Healthy food can be tasty! Chicken Nuggets Edition

Who said that some of your favorite foods can’t also be healthy? It’s just as easy as modifying a few of your favorite recipes and eating certain foods in moderation.

Chicken nuggets are a popular dish that both children and adults enjoy, and they can be prepared as tasty, but healthier, than your local fast-food restaurant. 

A serving of four chicken nuggets made from scratch has fewer calories than fast-food chicken nuggets. For example, McDonalds nuggets are higher in sodium and total fat, and lower in protein, in comparison to the recipe below. 

So, what makes fast-food chicken nuggets unhealthy? Their preparation. 

Deep-frying chicken and breading with flour or breadcrumbs adds calories, which can increase your risk for hypertension and heart disease. 

There are several alternatives that you can try at home that may reduce the overall calories, have more protein, less fat, and less sodium. 

Here are some tips for modifying any traditional chicken nugget recipe: 

• Trim away any excess fat from the chicken. Any part of the chicken can be used to make chicken nuggets. 
• Rather than using flour and egg for breading, panko breadcrumbs and olive oil are a great alternative! Panko doesn’t absorb as much oil as other breadings and olive oil has more healthy fats. (If panko is not available, regular breadcrumbs can be used). 
• Consider adding parmesan cheese to the panko mix to add rich flavor. Add sparingly, however, because cheese is high in sodium.
• Bake, rather than fry, the chicken to reduce the amount of fat. 

With these tips, you can be making this version of chicken nuggets your new favorite recipe. By changing a few steps, you can eat a tasty, yet healthy, dish without having to compromise your health. 

Here is a recipe for Baked Parmesan Chicken Nuggets adapted from SkinnyTaste, which applies the tips mentioned above and only takes 20 minutes in prep and cooking time.

Baked Parmesan Chicken Nuggets

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 188 

Ingredients

• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts (or any other boneless part of the chicken), cut into 1-in thick strips
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese divided in half
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil spray.
2. Put the olive oil in one bowl and the panko and parmesan cheese in another.
3. Season chicken with salt and pepper, then put in the bowl with the olive oil and mix well so the olive oil evenly coats all of the chicken.
4. Put a few chunks of chicken at a time into the breadcrumb mixture to coat, then on the baking sheet.
5. Bake 8 – 10 minutes. Turn over then cook another 4 – 5 minutes or until cooked through.

Feel free to comment below what you think of this recipe and any other questions you have about chicken nuggets.