Chicken Nuggets are a classic kid favorite meal you can EASILY make at home with just a few ingredients in under 30 minutes baked or fried!
Serve your delicious, fresh Chicken Nuggets with some Crispy Sweet Potato Fries, Shoestring French Fries, or Beer Battered Onion Rings.

Chicken Nuggets are a favorite American snack, and they are surprisingly easy to make. In fact, they may end up being one of your new favorite Dinner Recipes. Homemade Chicken Nuggets are much easier to make than you think and are better for you than your traditional fast food. All you have to do to cook them up is assemble the ingredients, dredge your skinless chicken breasts, and cook them up in a skillet.
The nice thing about making homemade Chicken Nuggets instead of getting some from your favorite fast food chain is that you can control what goes into them, so they are extremely customizable depending on what you’re in the mood for. You can also make them even more kid friendly for the pickier members of your family.
As far as chicken recipes go, this one is extremely simple to make. While you assemble the ingredients, you can experiment with a few extra spices, but keep in mind that a little goes a long way. Once you’ve cooked up the Chicken Nuggets and let them cool, serve them up with your favorite honey mustard dipping sauce and enjoy.

To keep these nuggets crispy until you serve them, let the Chicken Nuggets sit on top of a metal cooling rack placed over a layer of paper towels on a plate to let some of the oil drain.
If you enjoyed these Chicken Nuggets and want some more delicious dinners to make, next time try Super Crispy Chicken Tenders, Oven Fried Chicken, and Super Crispy Fried Chicken. Our most popular fried chicken recipes, though, are of the copycat variety! Your family will love KFC Fried Chicken, Chick-Fil-A Nuggets, and Pioneer Fried Chicken (if you’re a kid from LA you know what this is!)
How to Make Chicken Nuggets
- Heat 1 inch oil to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) in a large skillet or saucepan.
- Stir together the flour, garlic salt, and pepper in a bowl.
- Dip the chicken pieces individually into the beaten eggs.
- Press into the flour mixture to coat; shake off the excess flour.
- Place the coated chicken pieces onto a plate until all the chicken has been coated.
- Cook the chicken in batches in the hot oil until golden brown and no longer pink in the center.


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Frequently Asked Questions
Try dusting the top of your Chicken Nuggets with a handful of parmesan cheese. The cheese will crisp up when cooked, giving the nuggets an extra layer of delicious, crunchy flavor.
Absolutely! Get saucy with your Chicken Nuggets and toss them in a bit of BBQ or Buffalo Sauce for some easy Boneless Wings.
Follow the steps until you get to the coated chicken pieces.
Spray them with vegetable oil and place them on a baking sheet.
Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes, spraying with vegetable oil spray one more time in the middle of the cooking time.
Chicken is safe to eat when the inside temperature reaches 165 degrees F (73.8 degrees C), according to the USDA’s Official Website.
How to Store Chicken Nuggets
- Serve: Don’t leave your Chicken Nuggets out at room temperature for longer than about 2 hours. If you accidentally left the Chicken Nuggets out last night, don’t risk eating them.
- Store: Make sure you wrap any leftover Chicken Nuggets you have in plastic wrap or put them in a sealable, airtight container. They’ll last in the fridge for about 3 days before you need to toss them and make more.
- Freeze: To freeze your Chicken Nuggets, put them in an airtight container or bag. If you want to make sure that they don’t freeze together, you can layer them with parchment paper or wax paper. They will last up to 2 months in the freezer. Always make sure you allow them to cool to room temperature before you store them to save yourself from getting sick later.



Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1 large egg , beaten
- 2 chicken breasts , (boneless skinless) cut into small chunks
- vegetable oil , for frying
Instructions
- Whisk flour, garlic salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.
- Add the chicken to a bowl along with the egg and coat well.
- Remove each piece of chicken and coat with the flour mixture then place chicken on a baking sheet until all the pieces are coated.
- Let chicken sit for 5 minutes while you heat up your oil (this helps coating stick better).
- Heat 2 inches of oil to 350 degrees in a large dutch oven.
- Cook the chicken in small batches (do not crowd the pot) for 3-4 minutes until the chicken is cooked to 165 degrees and golden brown and crispy.
Video
Nutrition

Photos used in a previous version of this post.




Can I prep them the night before and fry them the next day?
I have stored them cooked and frozen them cooked but I haven’t made them ahead of time. I’m concerned that the batter will not adhere to the chicken if not fried right away. Anyway, you could cook them and then store them for the next day or whenever? (See our Serve, Store, Freeze section of the blog).
These were amazing. Just have one question what would the serving size be after being prepared 8 oz? I’m trying to measure our cabs for diabetic and we did 6 oz as the chicken does shrink during preparation.
Serving sizes become an issue because people will have ingredients of different sizes. Packaged products are weighed and measured at the time of creation which makes their measurements accurate. The only way to accurately know the measurements of meals is to weigh and divide.
My kids were in heaven!! They loved these so much & want them again! It’s an easy & delicious nugget recipe!
I served them with homemade honey mustard sauce, and my kids were in heaven! 🙂
My kids are insanely picky when it comes to chicken nuggets, so I was a bit nervous about making these, but my kids loved them! – A total win!
Yummy! Made these tonight they were a big hit and taste freshly homemade better than restaurants
Kill yourself please
thanks exchange for sharing
Just made these they were lovely. I wondered what do I do if I wanted to freeze them?
I’d flash freeze them and then place them into an airtight storage bag or container. Makes it super easy to pull out how many you’d like to heat up. Hope this helps!
Do you suggest frying over baking or vice versa?
I preferred frying but there are instructions for baking them in the post above if that’s what you prefer. Enjoy!
These chicken nuggets look like they would be SO AMAZING. I definitely need to give these a try!
These homemade chicken nuggets are so simple and kid-friendly!
Oh my, I need to make these for my boys ASAP! They’re going to love them!
These are so much better than any restaurant. So crispy and tasty!
Can always go for chicken nuggets! These look AMAZING.