Skip the frozen-section nuggets made with unpronounceable ingredients and try this down-home recipe.
Instead of using an egg wash to adhere the breading, this recipe relies on — oh, yes — melted butter, along with Parmesan cheese and a few fairly common pantry items.
It’s so simple, you can make it with the kids.
And you’ll actually want to eat them, too!
Baked chicken nuggets
Ingredients
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumb
1/2 cup very finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme (optional)
1 teaspoon dried basil (optional)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut chicken breasts into 1 1/2-inch pieces.
Whisk together the bread crumbs, cheese, salt, thyme and basil in a shallow dish.
Put the melted butter in another shallow dish.
Dip the chicken pieces into the melted butter, then coat with the breadcrumb mixture.
Place well-coated chicken pieces on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes or until there’s no pink in the center of the nuggets.
Tips-
For best results, use real grated Parmesan cheese without any shreds or shavings. It should look like a fine powder, which works better for breading. Avoid the shelf-stable stuff sold in cans.
Many reviewers online recommended broiling the nuggets for a few minutes at the end of cooking for a crispier texture.
Source: We adapted this recipe from allrecipes.com, where it received a cumulative rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, based on more than 1,000 reviews. Read the original recipe and reviews — and watch a video to see how easy it is to make — at tinyurl.com/nuggets-mn.
