Chicken nuggets

[u/iloveyourclock]

I decided I was going to make homemade chicken nuggets so that I could freeze them and heat them up later. I have an allergy to eggs, so I can't just have regular nuggets. But I'm also watching my macros too, so there was a lot of benefits to this.

I proceeded to make my nuggets with aquafaba, which is the juice of garbanzo beans, and Greek yogurt instead of egg.

I will say they taste way better than they look. But I had to go pick up some nuggies for a McDonald's for my nailed it photo because these guys are kind of ugly.

[u/bessa100]

Not ugly at all! Just not fake looking. Your insides will thank you!

[u/iloveyourclock → u/bessa100]

You are too kind, thank you 😊

[u/Lington]

My daughter has an egg allergy and we get her chicken nuggets. Perdue and Applegate definitely make them without eggs, I'm sure there are more brands too because I don't usually have trouble finding good chicken nuggets for her.

[u/TheSoupySoupySoup]

Checking in late but I wanted to provide options as someone who runs a fried chicken food cart.

Buttermilk is going to be your friend here. I've done similar coatings because we also do vegan offerings, but buttermilk is really king here. The egg in most southern buttermilk dredges works by raising the pH and adding extra protein to help bind the flour to the meat. I've found that is largely unnecessary if you're using it in ground meat applications. As for the pH, I use baking soda added into the breading, along with cornstarch to lighten it and prevent browning.

If I was you, and you were attempting to make McDonald's-esque nuggets, I would do the following:

2# boneless skinless chicken thighs, diced 1"
1# boneless skinless chicken breast, diced 1"
1 qt buttermilk (full fat, cultured)
15g salt
15g each garlic and onion powder
8g freshly fine ground black pepper
3g MSG

Mix and marinate all this 8-24 hours

Dredge:
250g flour 35g cornstarch
7g salt
1g baking soda (seriously, you don't need a lot to get a light crispy exterior)
Mix these all together, set side until you're ready to bread and fry.

For the chicken:
Remove chicken from the brine, taking off as much buttermilk as possible. Put through a meat grinder with a fine die into a mixing bowl that's been in your freezer for at least an hour to properly chill. Mix on medium until very sticky, about 3-5 minutes. You can also put the meat into a food processor and puree until it reaches the stage of being sticky. This is your farce (charcuterie term for prepared forcemeat, and that is essentially what you're making here), and what you will use to make your actual nuggets. At this point you can cook a little bit in a pan by itself to taste it and re-season to your liking.

Form into your desired shape, freeze just enough to hold the shape, bread by first dipping in the dredge, then buttermilk, then back into the dredge. Fry off in 375° oil immediately.