Oct 26 2007
Homemade Chicken Nuggets (mcdonald’s-style) – recipe
Last week I was stuck in bed with the flu. While I was dozing off, my husband was stumbling. He happened to stumble upon a cooking video site called I’m Cooked – it’s similar to YouTube in that anyone can submit their video footage, but way different in that it’s only for cooking videos. Don’t check it out unless you plan on spending hours there – there are so many great video recipes it’s hard to stop!
Anyways, the video that my husband happened to stumble upon was one on how to make chicken nuggets. When I caught the voice in the video saying to blend the chicken, I perked up and had my husband restart the video so I could also watch. This was the “secret” to making reconstituted chicken nuggets (like that kind you find in many fast food chains).
The recipe seemed pretty straight forward. And, I’ve made it twice in 2 days b/c it was such a hit the first time that we didn’t have enough for lunch the next day! And, they were sooooo easy to make! The original recipe called to breading the nuggets in breadcrumbs, but I chose a simple flour coating. They were fabulous!
Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts (that’s 4 breast fillets)
1 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
about 1.5 Cups of Oil for frying (I used Sunflower seed oil)
Directions:
Heat oil in a heavy-duty skillet (like a cast iron skillet) on medium-high heat while preparing the chicken nuggets – it should be ready to work with once half of your nuggets are ready to go in.
Cube chicken and place in a food processor. Blend chicken until it has all been taken apart and is a fine paste. Remove to a bowl and add salt, parsley, oregano, onion powder, and pepper, and combine well.
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 34 ping-pong ball-sized balls (smaller than a golf ball).
Roll ball a “chicken ball” in flour, then in egg, and then in flour again. Then, press the ball down to make a nugget. Watch this video to see how to do it. Set nuggets aside.
Sprinkle the hot oil with some flour and if it bubbles really quickly right away, your oil is ready for frying. Place as many nuggets as possible in the oil, and fry until the bottoms are golden, turn and fry until the other side is golden. Will take about 4-5 minutes per side. Remove to a towel-lined plate (to catch any excess oil).
Serve with honey of honey mustard (1 Tablespoon of honey + 1 teaspoon of mustard) or spicy honey mustard (1 Tablespoon of honey + 1 teaspoon of mustard + a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce) or catchup or ranch dressing – get the idea 
, just use your favorite condiment(s).
Makes about 34 nuggets
Edit: I would like to address some problems people have had with this recipe. Note, not everyone has had these issues.
- Too dense: You may be able to avoid this next time by making them smaller. The balls I made were about 3,5cm (1,5 inches) in diameter.
- Not enough flavor: When I made the batch again I also realized that the flavor was a bit plain, my husband suggested next time to add salt/flavoring to the flour mixture.
- Oil temperature: I’m sorry I didn’t supply a cooking temperature for the oil. I don’t currently have a way to measure the temperature of my oil which is why I suggested to sprinkle in some flour – if it bubbles quickly and right away, it’s ready.
- Over crowding in your pan: As to the over-crowding issue, I over crowded my nuggets and had no issues as all. The reason I may not have had a problem is because I used a cast iron pan (click on the link to the left to see the type of pan I use) and they heat very evenly throughout. If you don’t have a cast iron pan you may want to add less nuggets per frying batch.
If you’ve come up with a better recipe, my readers and I want to know! Leave your link or recipe change in the comments
They look so good and easy to make. I can’t wait to try then. I am sure this will be a hit with David
Love you,
Mom
[...] myamii wrote an interesting post today on Homemade Chicken Nuggets (mcdonaldâs-style) – recipeHere’s a quick excerpt… .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Last week I was stuck in bed with the flu. While I was dozing off, my husband was stumbling. He happened to stumble upon a cooking video site called I’m Cooked – it’s […] [...]
I will have to give these delectable morsels a go!
And they look just like the “real” thing!
I made these tonight and mine didnt get as “golden” as yours did. Was my oil not hot enough maybe?
Pretty close to mcnuggets
kim: It’s highly possible that your oil was not hot enough, or that you just didn’t leave them in long enough. Did you test your oil by sprinkling in some flour? Did it bubble really quickly and right away when you did that? It may also depend on the type of pan you used. I use cast iron which heats very evenly through out. Are you using gas or electric? Gas heats more evenly as well. I have an electric stove top, and that’s why I use cast iron in this case so that my food doesn’t burn. When I was just using a non-stick pan my food would either not get the nice golden color I wished for or would burn.
