread crumbs would do. Watch out for additives (like soybean oil bleck) and preservatives in commercially produced bread/panko crumbs - many of them contain them so read the labels so you are at least aware of what you are ingesting. If in doubt, make a batch of your own bread crumbs and keep it in the freezer for convenience.
- EDITED TO ADD 09/2020: If you can’t find packaged chickpea crumbs, you can buy the whole roasted chickpeas (the snacking kind - popular brands are The Good Bean, Watusee, and Three Farmers) and blitz them in the food processor until you get a breadcrumb texture.
- EDITED TO ADD 04/2017: Watusee Foods sent me some of their organic chickpea crumbs to try (yes you read that correctly, crumbs made from 100% chickpeas!!) The chickpea crumbs are as you can expect, a denser crumb (aka not as light and airy as say panko or white bread crumbs) but it is remarkably similar in appearance, texture and taste to the spelt crumbs I have always used in the past! The girls did not detect a difference at all. Have a look at the pictorial evidence in this post (I've indicated under the images which is spelt versus chickpea crumbs). Isn't it convincing? This is a huge win for my family since we now limit our consumption of grains like spelt and other breadcrumbs. I can once again whip up a batch or two of these easy chicken nuggets as well as another family favorite Crispy Chicken Cutlet Sliders for quick weeknight dinners or weekend lunches. Woot!
Dairy-free substitution: Instead of using grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, you can sub in an equal amount of nutritional yeast for a dairy-free version. Not familiar with nutritional yeast? Read more about it here. Or you can omit altogether. Most of the time, I’m too lazy now.
Make + Freeze: Nuggets freeze very well for a couple of months. After you form and coat them in crumbs, lay and freeze them in single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet for a couple of hours or until firm. Transfer them into a freezer zip-top bag with the air pushed out. To use, bake directly from frozen in a 375f oven for about 25-27 minutes (but as always when cooking a recipe for the first time, make sure to check earlier as all oven temperatures vary and you never want dry nuggets).

4-Ingredient Crunchy Chicken Nuggets

Recipe makes 12 nuggets. I typically double this recipe for our family of 4, served with plenty of side veg.

INGREDIENTS

1lb (450g) ground chicken, ideally a mix of dark and white meats (see headnotes above)

1tsp kosher salt (Diamond Crystal brand which is less salty than other brands; adjust as appropriate)

1C Spelt bread crumbs or other bread crumb of your choice (see headnotes above for gluten / grain-free option)

Optional: 1/4 C finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (or sub equal amount of nutritional yeast for dairy free version)

METHOD

1. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the bread crumbs and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (or nutritional yeast), plus just a pinch of salt.

2. In another bowl, mix well the ground chicken with the 1 tsp of salt.

3. With your hands and a tablespoon measure, scoop about 2 tbsp of meat and place into the middle of the breadcrumb mixture. Using just your finger tips, scoop and toss crumb mixture from around the meat on top of it. The crumbs makes it less "sticky" so you can now form a nugget by pressing down gently. Don't flatten it too much or else it cook more dry. Lightly toss it around a bit more in the crumb mixture until evenly and well coated. You may use gentle pressing to encourage crumbs to adhere. Repeat until all the ground meat is used. There should be enough meat in 1lb for about 12 nuggets.

4. At this point, the nuggets can be frozen for use another day. To freeze, lay nuggets in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment and freeze for an hour or two until firm, then transfer into a freezer bag or freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.

5. To bake, preheat the oven to 375F (or 190C).

6. Place nuggets on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake about 25 minutes OR when middle is hot and just cooked through. Do not overcook because dry nuggets are known to cause sadness. [If making these for the first time, make sure to check doneness earlier because all oven temperatures vary. Cut one in the middle - it’s done as soon as there is no more pink. Frozen nuggets can go directly into the oven in the same way, just add an extra 5 minutes to the regular baking time.

My girls like to dip in ketchup (Heinz makes an organic no additives version :)) but I prefer a quick honey-mustard sauce by stirring equal parts honey and spicy brown mustard. Yummo. I tend to serve these with baked sweet potato fries and a simple steamed vegetable for a well-rounded family meal. It doesn't get much simpler than this. I hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

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If you like this recipe, you can pin to Pinterest and / or leave me a comment below to let me know your thoughts. If you make it and post it to Instagram, tag your post with #saltnpepperhere so I can peep you :)

Disclosure: I was sent free product from Watusee Foods in exchange for an honest review. Accepting free products from companies allows me to test out out new items and share only the successes with you! The opinions above are my own. And to be honest, I have not stopped using chickpea crumbs for no-fry gluten-free breading ever since - it’s amazing!

Sept 2020: updated images + updated recipe to form 2-tbsp nuggets for slightly larger, juicier outcome! Apr 2017: I added gluten/grain-free AND dairy-free alternatives. Hurray! Nuggets for everyone!