As much as it may look like we have a magical farm life where we eat fresh food from the garden, and the kids play outside all the time and work of craft projects, the truth is we are a really, really average family. We watch TV, the kids have digital devices and we even eat fast food where chicken nuggets are a frequent food choice for the kids.
But we try. We try to limit device time, play outside as much as we can when the weather allows and eat the best food we can make.
In an effort to marry my children’s favorite food choice with something a little healthier, I created these Homemade Chicken Nuggets.
Cooking Homemade Chicken Nuggets
Our Homemade Chicken Nuggets are baked and breaded with Panko breadcrumbs. We love making them this way because the kids still get the crunchy-kind-of outside without needing to fry them in oil. The Panko really makes a beautiful crust on the Homemade Chicken Nuggets and doesn’t leave you feeling greasy.
That said, they do still require some oil. You will need spray oil to help you get the best crunchy crust. It won’t work properly with just a regular olive oil so the spray oil is a must.
You also must cook the Panko breadcrumbs prior to making these. It really does make all the difference in the texture of these nuggets and the look too.
These take just over 30 minutes to cook and you can make a bunch of them at once. Not only does that make them great for a family dinner, but it also makes them great as an appetizer. We often make these for Sunday football games.
How to get them crispy
To get the crispy effect on the outside of the Homemade Chicken Nuggets, not only is it important to pre-bake the Panko Breadcrumbs, but it is also important to cook them on a baking rack. You want to make sure you are using something this {HERE} so that air can circulate around your chicken nuggets and fully cook them. However, this also makes it possible to get the crispy breading all the way around your Homemade Chicken Nuggets.
Seasoning Homemade Chicken Nuggets
When it comes to seasoning the Homemade Chicken Nuggets, we stay pretty plain. My kids will spot a spec of pepper a mile away and they won’t tolerate anything spicy. So, this recipe is perfect for your little picky eaters too.
However, if you want to add some spice, try a variation of these! Adding 1 tsp. of fresh ground black pepper will make them more interesting with a tiny bit of bite every now and then. My photos actually have the black pepper in there. You can also try a spicy version of these by adding some hot sauce to the milk and egg mix! This is one of my favorite ways to eat them if just the grown-ups in our house are going to be munching.
Dipping options
When it comes to dipping my Homemade Chicken Nuggets, I love a good homemade honey mustard sauce. It tastes wonderful with these nuggets and is a simple option if you’re not a ranch dressing person or prefer something other than ketchup. My favorite thing about this honey mustard sauce is that you can literally decide how sweet or how mustard-y you want to make it. I’ll give you my recipe below but just know you can play with the portions of the ingredients to make it the exact way you like it.
Thank you so much for visiting today, friends! I hope you will come back again to see what else we are up to here at Sugar Maple Farmhouse. Let me know how you like the recipe in the comments below!
For more recipes from the farm, visit our recipe blogs {HERE}. Try our famous Homemade Vegetable Soup recipe {HERE}!

Homemade Chicken Nuggets
Equipment
- Baking sheet with baking rack
Ingredients
Homemade Chicken Nuggets
- 1 lb. chicken breast strips, cut into cubes
- 1.5 cups of Panko Breadcrumbs
- Olive oil cooking spray
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 2 large eggs
- 2 Tbsp. milk
Honey Mustard Sauce
- 4 Tbsp. real honey
- 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 2-3 Tbsp. warm water
Instructions
Instructions for the Homemade Chicken Nuggets
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Spread out the Panko Breadcrumbs on the cookie sheet, spray with the cooking oil and bake for 2 minutes.
- Remove Panko Breadcrumbs from the oven, flip them over, spray them again with the olive oil and bake for another 2 minutes.
- When they're done, combine the Panko and all the other spices in a bowl.
- Combine eggs and milk in a separate bowl and whisk
- Using tongs, dunk each piece of chicken into the egg mixture and then in the breadcrumb mixture. Make sure they are well covered.
- Place each piece on the baking rack on top of the cookie sheet so the air can move all around the piece of chicken.
- Spray them all again with the spray olive oil.
- Bake for 20-23 minutes. Serve hot!
Instructions for the Honey Mustard Sauce
- Combine all ingredients together and mix well.
- Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator until needed. Max two days.
Oh heck yes. My family loves chicken nuggets, so we’ll be all about this. And the sauce looks incredible!
My family would eat chicken nuggets daily if I allowed them to. I’ll definitely have to make these.
I will try making this tomorrow
These look really good. I love chicken nuggets. I’ve never tried making them myself yet though. I’ll have to try it out.
These chicken nuggets look delicious! My granddaughter just had her first chicken nugget about a week ago and loved it. I’m going to serve these when she can visit us. (Hopefully, this summer.)
These nuggets look so delicious. My kids would really enjoy these.
I can’t believe these are homemade,they looked so great!
My kids love chicken nuggets too so we’ll have to try yours! I love the tips on keeping them crunchy. Panko breadcrumbs are so good!
Even just the sauce looks so great! Gosh. I’m dying to try this tonight. I want to eat this till I fall asleep.
Oh my goodness! I am drooling over these chicken nuggets. They look so crispy! A must make recipe at home!
This looks like a great recipe! My family loves home made chicken nuggets!
Between my husband and my toddler these wouldn’t last a second in my house! I’ll have to make these soon!
These look yummy. I have never made my own chicken nuggets before!
My daughter loves chicken nuggets! I’ll have to try making these for her. I’ve never done homemade before.
Chicken nuggets are a favorite in my house. I love the tip of baking the panko before hand. Will give it a try, thanks.
We’ve been making homemade chicken strips like this and they are so good! The nuggets look pretty delicious too.
These chicken nuggets sound delicious. Many of my family likes BBQ sauce with their nuggets, but I like honey mustard sauce.
As we are vegetarian, will replace the chicken with tofu and try or potatoes maybe as the sauce sounds delicious
I know a certain 4 year old that would love it if she could eat chicken nuggets every day! May be giving these a try tonight!
I printed this recipe out to make this weekend. Sounds so good.
These look tasty. I’ve made them a few times, they can be time-consuming. Love the sauce you made to go with them!
I can’t wait to try these nuggets! I buy frozen ones for the kids and hate all the stuff that they put in them.
Yumm I love chicken nuggets! I hadnt thought to have honey mustard as a dipping sauce though!
Such a good idea to make them yourself at home. My kids love chicken nuggets and I worry about what is in them, exp. from fast food restaurants.
We love homemade nuggets and much prefer them to fast food ones so we shall be trying this recipe and sauce.
My son is a super fan f Chicken nuggets and this recipe will surely be his new favorite!
Oh yum! This looks absolutely delicious 😍 We love chicken nuggets, so gotta try this recipe soon ❤️