Ever tried to make your own homemade chicken nuggets? I was successful to make tender chicken nuggets with the use of buttermilk. Now, I have a new recipe that worked even better. The nuggets are very tender and moist in the inside, while the crispy on the outside. I call it Super Tender Juicy Chicken Nuggets. You can simply call it yummy.
This homemade chicken nuggets version makes use of a progressive way of cooking known as sous vide. It is a method to prepare food by partially cooking in low temperature over a course of time. This makes meats (such as chicken) tender and moist while maintaining its natural flavor. For more information on how to cook sous vide, you can refer to our sous vide chicken adobo recipe post wherein I shot a video that detail the steps. I also showed how to properly vacuum seal the bag using a method called water displacement.
I really liked the outcome of this recipe. Now I can feed my kids with healthier chicken nuggets made from real chicken meat. If you want to try this at home, let me share how I did it.
The first thing that I did was to slice the boneless chicken breasts into thick strips. I did this so that heat can be properly distributed along each strip, which enables all meat strips to be equally cooked. The chicken was placed inside resealable freezer bags and vacuum sealed. I then sous vide cooked the chicken for over an hour. This makes the chicken very tender and moist. Having the chicken prepared this way will be an advantage later on when you start frying.
Once the chicken is done, I sliced the strips into small squares. I literally pressed each piece in an oval cookie cutter to take its shape. At this point the chicken is somewhat oval and ready to be coated. This was also the time when I started to heat the oil for frying. Each piece of nugget is dredged in flour and then dipped in beaten egg before rolling it over the bread crumbs.
Next goes the deep-frying part. I simply deep-fried the chicken nuggets in batches of 5 and quickly took it out once it turned golden brown. It was a quick process that took around 2 minutes or less. This is one advantage of sous vide cooking; the chicken was already pre-cooked, so there is no need for me to fry it longer. It remains very tender in the inside and is made juicier. The outside is golden brown and crispy. The only issue that I had was to decide on what kind of dip to use – honey mustard, ranch, or barbecue? How about Sriracha Mac Sauce?
Try this Super Tender Juicy Chicken Nuggets Recipe. Let me know what you think.
Super Tender Juicy Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. boneless chicken breast sliced into strips
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cups bread crumbs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 cups cooking oil
Instructions
- Rub salt all over the chicken.
- Arrange the chicken in resealable bags. Vacuum seal using the water displacement method. (check this post to see how)
- Sous Vide cook for 1 1/2 hours at 140F.
- Slice the cooked chicken breasts into squares.
- Place the each piece in a small oval cookie cutter and mold by pressing it using your thumb.
- Heat oil in a pot.
- Dredge each chicken nugget in flour then dip in beaten egg. Roll over breadcrumbs until coated.
- Heat oil in a cooking pot.
- Once the oil gets hot, quickly deep fry the nuggets in medium heat until the color turns golden brown. This will take around 2 minutes. Note: No need to fry the chicken longer as the inside is already pre-cooked.
- Arrange the tender juicy chicken nuggets in a plate lined with paper towel.
- Serve with your favorite dip. Share and enjoy!
Nutrition
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