Chicken McNuggets

This one’s pretty extra. I bought nuggets, photographed and measured the four shapes, then had custom “cookie cutters” 3D printed just to make McNuggets at home.

Print Recipe

Chicken McNuggets

Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time2 hours 35 minutes
Course: Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine: American
Servings: 20 nuggets
Calories: 116kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 lb chicken breast cut into 1″ cubes
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 2 tsp salt
  • peanut oil for frying
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup tempura batter
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 cup water

Instructions

  • Place all the chicken in a food processor
  • Mix together the garlic powder, onion powder and salt, then add it to the food processor
  • Process on low until the meat forms a single solid ball, 1-3 minutes
  • spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, then press the meat ball into the tray to form a large 1/4″ thick patty, place the tray in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm the meat up for easier moulding
  • line another tray with wax paper, form the meat into 2″x1.5″x1/4 inch nuggets with your hands or nugget cutters. dip your hand / cutter into the 2 cups of water intermittently to prevent the chicken from sticking to things.
  • Spread the nuggets evenly on the wax papered tray, then freeze for 90 minutes
  • after 75 minutes, heat a pot of oil with about 2″ of peanut oil to 325F.
  • Combine 1 cup water and 1 cup tempura batter mix in a small mixing bowl, whisk til smooth.
  • take the nuggets out of the freezer, dredge each in the flour to fully coat, then press into the batter. Use a skewer to transfer the nuggets from the batter to the oil to prevent finger marks in the batter.
  • Fry the nuggets in batches for 1 minute at 325, then transfer to a cooling rack.
  • Bring the oil up to 375F and fry the nuggets in batches again this time for 3 minutes per batch. IMPORTANT: IF you are using vegetable or canola oil, your oil will smoke at 375F, you’ll need to fry the nuggets below 350F for about 4 minutes.
  • Serve with various dipping sauces (hot honey mustard, sweet Thai chilli and buffalo sauces are in my picture.)

Nutrition

Calories: 116kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 395mg | Potassium: 65mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g