You'll love this recipe for Easy Baked Chicken Nuggets. But, first, chicken Nuggets weren't always chicken nuggets, they were McNuggets. Yes, McDonald's pioneered the concept of batter-fried pieces of chicken, rolling them out in restaurants worldwide in 1983. Since then "chicken nuggets" (without the "Mc") have become a staple in school cafeterias and on fast-food menus. Add some honey-mustard or barbecue sauce on the side and you have yourself an amazing meal.
Still, chicken nuggets aren't known for their health properties. A judge once called them "McFrankenstein", a pressed meat nugget pack with preservatives and ingredients you can't pronounce. McDonald's rolled out a "cleaner" version of McNuggets in 2016 with fewer wacky ingredients. But I still don't think they pass for health food.
So, why not try making some Easy Baked Chicken Nuggets at home?
By the way, the Amish are eating fast food more and more. It's not uncommon to see buggies at drive-thrus. Amish food trends and menus mirror those found in larger society, there's a trend towards quick, convenience foods. I mean, the Amish are not immune to crammed calendars, busy days, and too little time. A Big Mac and some nuggets or a warm pizza pie is appealing to the Amish homemaker in the same way it is to a busy soccer Mom.
🙋 FAQ
Yes, you could adapt this recipe to use with turkey. Just follow the same procedure. Turkey isn't quite as popular among the Amish simply because it is less accessible, in general. You could also use this same formulation with tofu if you wanted a veggie version. Doubt this work work very well beef just because it'd be difficult to get a "beef nugget" in the first place but, you could try it with steak strips.
This recipe calls for "salad dressing", this would be something like a store-bought Miracle Whip. If you are absolutely a "No Miracle Whip" person, you could use mayo.
Cut the chicken into cubes. And, you know, there is nothing wrong with convenience. If you want to just buy pre-cubed/pre-chopped chicken, feel free. Most Amish farmsteads have some chickens running around. The fowl are great for pecking at insects, eating scraps of food, and, well, laying eggs! But they also provide a meat source too that is versatile and relatively inexpensive.
Cube the chicken after it is thawed out and you are ready to make nuggets. Mix the milk, salad dressings, and seasonings and then prepare to dip them in the crumbs.
This is the crushed cracker mixture. Gloria recommends just putting them into a small bowl and rolling the nugget in, that prevents the cracker crumbs from clumping, making each nugget a fresh, crisp paragon of perfection!
This is what the chicken nuggets look like going into the oven, coated the crumbs for this amazing, flavorful experience.
The nuggets come out of the oven with a perfect, crispy coating.
The tangy sauce balances out the tender chicken perfectly. Also, you can experiment if you don't have saltines. You could try buttered bread crumbs in place of saltines, you could try crushed pretzels. Or what about Ritz Chicken Nuggets? You could try crushing Ritz crackers and seeing how those taste instead of saltines. Saltines are a tried and true coating for these nuggets, but other types of crumbs would be worth a try. To the tangy sauce recipe, you could sweeten it up a little by adding a tablespoon of brown sugar. A tablespoon of molasses would give the dipping sauce a darker, sweeter feel. So there is definitely room in this recipe for experimentation. All of your efforts will be better than McNuggets!
You can even just ditch the tangy sauce and use barbecue sauce. I think everything tastes better with barbecue sauce!
🍗 Easy Baked Chicken Nuggets Ingredients
- 2 pounds of chicken or turkey breasts, cut into cubes
- ½ cup salad dressing
- 6 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- 2 sleeves saltine crackers, crushed
Tangy Sauce
- ½ cup mayo
- 1 tablespoon prepared mustard
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon barbecue sauce
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
📋 Instructions
- Mix up salad dressing, milk, and seasonings.
- Dip chicken breasts into mixture then roll into crushed crackers.
- Place onto a cookie sheet
- bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until no longer pink in the center.
- Do not over bake.
Tangy sauce instructions
- Mix until well combined.
- Put into serving bowls
- Dip warm nuggets into the sauce.
🍗 More Amish Chicken Recipes
Mennonite Sheet Pan Chicken and Veggies
One-Pan Smothered Chicken and Bacon
Gloria's Cheat Chicken Casserole
🖨️ Full Recipe
Easy Baked Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken or turkey breasts, cut into cubes
- ½ cup salad dressing
- 6 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- 2 sleeves saltine crackers, crushed
Tangy Sauce
- ½ cup mayo
- 1 tablespoon prepared mustard
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon barbecue sauce
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Mix up salad dressing, milk, and seasonings.
- Dip chicken breasts into mixture then roll into crushed crack ake.
- Place onto a cookie sheet bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until no longer pink in the center.
- Do not over bake.
Tangy sauce instructions
- Mix until well combined.
- Put into serving bowls
- Dip warm nuggets into the sauce.
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