Chicken Nuggets

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Chicken nuggets were made up in the 50s of the XX century. Many think that they were invented in McDonald’s, but they are mistaken. McDonald’s presented their recipe only in 1980. Despite the fact, they weren’t invented in McDonald’s, that’s where they’ve become popular.

The recipe, I wanna share with you today, I can’t call easy, but it’s definitely worth the effort. We won’t do the trivial breading with a scrambled egg, we’ll make a batter with cornflour and semolina instead. As a result, you’ll get a perfectly shaped, crusty on top and gentle inside chicken nuggets.

You can also make semi-manufactures, freeze, and keep in them for a month. And when you’ll need a snack just take out of the freezer, let them warm up a bit for an hour at room temperature and then batter.

What you Need to Cook Chicken Nuggets

INGREDIENTS:

Minced meat:

• 400 g (14 oz) chicken breast (don’t have? check for chicken breast substitutes)
• 80 g (3 oz) boiled potatoes
• 1 lemon
• A twig of rosemary (optional)
• About 1 l of frying oil

For batter and breading:

• 200 ml (1 cup) of water
• 150 g (5,3 oz) bread or breadcrumbs
• 50 g (1,8 oz) semolina
• 100 g (3,5 oz) cornflour
• Salt

EQUIPMENT:

Blender or food processor

How to Make Chicken Nuggets: Step-by-Step Instructions 🔪

STEP 1. MAKE A MINCED MEAT AND BREADING

If you have some remaining mashed potatoes or just boiled one that’s good, if no, the first thing you need to do is to boil a potato. Take a small casserole, add some water, salt a bit, dice the potato, and cook until mild (for about 10-15 minutes).

Next – breading. Chop half of a baguette (150 g (5,3 oz)) into random pieces, place them into a food processor/blender and make crumbs, it would be our breading for nuggets.

In case you have neither a food processor nor blender, use bought ones. Place the crumbs 150 g (5,3 oz) on the wide flat plate and put aside.

Next – minced meat. Take 400 g (14 oz) of chicken breast, cut it into a few pieces, and place into a blender bowl. Add 3 tbsp of lemon juice, 2 tbsp of olive oil, 80 g (3 oz) of boiled potatoes and a pinch of salt. Optionally, you can add a rosemary twig or any other spice to your taste.

Turn on the blender and let it work for a couple of minutes to make minced meat.

And again – if you don’t have a food processor or blender, use a meat grinder or buy a ready-to-use and add all the rest ingredients at home.

Form balls from the mass that are a bit smaller than a walnut.

In order, the stuffing doesn’t stick to your hands, moisten them with water or oil. Also, you can form balls using two moisten teaspoons.

Put balls on the plate, cover with a food plastic foil, and place it into the fridge for 15 minutes.

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STEP 2. PREPARE THE BATTER AND MAKE NUGGETS.

Mix 50 g (1,8 oz) of semolina and 100 g (3,5 oz) of corn flour,  add 200 ml (1 cup) of water and a pinch of salt, and mix again.

When it’s time (after 15 minutes) take the plate with meatballs out of the fridge and do next: take one ball, roll it in the flour, and when it’s all in it, flat it like a rissole 1-1,5 cm (0,4 – 0,6 inches) thick and put on the clean plate.

Do the same with the rest of the balls.

Let’s finish the preparation. Every rissole dip into the batter (mix it beforehand), take them out carefully with a spoon, let the extra batter flow down, and put into the plate with bread crumbs.

In this plate dip the piece into the breadcrumbs from each side and put on the separate plate. Do the same with the rest of the pieces and we’re ready to finish.

At this stage when the nuggets are ready but not fried yet, you can freeze them.

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STEP 3. FRY NUGGETS

Take a small casserole, pour 1 l of oil, and place on the fire.

To use the oil more rationally, you can add oil just to cover ½ of nuggets, but this way you’ll need to turn them up when cooking.

Warm up the oil to about 180 degrees, you can check it in this way without a thermometer: place a clean spoon into the oil, if there are bubbles around it, you can fry already. Also, you can drip a bit of batter, if it hisses and quickly becomes golden – the temperature is right.

Carefully place the 4-5 balls into the oil at once.

Do not overcook, they need for about a minute. If you wait longer there’s a risk they would be dry. As soon as you see a beautiful golden crust – take them out with a spatula and place onto a paper towel to absorb the rest of the fat.

Serve with ketchup, mustard, or any other favorite sauce.