I came across this recipe a few years ago when I was wanting to make chicken nuggets for a party. Its a copycat for Chick-fil-a Nuggets/Fingers/Sandwiches. Don't get your hopes up, especially if you've just been in the US! BUT, that said, its a REALLY good recipe and we make it often at our house. Don't be put off by the powdered sugar--its really good in it! Also, if you were really making them like Chick-fil-a, you'd fry them in a pressure cooker. I don't have a pressure cooker (I'm a little scared of them!) so I just fry mine in a skillet of oil and we like them just fine. Also, Chick-fil-a uses peanut oil, but I tried it once and I didn't notice a big difference. So, since I rarely have peanut oil on hand, I just use whatever I do have. Hope you like these as much as we do, even if they aren't Chick-fil-a!
Chicken Nuggets (or strips or sandwiches)
Chicken, cut into pieces for nuggets/sliced for strips/pounded to even thickness for sandwiches
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
2 1/2 Tbs powdered sugar
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Prepare your chicken. Whisk together egg and milk in a bowl. Soak chicken in egg mixture (you even do this early and just keep it in the fridge for several hours--makes a better coating if you do). Mix flour, sugar, salt, and pepper in a separate bowl. Heat oil in skillet.
When oil is hot, take pieces of chicken and let excess egg mixture drip off a bit. Coat in flour mixture and fry until golden. Serve with honey mustard, BBQ sauce, Ranch, or whatever you like to dip in!
Pressure Cooker Directions: (again, I've never done this!)
Drop chicken pieces into the hot oil and close the pressure cooker. When steam starts shooting through the pressure release, set the time for 3 1/2 minutes (this is for chicken breast pieces for sandwiches--I'm not sure if the time could be less for nuggets or strips??). Important: Do NOT close the steam release!
Edited 7/13/13: If I have a jar of dill pickles on hand, I almost always add about 1/4 cup of pickle juice to the egg/milk wash and allow the chicken to soak for 1-4 hours before we flour and fry them. It adds a nice flavor and helps tenderize the chicken!
Chicken Nuggets (or strips or sandwiches)
Chicken, cut into pieces for nuggets/sliced for strips/pounded to even thickness for sandwiches
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
2 1/2 Tbs powdered sugar
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Prepare your chicken. Whisk together egg and milk in a bowl. Soak chicken in egg mixture (you even do this early and just keep it in the fridge for several hours--makes a better coating if you do). Mix flour, sugar, salt, and pepper in a separate bowl. Heat oil in skillet.
When oil is hot, take pieces of chicken and let excess egg mixture drip off a bit. Coat in flour mixture and fry until golden. Serve with honey mustard, BBQ sauce, Ranch, or whatever you like to dip in!
Pressure Cooker Directions: (again, I've never done this!)
Drop chicken pieces into the hot oil and close the pressure cooker. When steam starts shooting through the pressure release, set the time for 3 1/2 minutes (this is for chicken breast pieces for sandwiches--I'm not sure if the time could be less for nuggets or strips??). Important: Do NOT close the steam release!
Edited 7/13/13: If I have a jar of dill pickles on hand, I almost always add about 1/4 cup of pickle juice to the egg/milk wash and allow the chicken to soak for 1-4 hours before we flour and fry them. It adds a nice flavor and helps tenderize the chicken!
I had a friend who worked for Chik-fil-a in high school, and she said they marinated their chicken in pickle juice. I don't know if that's true or not, but it makes sense... it's kind of like a quick way to brine your chicken. I don't know details about length; I assume you wouldn't want to do it too long to keep it from tasting too much like a pickle, but it might add some moistness to the chicken, and maybe a bit more of that Chick-fil-a goodness! :)
ReplyDeleteYou know, Alicia, I think I'd read that somewhere, too. I might try it next time I make them as I actually have a jar of pickles that is almost gone and could save the juice. I'll let everyone know if it works! Here in Asia being able to tenderize the chicken a bit with that vinegar base would always be a good thing! Unfortunately pickles can be hard to get.
ReplyDeleteI tried soaking them in pickle juice awhile back. I did NOT like what it did to them! I thought it totally took away from the flavor. If CFA does it, they are doing something different that I did. I won't do it again!
ReplyDeleteMade these tonight! I'm pregnant and live in China and have been craving some Chik-fil-A. A sweet friend brought me some CFA sauce from the States. We devoured them! Two tricks I've learned from previous chicken finger recipes: one, letting the chicken soak long in the egg and milk is a big help to keeping the batter on and two, I put all the dry ingredients in a zip-lock bag and put all the chicken pieces in after removing them from the wet mix. Then shake it. Coats evenly and no lumpiness and smaller mess.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so I had a former CFA employee confirm that they DO brine in pickle juice. Again, just brining in straight pickle juice did not produce anything all that great. BUT the past few times I've made these, I've added about 1/4 cup dill pickle juice to the milk/egg soak. Chicken has then been in that for 2-4 hours prior to coating and frying. THAT has had good results! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this recipe. I literally had to stop my 4 year old from gorging himself on these! I was just introduced to your blog by a friend and I appreciate all your work so much! It's such an encouragement to find recipes that I can make here! We're making the snickers cookies tonight! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHey SB, question: have you ever frozen these? I'd love to make a bunch of them and freeze some for easy lunches later.
ReplyDeleteHey Andi--I haven't frozen them. I've had leftovers that I've reheated the following day in the oven. But that's all. Let me know if it works!
ReplyDeleteHave you ever tried baking them? I mean, I know it wouldn't be the SAME...just wondering how it would work.
ReplyDeleteI have not tried baking them. If you do it, let us know how they turn out and if you made any changes to make it work better! I just don't think the batter/flour covered coating would work without being fried in oil.
ReplyDeleteSo, the verdict is in. Baking results in dry, flour-y pieces of chicken. Yuck. Fortunately, I only sacrificed about 5 little bite sized pieces to the experiment.
ReplyDeleteWe make our own here as well all the time, simular recipe except I add some Bisquick to the coating powder and Tonie's as well. I make a big batch and then we freeze what is left and eat these for a month or so. They reheat in the oven just as easily as frozen ones from the States do, just do it slow and a little low or they dry out.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up my family never fried anything (yes, its quite sad) so I am just now branching out into the frying world. How much oil should I use when frying like for these chicken nuggets?
ReplyDeleteWhitley-- My family fried a lot unfortunately! But I really don't do that much anymore. Chicken nuggets are the exception for sure! :) I usually just use a skillet and put about 1/2 inch of oil. Enough to kind of go about halfway up the nugget pieces, then flip them to brown the second side. You could do them in a deeper oil, I just think its kind of a waste, especially because its hard to use the nugget oil more than once as all the flour gets in it. :)
ReplyDelete