How to Make Chicken Nuggets

If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at making chicken nuggets at home, you’ve hit the jackpot with this recipe. These chicken nuggets tastes just like McDonald’s but because you make them completely from scratch, you know exactly what is going into them. Grab the kids and make these today!

  • Total 48 minutes
  • Serves 42 nuggets
  • Lunch
  • American
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A close up overhead photo of homemade chicken nuggets on a white plate.

If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at making chicken nuggets at home, you’ve hit the jackpot with this recipe. These chicken nuggets tastes just like McDonald’s but because you make them completely from scratch, you know exactly what is going into them. Grab the kids and make these today!

A close up overhead photo of homemade chicken nuggets on a white plate.more

I have made these chicken nuggets several times now and each time they are met with rave reviews from my family and friends. I’ve shared this recipe with others too and they have had great success as well! I encourage you to try it and let me know what you think.

A close up overhead photo of homemade chicken nuggets on a white plate.

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The most popular question about this recipe is “is the chicken raw or cooked when you run it through the food processor?”

The chicken is raw, not cooked.

homemade-chicken-nuggets-step-1

First you’re going to cut some boneless chicken breasts into cubes, then run them through the food processor.

NOTE: The food processor pictured above is a cheap $70 model. It lasted me less than a year.

The bowl (with the handle) broke three times – I had to order it from the manufacturer each time. By the time I got done paying for replacement bowls I could have bought a bigger, better machine.

So I bought a Cuisinart 12-cup food processor

Click here to download a printable version of this recipe to your computer

A photo of raw chicken in a food processor.Here’s what it looks like when it’s done.

A photo of onion powder, oregano and parsley in glass jars.Mix together the salt, pepper, onion powder, oregano and parsley.

A photo of salt, pepper, onion powder, oregano and parsley seasoning being poured over raw chicken in a bowl.Sprinkle it over the ground up chicken in a bowl and mix it all up.

A white bowl filled with whisked eggsWhisk the eggs in a bowl.

A photo of salt being added to flour in a bowl.Mix the flour and salt in another bowl.

A photo of a cookie scoop filled with raw chicken.Use a cookie scoop to measure out chicken balls. Ha ha.

A photo of a plate of raw chicken balls, a bowl of whisked eggs and a plate of flour and salt.Roll the balls smooth and get everything together. You’ll need your bowl of whisked eggs, your bowl of flour mixture, the chicken balls and an empty plate.

A photo of chicken ball being rolled in flour.First roll a chicken ball in flour.

A photo of the floured ball being coated with egg.Coat the floured ball with egg.

A photo of the chicken ball being rolled in the flour mixture again after being coated in egg.

Coat it in flour again. I found that the best way to do this was to actually use one hand for the egg and the other hand for the flour so that the flour doesn’t end up clumping all over your egg-y wet fingers.

A close up photo of raw chicken nuggets ready for frying.

Then place the flour chicken ball on a plate and gently flatten it with your fingers.

A photo of raw chicken nuggets in a frying basket.

I used my fryer set at 365F, but you can use a cast iron Dutch oven or even a heavy bottomed sauce pan too.

An overhead photo of homemade chicken nuggets on a paper towel.

In my fryer it took about 7.5 minutes, I flipped them over halfway through. Drain them on paper towels.

A close up photo of a homemade chicken nugget.

Take a bite.

A close up overhead photo of homemade chicken nuggets on a white plate.



Click here to download a printable version of this recipe to your computer