You know I’m very pro-lazy. Sometimes the thing you want to be doing is hanging out in your kitchen with fresh ingredients spending your day making everything taste perfect. Sometimes the thing you want to be doing is ingesting the necessary calories and nutrients so you can get on with the rest of your life. Whether that’s getting out and exploring the universe or sitting in front of your TV watching Doctor Who because you just can’t move anymore, every once in a while, the kitchen is not the place you want to be.
I get it. I really do. I don’t have any problem at all with using store bought ingredients. I do it all the time. Jarred pasta sauces, refrigerated pie dough, cake mix. I’m fine with all of it. But there’s one store-bought item I will never eat, and that’s frozen chicken nuggets. Never mind the fact that they’re mostly scraped up chicken bits squished together, they just taste gross. The texture is all wrong. Chicken should not squish.
There’s good news. It’s so easy to make your own chicken nuggets from scratch. You just need a sharp knife, some buttermilk, a bowl of flavorful crunchy stuff, and a good pair of tongs. Oh, and some boneless skinless chicken breasts.
These Baked Chicken Parm Nuggets are crunchy and full of flavor all on their own. And they’re not terrible for you, so that’s pretty awesome. They’re also great with all the dipping sauces you’ve been hoarding in your fridge. Trust me, the little bit of extra effort is worth every moment.
Seriously guys, stay away from the freezer section and make your own nuggets. You’re gonna love it.
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 to 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup regular seasoned bread crumbs
- 1/6 cup flour
- 1/4 grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- Cut your chicken into large chunks. Big enough for about two bites per nugget. Place your chicken pieces in a bowl, season it with salt and pepper and give it a toss. Cover the chicken with buttermilk, cover your bowl, and store it in the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
- When you're ready to make your chicken nuggets, preheat your oven to 450. Line a baking sheet with foil then pop a rack on top of that. Spray the rack with oil.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together all your remaining ingredients. Use tongs to pull out some chicken pieces from the buttermilk. I do about five pieces at a time. Toss the chicken in your bread crumb mixture. Make sure each piece is well coated. Transfer the coated chicken to your oiled rack.
- Spray the chicken with your oil spray and bake for seven minutes. Pull the tray out of the oven and use your (clean) tongs to flip each piece over. Spray again with oil and bake for another seven minutes or until your chicken is cooked through.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving with your favorite dipping sauce.
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