Baked Chicken Nuggets
Are your kids going back to school? Baked Chicken Nuggets the Healthy Way are boneless and skinless chicken nuggets lightly coated in extra-virgin olive oil and breadcrumbs, then baked until crispy golden brown. These baked chicken nuggets are juicy, tender, and delicious! This is an oldie but goodie.
Baked chicken nuggets always make a fun finger-food. Simple recipe, easy to prep, and baked instead of fried.
Serve these nuggets for lunch, dinner, or even as an appetizer.
The outside is crispy, while each nugget is moist and juicy on the inside. They turn out delicious every time!
Perfect to serve them with ketchup, or with our mom’s quick marinara sauce for dipping. So. Very. Delicious.
No need to buy frozen packaged nuggets when you can make these in a matter of minutes. So much healthier when you make them yourself.
No fillers, no extra fat, and no frying. 🙂
Plus, these baked chicken nuggets make great meal prep for kids going back to school.
TIPS for Success!
-
Make ahead! If planning to make them dinner, you can easily prepare the nuggets early in the morning, refrigerate them, then bake just before serving.
-
Or double this recipe, freeze them in ziplock bags and bake them when you need something quick during busy weeknights. Or bake them and freeze, so you can easily reheat them.
-
No need for any salt, because the pecorino cheese gives enough flavor to these nuggets.
-
It’s best to use good quality olive oil with this recipe. Extra virgin olive oil is best to use. The oil will not only keep the nuggets moist while baking, but it will give them so much more flavor.
For this recipe, I decided to take my package of chicken breasts and turn them into chicken nuggets for dinner. This recipe requires only two easy steps!
The first step, cut chicken breasts into small pieces, preferably nugget sizes.
And the second step is to dip each one into olive oil and then into our delicious breadcrumb mixture and place them onto a baking pan.
Then bake.
What You Need for Baked Chicken Nuggets:
-
2 skinless chicken breasts
-
plain breadcrumbs
-
grated pecorino cheese
-
garlic powder
-
dried parsley
-
extra-virgin olive oil
-
olive oil cooking spray
Your Family Will Love These Baked Chicken Nuggets!
Serve them with a healthy side or two like our delicious Oven Fried Sweet Potatoes, or our Oven-Baked Parsnip Fries, or with a large green salad and make dinner fun and simple!
All kids will love them and even adults will too! So make a huge batch, because they will disappear quickly!
ENJOY!!
You can follow along with the recipe below or jump down to the bottom of this post for our full recipe card.
Ingredients for Baked Chicken Nuggets the Healthy Way:
-
2 chicken breasts- cut into 2-inch pieces
-
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
-
1/4 cup grated pecorino cheese
-
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
-
1 tsp. dried parsley
-
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
-
Optional: black pepper
-
olive oil cooking spray
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray a baking sheet with cooking oil.
Cut chicken breasts into 1 or 2-inch pieces.
Use one tray or bowl to pour the olive oil into it for dipping.
In a second tray, combine breadcrumbs with cheese, parsley, and garlic powder. Dip all the chicken pieces at once into the olive oil, toss them using kitchen tongs, and then toss them into the breadcrumbs.
Place chicken nuggets onto the baking sheet.
Lightly spray them with olive oil cooking spray on top, to keep them moist while baking.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove and Serve!
Serves: 2 to 4
Don’t forget to PIN and SAVE!
More Delicious Chicken Recipes!
-
Chicken Thighs with Lemon, Garlic & Thyme
-
Roasted Spicy Maple Chicken Wings
-
OVEN-Fried Chicken Fingers with Sriracha Dipping Sauce
-
Chicken Quesadillas
-
Chicken Cauliflower Rice Stir-Fry
-
Chicken Rollatini with Ham Cheese and Spinach
Yield: 2 to 4
Baked Chicken Nuggets the Healthy Way!
Baked Chicken Nuggets the Healthy Way! Boneless and skinless chicken nuggets are lightly coated in extra-virgin olive oil and breadcrumbs, then baked until crispy golden brown. These baked chicken nuggets are kid-friendly, tender, and delicious!
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Total Time
30 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts- cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup grated pecorino cheese
- 1 tsp. dried parsley
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Optional: black pepper
- olive oil cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray a baking sheet with cooking oil.
- Cut chicken breasts into 1 or 2-inch pieces.
- In a tray or bowl pour the olive oil.
- In a second tray, combine breadcrumbs with cheese and parsley.
- Dip all the chicken pieces at once into the olive oil, toss them using kitchen tongs or use your hands. Then toss them into the breadcrumbs.
- Place chicken nuggets onto the baking sheet. Lightly spray them with cooking spray on top.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove and Serve!
- Serves: 2 to 4
I need to make these for my grandsons soon!
I am too! They adore chicken nuggets -… it’s a no-brainer, right?! Have a great weekend Susan! 🙂
Healthy snacks for our kids! Thanks!
You’re welcome, thanks!
This is a perfect way to eat nuggets and feel good about feeding them to kids. Going to make these tomorrow. Thank you.
thanks so much!
And by the way – this is all totally freaky! And … if you didn't try for yourself – give that mango drink a go – it was delicious 🙂 My pita pizzas will be up this week – so funny.
Who doesn't LOVE a good chicken nugget!? I just hate frying anything anymore – so this is great! On another note, please post your Dixie cups – please?! I would love to see your photos and recipe. Please, please please!!!