You can check out some great cast iron cookware here: http://astore.amazon.com/forfood-20/002-6081295-0586467?node=1&page=2
Cast iron is expensive, there is no question about it, but it is worth every penny. I use this pan for everything – even popping pop corn! And, it will never break or go bad – you can pass it on for generations and it will still work just as well as the first day, if not better.
Oh they surely look good,
Gonna be the perfect snack for me!
I think I’m going to have to try these soon! I (secretly) adore McDonald’s nuggets.
These were absolutely delicious. One of the most important things about frying chicken is that the oil has to be very hot so that the coating does not get so greasy. You have to watch them closely during the cooking process, however, keeping in mind that the white meat of the chicken cooks much faster than the dark.
[...] However, thanks to the folks at YumSugar, I don’t have to pine away any longer. On Monday, they linked to a post over at For the Love of Food in which they make homemade Chicken McNuggets (following the instructions from this video). I am totally enamored (and I’m not someone who fries things often). I do believe I see these in my future. [...]
[...] However, thanks to the folks at YumSugar, I don’t have to pine away any longer. On Monday, they linked to a post over at For the Love of Food in which they make homemade Chicken McNuggets (following the instructions from this video). I am totally enamored (and I’m not someone who fries things often). I do believe I see these in my future. [...]
This may be an asinine question, but did you cook the chicken before you made the nuggets? Or do they cook through when fried?
Tim: Not an asinine question at all. The nuggets do not need to be pre cooked. They will cook completely while frying. To make sure, after taking one out, carefully break it open or cut it in half if it’s still hot to make sure that it’s cooked through. Because the meat has been ground, it cooks really quickly.
[...] However, thanks to the folks at YumSugar, I don’t have to pine away any longer. On Monday, they linked to a post over at For the Love of Food in which they make homemade Chicken McNuggets (following the instructions from this video). I am totally enamored (and I’m not someone who fries things often). I do believe I see these in my future. [...]
Just finished a batch of these and they are the BUSINESS. The spices make the chicken itself into something McDonald’s can’t even touch. Add Heinz and you have a brown, crunchy miracle on your hands.
I read once that the secret to KFC’s chicken coating was loads of MSG. I wonder if a little magic spice might be just the ticket…
Hey Garry,
For a non English, what is “MSG”? By the way I have the original recipe for KFC’s original fired Chicken =)
I love this. I don’t like to make homemade chicken nuggets because they don’t taste or look like the McDonald’s ones. I love the texture of these so much better than others I have seen. Healthier and my kids will eat them. Thanks for the find. I will be making some.
msg is monosodium glutamate
MSG is monosodium glutamate.
Matsaki,
Please share that KFC recipe….original, of course…thank you !
I tried these today and you would not believe how many compiliments I got from your recipe. Thank you so much! Will you please share the KFC recipe mentioned by Soul? Have a great day.
Can you make a lot of these ahead of time and freeze them? If so, what would the best way to do this? I can’t wait to try these
Thanks!
Stefanie
Sorry for late reply and KFC’s recipe emailed to the owner of this chicken recipe cloning discussion =)
So glad to have discovered this site! I’m going to try those nuggets this weekend for sure! But I think I’ll try with cooked chicken as I’m not sure if my food processor will perform well for raw chicken…I’ll let you know!
wow these were delicious!
Thanks for sharing these! I made these the other night and they were delicious, but I found that they were actually too salty so I think next time, I will cut the salt in half. Other than that though, perfect nuggets!
yummy
i love the way you make them
i have the cravings for some chicken nuggets right now thanks for the recipe.
Nice recipe!
A few notes as I deviated a bit but still had great results:
- I used Turkey tenderloins instead of chicken. They work well but can get a bit dry. Next time I will add some stock or demi glace to the food processor.
- Due to egg allergies in the home, I replaced the egg with an egg replacer ( a mix of tapioca flour and Xantham gum). worked just as well.
