Ground Chicken Nuggets Recipe

This Ground Chicken Nuggets recipe makes delicious crispy homemade chicken nuggets from scratch in 30 minutes or less! The nuggets are soft and juicy inside, with a crispy breadcrumb coating. Kids love these easy to prepare healthy chicken nuggets and they are toddler friendly.

The ground chicken nuggets are perfect for meal prep too. Recipe includes option to pan-cook, bake or air fry the homemade nuggets.

How to Make Homemade Ground Chicken Nuggets

Let's make a batch of these kid friendly homemade chicken nuggets! Ground chicken and bread crumbs make the process easy. Follow along here for step-by-step instructions along with pictures or jump down to the printable recipe card if you prefer.

The recipe yields 4 servings.

Prep time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 20 minutes

Equipment Needed: Mixing bowl, Skillet (or sheet pan if baking), Spoon or scoop and Tongs or spatula

Ingredients

Here are all the ingredients you will need to make these easy ground chicken nuggets.

• 1 pound ground chicken (I like the 99% lean ground chicken breast for this recipe, but any will do.)
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 egg

Breading

• 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder (or onion powder)
• 2 tablespoons oil

Preparation (Baked or Pan-fried)

If air frying or baking the nuggets, preheat oven to 400°F (air fryer 375°F), if pan-frying move on to next step.

Make the chicken mixture: Combine ground chicken, milk, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and egg in a bowl.
Mix gently just until combined. Overmixing makes them dense.

Shape the nuggets: Scoop small portions and form into nugget shapes with your hands.
The flat nuggets should be about 1 inch thick so they cook evenly.

Breadcrumb Coating: Mix breadcrumbs and garlic powder in a shallow bowl.
Dredge each nugget lightly in the breading mixture. Make sure to fully coat each chicken nugget.

Cook the Ground Chicken Nuggets:
Skillet Method: Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Cook the breaded chicken nuggets 4–5 minutes per side until golden and cooked through.
Oven Baked Nuggets: Mist the chicken nuggets with cooking spray or baste with the cooking oil. Bake at 400°F on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet for about 18–20 minutes, flipping halfway.
Air Fried Chicken Nuggets: Mist the chicken nuggets with cooking spray or baste with the cooking oil. Place in the air fryer basket and air fry at 375°F for about 12–14 minutes.

Ingredients notes

Often when cooking, knowing the reason each ingredient is present is helpful, when making adjustments or swaps.

Chicken mixture
• Ground chicken – tender and mild flavor
• Milk – keeps nuggets soft and juicy
• Italian breadcrumbs – helps bind the mixture
• Salt – boosts flavor
• Black pepper – mild seasoning
• Egg – holds everything together
Breading
• Breadcrumbs – gives the crispy coating
• Garlic powder – adds savory flavor
• Oil – helps browning and crunch

Tips

• Ground chicken is softer than beef, so the mixture can feel sticky. If that happens, lightly oil or wet your hands when shaping.
• Don't overmix or the meat inside becomes too dense.
• Medium heat works best so the inside cooks before the outside gets too dark.
• Internal temp should reach 165°F.
• Don’t make the nuggets too big. Smaller nuggets cook way more evenly.

Serving the Chicken Nuggets

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. Popular choices are; ketchup, honey mustard, ranch, BBQ sauce, Yum Yum sauce or Chick fil a Sauce. My Parmesan Garlic Ranch dressing or Creamy Sweet Chili Sauce would also make great nugget dips.
Crispy chicken nuggets are great with roasted potatoes, oven fries, air fryer sweet potato fries, salad, or veggie sticks.
You can also slice them into chicken wraps or lunch bowls.