Our boys LOVE McDonald’s chicken nuggets. They don’t eat them very often, but when they get them, they inhale them. I was going to make these breaded chicken cutlets the other night when my husband asked if I could make chicken that was similar to McNuggets. I rose to the challenge and started to scour the internet for recipes. I found this one and it came with some great reviews, so I gave it a shot. The nuggets weren’t very difficult to make but they require a food processor.  I found the texture of these nuggets to be very similar to McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets thanks to the ground chicken.

The spices in these nuggets can be altered to suit your taste. You can throw almost any kind of herb in to flavor them. I kept mine simple and threw in salt, a little garlic powder and a little onion powder.   I skipped the black pepper because the boys don’t like to see black flecks in their food.  Three out of my four boys ate these. Two really liked them and one thought they were ok. I thought they were a nice change from the regular breaded chicken that I make. One of my sons said that they were the best chicken nuggets he had ever eaten. How’s that for an endorsement?

McDonald’s-Style Chicken Nuggets
Recipe adapted from the For the Love of Food blog

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (that’s 4 breast fillets)
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup of flour
about 1.5 cups of oil for frying (I used canola oil)

Directions:
Heat oil in a heavy-duty skillet (like a cast iron skillet) on medium-high heat while preparing the chicken nuggets.  If you make the nuggets fairly quickly, the oil  should be ready to work with once half of your nuggets are ready to go in.

Cube chicken and place in a food processor. Blend chicken until it has all been taken apart and is a fine paste. Remove to a bowl and add salt, onion powder, garlic powder and pepper.  Combine well.

Pour out the flour on a plate (I used a rimmed soup bowl) and have your beaten eggs in a small bowl next to the flour.

Roll the chicken paste mixture into 34 ping-pong ball-sized balls (smaller than a golf ball).

Roll chicken balls in flour, then in egg, and then in flour again. Then, press the ball down between your hands to make a nugget.  Set nuggets aside.

Sprinkle the hot oil with some flour and if it bubbles really quickly right away, your oil is ready for frying. Place as many nuggets as possible in the oil, and fry until the bottoms are golden, turn and fry until the other side is golden. This will take about 4-5 minutes per side. Remove to a towel-lined plate (to catch any excess oil).

Yield:  ~34 nuggets