My kids have a ton of allergies. Top 8 and then some… We basically can’t get take out for them and I have to come up with unique recipes to keep them happy. On top of that, I kinda hate cooking so….when I came upon a chicken nugget recipe I thought I could work with, I tweaked it a bit, and it has been a MAJOR hit in our house.
The perk of this yummy chicken nugget recipe is that it is SUPER HEALTHY. it’s simple, fairly easy to make, and has very few ingredients!
If you’re struggling for options, check this out. You can add or replace basically anything here for your own family’s tastes and allergies too! Note: these don’t taste like typical fried nuggets, I mean they’re baked for one but besides that. With that said, my kids get googley eyed for them! Hey, my in laws even asked for the recipe! That’s a win right?
NOTE: with these exact ingredients, these nuggets are gluten, soy, corn, dairy, egg, fish, and nut free.
Ingredients
- Garnet Sweet Potato – 1 large or 2 small
- 1 large apple (whatever kind you prefer, we do honeycrisp)
- 1 small carrot/3-4 baby carrots
- 1 pound ground chicken thighs
- 1-2 Tbsp olive oil (we use Costco Kirkland Signature EVOO)
- 2-3 Tbsp flour/starch of your choice, we use Bobs Red Mill potato starch since we are limited on flours, I actually found this tasted better than rice flour
- Trader Joe’s Garlic Salt mix – or really any seasoning of your choice. We love this one
The Steps:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and place parchment paper on a large pan (this recipe makes a lot of little nuggets, 77 on this day to be exact haha). Note: I have tried other types of lining and the nuggets only seem to not stick when I use parchment paper. While it’s preheating, proceed to wash all the fruit and veg. I use a Norwex fruit and veggie cloth to make it quick. Then I chop the apple, sweet potatoes and carrot(s) to pieces small enough to fit in a food processor and grind up easily.
The next step is to add the sweet potatoes, apple and carrot(s) to the food processor. Add half a Tbsp of olive oil, 2 turns of the Trader Joe’s seasoning and grind it all in the processor until it’s very fine, almost like a paste. I have a small food processor one so it takes 2 batches. I use the other half of a Tbsp for the second batch. If you have a larger one you can do it all together with just 1Tbsp.
Once it’s finely ground, take it out of the processor, and add it to a bowl. Then start adding the rest of the ingredients. Add the flour, 1Tbsp of olive oil, more seasoning to taste, and the ground chicken. Mix it all until it all seems blended, I don’t think there’s an art to this part ha. I use a spatula 🤷🏼♀️
Once it’s all blended together, I make the nuggets a Tbsp size (or smaller) and place them in rows on the pan. I press them down a little to make them a more “nugget” shape as well.
Once the tedious part of making the nuggets are done, place them in the preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes. Maybe less, depends on your oven… mine seem to need a tad longer. I make sure they’re a tad more brown than white.
And that’s it friends! Take them out and give them a few to cool down and you’ll have some happy campers! My kids literally devoured all 77 nuggets, and I happily let them because they’re so healthy!
Let me know in the comments if you like them and if you made any adjustments for your family! So many fun things you can do. If you need any ideas, I’m happy to help!
Birth Boobs and Babies 