- I omitted the second dip in flour and replaced it with a dip in crushed corn flakes (makes it super crunchy and golden)
- I am just geeky enough to have a candy/deep fry thermometer, I found that at about 250* f the nuggets will cook in about 5 min (put in enough oil to submerge them and no turning is required. )
I love this recipe!!! I used 1/4c corn flakes put in food processor to grind really fine and 3/4c gluten free all purpose baking mix in place of the flour. I also used Onion Onion from Tastefully Simple in place of the powdered onion. My kids and husband loved – LOVED – these nuggets. I think I could even sneak in some additional veggie puree into them as well. I cooked them in coconut oil too. THANKS!!!! Finally an alternative to McDs and Tyson’s.
Love this recipe but to much oregano for my family’s taste. Next time I will cut back on it and add a little more onion powder and also salt to the chicken. They also turned out better if I only single dipped the nuggets in ONLY the flour.
These are great!!!!!!!Do u have one for KFC hot wings and honey BBq wings???
These look FABULOUS! I may be trying these tonight, and will share photos & a review on my blog if I wind up making them!
Thank you!
[...] The original recipe can be found here. [...]
Came by from Flickr to get the recipe!
Thanks!
Great recipe! I recently went vegetarian but have had a horrible craving for maccas nuggets. I cooked these but replaced the chicken with soy fillets (taste a lot like chicken!) and it’s perfect!
It was mostly the coating and the texture that I missed, so this definitely fixed my cravings. Thanks!
I made this recipe yesterday and it was fantastic. We were so surprised as close this recipe is from the chicken mc nuggets one. I will not buy any frozen chicken nuggets anymore, this one is very good and very easy to make. Next time I will try to freeze them (not sure yet if I will freeze them raw or with cooked 2 minutes…)
Thanks again this recipe will be now one of my classic
Has anyone tried using ground chicken from the store in place of grinding up your own? Anyone? I don’t have a food processor or other appliance to grind the chicken.
[...] of you may be familiar with a previous post of mine featuring my homemade McDonald’s-style chicken nuggets. Well, it was a big hit, and I thought [...]
[...] Chicken Nuggets and Roasted Parsnips and Carrots with a Balsamic [...]
These were awesome!!! The only thing I changed was onion salt instead of onion powder, decreased the amount of regular salt, but I also added more salt to the flour as some suggested. I fried them at 375 degrees.
I’m glad you liked them!
Hi, These look so amazing – ready to try (even went out and bought a cast-iron skillet per your suggestion since I have have an electric stove). I am new to cooking but am always on the hunt for delicious & easy recipes to teach myself!
One quick question for you: I do not have a food processor. Do you think a blender will work just as well with the uncooked chicken? (Wanted to ask first before taking the risk of breaking it.)
Thank you for your help
Hi Elise,
Thanks for your comment. And, I’m really excited for you that you
got a cast iron skillet. I use mine for almost everything and have
been happy with it for 2 years now.
As for the food processor…I have something similar to a food
processor, nothing fancy. It is more like a blender than a food
processor, so I think one would work just fine. It may not move the
chicken around enough, so you may have to loosen it with a spatula.
I’d love to know what you think of them. They are a really big hit
around here. I play around with the spices sometimes, but plain is
just as popular as mixed with herbs.
Happy cooking!
Anyone try this recipe in a deep fryer?
I havn’t, but I imagine it would work well.
I tried this recipe last Saturday. I did make one change. I added 1/4 cup of cooked spinach to the raw chicken. I pulsed the chicken and spinach until the spinach was just chopped and incorporated, but not smooth. They were wonderful!!!! My 2 1/2 year old and my husband both loved them. Also, I really hate cooked spinach, but I couldn’t even tell it was there (except for the way they looked on the inside, which was kinda of pretty). Thanks so much. I think I’m going to try freezing them, baking them, and frying them from frozen in a deep fryer.
I’m glad you like them. I really need to make these again soon myself!
Every time I make these the inside is always grey (yours is so white and pretty). Could this be from overcooking or what?
Thanks a lot for the recipe – I’ve already made them about 10 times!
Hmm, I’ve never heard of the insides being grey…What spices do you
add to the mixture? Also what type of meat do you use? I use chicken
breast. If you use leg or thigh meat (which is more tender…and have
dark meat) you meat could be grey and not white. Next time you make
them can you send me a picture of the insides??
I’m glad you like the recipe, it’s one of my favorites as well.
[...] And without further ado, here’s the recipe, from For the Love of Food! [...]