Chicken Nuggets...McD's style (sort of)

When I first saw this recipe for McDonald's style chicken nuggets, I knew I had to try them. While I'm not a huge fan of Mickey D's, my kids, of course love it and on the rare occasion that we do go, they always order the chicken McNugget Happy Meal.

As I read through the recipe though, I realized that I didn't want to make such an "authentic" version and decided to omit the deep frying for a quick pan fry and oven baking. I'm not sure that made them all that much healthier but in my mind it seemed like the right thing to do.

Since I wasn't going to deep fry them but I still wanted them to have a really crispy coating and came up with the idea of breading them with finely ground Panko crumbs. I really loved the texture of the ground up Panko and plan to try this on other "faux fry" recipes.

So, how did they turn out?.....Honestly, the finished product didn't really resemble what you would find in a Happy Meal but they were very, very good. These nuggets turned out perfectly golden, tender and flavorful. I'll definitely be making these for the kids again....I just won't be calling them McNuggets :)

The nuggets get a quick pan fry for some color, then it's off to the oven to finish cooking.


Golden brown and delicious!


My daughter and her friend enjoying the real deal. We went to McDonald's to celebrate their first day of toddler preschool.


Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts (that’s 4 breast fillets)
3/4 teaspoon of Salt
1/2 teaspoon of Parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon of Oregano
1/4 teaspoon of Onion powder
1/4 teaspoon of Pepper
2 Eggs, beaten
1 Cup of Flour
1 Cup finely ground Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 Cup Canola oil (for frying)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cube chicken and place in a food processor. Blend chicken until it has all been taken apart and is well ground. Add the spices and blend a little more.

Pour out flour on a plate and have your beaten eggs in a small bowl ready to work with.

Roll the chicken paste mixture into small "nugget" balls (smaller than a golf ball). You should coat your hands with a little flour during this step because the ground chicken will be sticky.

Roll the nugget in flour, then in egg, and then in the Panko. Then, press the ball down to make it more of a nugget shape. Set nuggets aside.

Heat the oil in a heavy duty skillet until it becomes very hot. Place as many nuggets as possible in the oil, and fry for just 2-3 minutes until the bottoms are golden, turn and fry until the other side is golden. Remove and place on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake nuggets for approximately 10-12 minutes or until thoroughly cooked through. Remove to a towel-lined plate (to catch any excess oil).

Source: Inspired by For The Love of Food