When I created this Baked Chicken Nuggets Recipe, I had originally intended it to be for my kids. But they were SO good, I figured, hey, I like chicken nuggets too, so why not share this on LaaLoosh? Each 6 nugget serving came out to be just 3 Points, which is a MUCH better alternative to the fast food chicken nuggets! They make a great lunch or as a late night snack for when you get the fast food cravings. The key is the buttermilk soak.
I made my own fat free buttermilk using milk and vinegar and it works great. of course, if you’d rather, you can buy a fat free buttermilk at the store. But it really helps make the chicken tender and gives it such a nice flavor. Dip these low calorie chicken nuggets into your favorite dipping sauce and feel like you are indulging, but without an ounce of guilt. I make a big batch of these babies and freeze them so I have them on hand for the kids’ lunches and as a treat for me. Enjoy!
Baked Chicken Nuggets Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ½ cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
- ½ cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 cup fat free milk
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tbsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Cut chicken breasts into 36 “nugget” shaped bites.
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine milk and vinegar. Add in chicken pieces, seal with lid or plastic wrap, and let sit in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with an olive oil mister or non-fat cooking spray.
- In a large Ziploc bag, combine both kinds of breadcrumbs, garlic powder, Parmesan cheese, onion powder, paprika, parsley, salt and pepper.
- Remove chicken pieces from milk, one by one, and place in breadcrumb mixture. *I did this in 6 batches of 6. So once I had 6 chicken pieces in the Ziploc bag, I sealed it. Shake bag to evenly coat chicken pieces, then remove chicken from bag, and place on baking sheet. Continue until all chicken pieces are breaded.
- Give the chicken nuggets a light mist of olive oil spray (or cooking spray) and place in oven. Bake for about 10 minutes, then turn over and cook for another 5 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and breading is golden brown.
8 Comments
Hi,
I cant wait to make these tonight for dinner but how do you get 36 nuggets out of 1lb of chicken? Are the nuggets super small?
These are really good! I used regular buttermilk and left out the parmesan as I didn’t have any. I had a lot of crumbs left over and was able to coat another whole pound of nuggets, which used up every last bit.
Adding the vinegar into the milk is a trick to make buttermilk, so you could also just marinate the chicken in buttermilk. Is that right?
Absolutely! I just can rarely ever find fat free buttermilk at the store, so I make my own.
do you bread them and then freezer or do you cook them at all before freezing?
I cook them before freezing. That way, I can just heat them up and get them served quickly when I need them.
How long can you keep them in the freezer?
I love making my own chicken nuggets and this recipe looks really really good…vinegar? I never would have thought to add that but I bet it boosts the flavor a bit!