Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets

We recently got an air fryer, and we have been experimenting with different foods inside of it. One of the foods we have been experimenting with is chicken. One of our favorite base foods that we eat a lot of is chicken, and so finding ways to cook it and enjoy it in the air fryer has been at the top of our list. One of the simple recipes we have made so far is what we call “chicken nuggets” for our kids - tasty and healthy. 

While we’re definitely not big fried food people, we do quite a bit of baking. An air fryer is really just a smaller version of a convection oven (many newer ovens have a convection mode on them). An air fryer generally works a little bit faster and moves air better because it’s more compact than a large oven. Regardless, an air fryer is really just baking your food for you which works well for us.

We’ve certainly tried french fries and tater tots in there - we definitely like the tater tots whereas fries are meh. We generally prefer potatoes baked in our oven anyways, so that works well for us. We’ve tried a few other basic recipes as well in the air fryer, but haven’t done anything too crazy in there. It does work well with items that are completely frozen to cook them all the way through pretty quickly.

We’ve experimented with chicken a lot as well, and that brings us to this recipe. We’ve done chicken wings (completely frozen to start) and those turn out well, but the kids aren’t really into those - we (the adults) enjoy them though. Chicken nuggets are easily our favorite fresh chicken recipe that we have tried though, and they’re relatively easy to make. Certainly not as convenient as pre-made nuggets, but taste way better.

Regular chicken nuggets that you buy in the store are fine, but a lot of times you have no idea what is actually in the nuggets. We steer away from them and use chicken strips more often simply because you know you’re getting chicken inside of them. The problem with chicken strips is that they are often loaded with breading, and simply not enough chicken. Making your own is the way to go.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 egg, whisked
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• Salt, pepper, garlic parmesan seasoning

Instructions

• Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees.
• Slice breast into 1/2 inch thick slices, then each slice into 2 nuggets (3 if you like smaller nuggets). 
• Season chicken pieces with seasonings
• Dip each piece of chicken in egg mixture, then breadcrumbs.
• Place in a single layer in the air fryer basket.
• Fry for 8 minutes.

We tend to not put too many breadcrumbs on our nuggets as we like the flavor of the chicken and seasonings, but play around with it to get it like you want. This version of chicken nuggets is way healthier than what you’re going to find in any restaurant or store - there’s not a bunch of unnecessary butter and breading. While those may make the nuggets taste really good, you may be surprised what you can make on your own.

Start making your own chicken nuggets, and start tasting your food. Enjoy a simple and tasty chicken recipe that can be paired with most anything else that you’d like.