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There is something that is just so comforting about chicken nuggets. Almost everyone grew up eating them, and even as an adult, on occasion, I just crave them. These Homemade Chicken Nuggets are a healthy alternative to fast, processed food. They are easy, kid-friendly, and protein-packed.
Why You’ll Love Homemade Chicken Nuggets
- Healthy: The nuggets you buy at the grocery store or at a fast food chain are often processed. Making them homemade allows you to use whole, real ingredients to make them healthy
- Easy: These Homemade Chicken Nuggets are so simple to make. You can make them in an hour
- Kid-Friendly: I haven’t met a kid that doesn’t love chicken nuggets and they’ll love these ones
Ingredients
Chicken – What makes these Homemade Chicken Nuggets healthier is by using lean chicken breasts. Chicken nuggets that are processed usually use a mystery cut of meat that is formed into different shapes (yuck). Chicken breasts are a lean and healthy source of protein.
Maria Koutsogiannia
Maria is the creator of FoodByMaria and your go-to Greek food expert for cozy, flavor-packed recipes. Inspired by her Mediterranean roots, she brings traditional Greek flavors, feel-good ingredients, and a whole lot of joy to everyday cooking.
Tzatziki – What makes these Homemade Chicken Nuggets Greek is the use of oregano in the mixture and the dip! You can dip these bad boys in Tzaztziki and they are so tasty. If your kids don’t love tzatziki, you can dip them in ketchup or whatever they prefer.
How to Make Homemade Chicken Nuggets
- Marinate the chicken: Make the marinade in a medium bowl by whisking together all of the marinade ingredients. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl with the marinade, toss and let sit for 30 minutes in the fridge.
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Make the breading: mix together the breadcrumbs, shredded parmesan cheese, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Bread the chicken by removing the small pieces of chicken one at a time and dunking into the breadcrumbs mixture, pressing gently to adhere the breadcrumbs. Add each breaded chicken nugget to the parchment-lined sheet pan. Spray the tops with cooking spray
- Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. Serve garnished with fresh dill, a squeeze of lemon, and tzatziki sauce for dipping!
Tips and Tricks
- Meal Prep: Make these in advance and throw them in the oven when you’re ready to eat them. You can even make them and freeze them, just like what you get at the grocery store but healthier
- Tzatziki: You can buy storebought tzatziki or you can make your own really easily by following this recipe
Variations
- Herbs: You can swap oregano in here for your favorite seasonings like parsley, basil, or even thyme
- Breading: For the breading on the outside, you can use a combination of seasonings in here as well or subtract any of the ones I used to make them your own or cater to your kiddies
Best served with
How to Store Leftovers
Store cooked chicken nuggets in an airtight container in the fridge to easily reheat. You can store them for up to 3-4 days. You can also freeze the leftovers to have an easy meal to grab and make when you’re in a hurry.
Common Questions
Absolutely. You can use cut up chicken thighs too! Whatever your preference.
You can serve these on or with a salad, with any dipping sauce of your choice, you can throw them in a bowl with veggies and your favorite grains.
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Ingredients
- 1 – 1 ½ lbs chicken breasts, cut into 2 inch pieces
For the marinade
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 tbsp mustard
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
For the breading
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- tzatziki, fresh dill and lemon wedges for serving, (use our favourite tzatziki sauce)
Instructions
Start Cooking- Marinate the chicken: Make the marinade in a medium bowl by whisking together all of the marinade ingredients. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl with the marinade, toss and let sit for 30 minutes in the fridge.
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Make the breading: mix together the breadcrumbs, shredded parmesan cheese, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Bread the chicken by removing the small pieces of chicken one at a time and dunking into the breadcrumbs mixture, pressing gently to adhere the breadcrumbs. Add each breaded chicken nugget to the parchment lined sheet pan. Spray the tops with cooking spray
- Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. Serve garnished with fresh dill, a squeeze of lemon and tzatziki sauce for dipping!
Notes
- Make this as a fun appetizer along with our other favourite recipes like Greek Meatball Recipe (Keftedes) and Spicy Greek Feta Dip (Tirokafteri)
- Serve alongside a delicious salad like Maroulosalata aka my Mama’s Salad for a full meal!
- Make this recipe gluten free by using gluten-free breadcrumbs
16 people are discussing this recipe. Join in
Honestly THE BEST chicken nuggets… my 2 year old is not a big fan of homemade chicken nuggets but yesterday he had two servings! I love love love them too, they’re perfect and so juicy- I air fried them and still they came out delicious.
Thank you so much for all the recipes! You’re brilliant x
thank you so much for the love hun! This makes me so happy!
This was my first time ever making chicken nuggets at home. I loved that I had every single one of these ingredients in my kitchen already. I let my chicken marinade overnight and the result was so flavorful and tender. The tzatziki was such a refreshing take on a dip for chicken nuggets. I’ll be making these again soon!!
Thank you so much hun!!!!
So much better than store bought! I used a mix of almond flour, sourdough breadcrumbs, and Parmesan and WOOO these are good!
That makes me so happy!!! Thank you for the love!
This Greek chicken nugget recipe was amazing!!! So tasty and my toddler and husband could not stop eating them! So delicious. Thank you Maria for the recipe !
Thank you so much for the love, Elizabeth!!!!
Could these be done in the air fryer?
Yes! I didn’t test them this way so I don’t know how long for or temp but I am assuming it would be an easy test!
This was another winner! Thank you!
Thank you so much, Molly!!!
Can you make this with ground chicken?
You might be able to! I didn’t test it that way and the recipe would be quite different! Let me see if we can add that to the list!
Maria. I am excited about your website( as I am Greek ALSo). Just wanted to let you know that being gluten free-is it possible to add any comments on how to make your recipes GF? It might be a lot more work for you so if it is-I can always modify the recipe
Do you have access to GF bread crumbs! For this recipe just sub those out but we can absoluely try to add more GF notes!!!