Easy Chicken Nuggets - gfcf style

Diane - posted on 10/31/2009

My husband experimented with nugget recipes until he found the one that our then-very picky 3 yr old would eat. This was a staple in his diet for several years until he expanded his diet to a well-round array of options:GF/CF Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients: 3 to 5 lbs frozen chicken breasts, thawed
2 to 3 cups GF breading mixture (recipe below)
1-2 eggs
1-2 cups CF milk substitute (Darifree, rice or almond milk)
GF flour (rice, potato, tapioca, amaranth, etc… whatever’s on hand)
Coarse salt (Kosher or sea salt)
-------------------------------------
Fill deep fryer with light olive oil. Use 360 deg. setting.

Break 1 egg into medium bowl, add 1 cup CF milk substitute, whisk briefly. (Alternative: Can add a little GF flour to make a light batter) Set aside. (depending on how many batches of nuggets being made, you may need to double liquid to 2 eggs, and 2 cups milk substitute.)

Pour approx 1 cup GF breading mixture into shallow bowl, set aside.

Cut chicken breasts into bite-size pieces. Put GF flour in qt-size baggie, add chicken, and shake to coat. (Recommend coating chicken in batches….not all at once).

Remove chicken, shake off excess flour, and dip completely in egg mixture. Roll in breading. (doesn’t work well shaken in bag – better if rolled individually)

Place breaded chicken pieces in fryer basket (make sure hot oil does not reach bottom of basket). Cook for 2 ½ - 3 minutes (cooking times will vary depending on fryer and temperature of oil). Shake excess oil, pour chicken onto paper towel-lined bowl, and sprinkle salt immediately, while chicken is still hot. Transfer to cooling rack.


GF Breading Mixture:

Ingredients (use any combination, or all)
Rice and/or Corn Crunch-ems Cereal (TJ’s, Whole Foods, Mother’s Markets, sometimes even Grocer Health Food aisle) NOTE: CHEX recently changed their formula to make their Rice and Corn CHEX Cereals GF - Read labels carefully to ensure the GF version is used, and you can go with CHEX found in any grocer
Rice Crackers
Instant Mashed Potatoes (Idaho Spuds or Barbara’s)
Quinoa flakes
Salt & Pepper (Alternative: Can add herbs, like oregano, thyme, basil, marjoram to add flavor.)
[Adjust proportions to your liking – You can be creative….whatever GF grains on hand at the time – Check labels for hidden gluten!]

Process in food processor until consistency of bread crumbs.

TIPS:
• Set up kitchen counter into an assembly line, with glass bowls lined across (cut chicken pieces, flour-coated chicken, batter mixture, breading mixture, empty bowl for pieces ready to be cooked.)
• Freeze in large freezer bags (or individual portion sized bags)
• When reheating a serving after freezing (5-8 pieces), set microwave oven to 30-45 seconds (70% power level), then transfer to toaster oven tray and toast one cycle, to add light crispness to nuggets.
• This recipe works great with turkey as well. For our VERY picky eater, we also did a variation with ground beef or ground pork, add shredded zucchini or yellow squash, drop onto baking pan in nugget-sized spoonfuls, bake, then dip in egg batter, roll in breading mixture, and fry as with other nuggets. A way to sneak veggies into the diet, as well as be able to rotate meats in our children’s diets.
• REMEMBER: Toaster oven and fryer should be dedicated to GF/CF cooking!
• Bring heated nuggets to restaurants when eating out and serve in old nugget box or large French fry box.
• Add some Terra Yam chips into the grinder when making breading mixture for a flavorful twist.

Diane - posted on 09/18/2009

Here's the nugget recipe we used for years. My husband revised several recipes to find one our then very picky kid would eat, and we made huge batches, stored in the freezer for easy reheating (with one round in the toaster oven to make crispy again)

GF/CF Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients: 3 to 5 lbs frozen chicken breasts, thawed
2 to 3 cups GF breading mixture (recipe below)
1-2 eggs
1-2 cups CF milk substitute (Darifree, rice or almond milk)
GF flour (rice, potato, tapioca, amaranth, etc… whatever’s on hand)
Coarse salt (Kosher or sea salt)
-------------------------------------
Fill deep fryer with light olive oil. Use 360 deg. setting.

Break 1 egg into medium bowl, add 1 cup CF milk substitute, whisk briefly. (Alternative: Can add a little GF flour to make a light batter) Set aside. (depending on how many batches of nuggets being made, you may need to double liquid to 2 eggs, and 2 cups milk substitute.)

Pour approx 1 cup GF breading mixture into shallow bowl, set aside.

Cut chicken breasts into bite-size pieces. Put GF flour in qt-size baggie, add chicken, and shake to coat. (Recommend coating chicken in batches….not all at once).

Remove chicken, shake off excess flour, and dip completely in egg mixture. Roll in breading. (doesn’t work well shaken in bag – better if rolled individually)

Place breaded chicken pieces in fryer basket (make sure hot oil does not reach bottom of basket). Cook for 2 ½ - 3 minutes (cooking times will vary depending on fryer and temperature of oil). Shake excess oil, pour chicken onto paper towel-lined bowl, and sprinkle salt immediately, while chicken is still hot. Transfer to cooling rack.


GF Breading Mixture:

Ingredients (use any combination, or all)
Rice and/or Corn Crunch-ems Cereal (TJ’s, Whole Foods, Mother’s Markets, sometimes even Grocer Health Food aisle) NOTE: CHEX recently changed their formula to make their Rice and Corn CHEX Cereals GF - Read labels carefully to ensure the GF version is used, and you can go with CHEX found in any grocer
Rice Crackers
Instant Mashed Potatoes (Idaho Spuds or Barbara’s)
Quinoa flakes
Salt & Pepper (Alternative: Can add herbs, like oregano, thyme, basil, marjoram to add flavor.)
[Adjust proportions to your liking – You can be creative….whatever GF grains on hand at the time – Check labels for hidden gluten!]

Process in food processor until consistency of bread crumbs.

TIPS:
• Set up kitchen counter into an assembly line, with glass bowls lined across (cut chicken pieces, flour-coated chicken, batter mixture, breading mixture, empty bowl for pieces ready to be cooked.)
• Freeze in large freezer bags (or individual portion sized bags)
• When reheating a serving after freezing (5-8 pieces), set microwave oven to 30-45 seconds (70% power level), then transfer to toaster oven tray and toast one cycle, to add light crispness to nuggets.
• This recipe works great with turkey as well. For our VERY picky eater, we also did a variation with ground beef or ground pork, add shredded zucchini or yellow squash, drop onto baking pan in nugget-sized spoonfuls, bake, then dip in egg batter, roll in breading mixture, and fry as with other nuggets. A way to sneak veggies into the diet, as well as be able to rotate meats in our children’s diets.
• REMEMBER: Toaster oven and fryer should be dedicated to GF/CF cooking!
• Bring heated nuggets to restaurants when eating out and serve in old nugget box or large French fry box.
• Add some Terra Yam chips into the grinder when making breading mixture for a flavorful twist.

Kelsey - posted on 09/12/2009

great idea!! thanks.