Chicken Nuggets are easy finger-food and most kids love it. However, fast food versions and the frozen ones we can buy at supermarkets usually contains all sorts of additives, preservatives and dubious parts of the chicken that makes me shudder. Don’t get me wrong, in a bind I have been known to buy them a Chicken Nugget Happy Meal or fry frozen nuggets when we’re just too tired or too busy to make anything else. But whenever possible, I make them homemade Chicken Nuggets. I know what goes into them and I know it’s much healthier than any other kind I can buy.

There are tons of GFCF chicken nuggets recipe on the Internet. However, this is my recipe for Homemade GFCF Chicken Nuggets. Ideally, I would use organic chicken. However, in Malaysia organic chicken is sold whole, not in portions. Our Malaysian organic chickens are also terribly scrawny, skinny and bony. I have not been successful in cutting a decent piece of breast myself. I usually cook my organic chicken in large pieces, bones and all. So for the purpose of chicken nuggets, I grudgingly use normal chicken breast, though you can use thigh or any other boneless chicken parts. I console myself by reminding myself that normal chicken breast is better than fast food or frozen chicken nuggets. The lesser of two evils as I justify it. However, kudos to you if you can cut an organic chicken better than me. And I must admit, I do envy families living in the USA or Australia where organic chicken parts are available in most supermarkets. I would go berserk if I’m ever let loose in a Wholefoods store, it’d be like organic heaven for me! I usually cut chicken breasts in medium sized triangles, sometimes I cut the meat into long thin strips and we call it Chicken Fingers. You can also use the same recipe for Fish Fingers, just use any firm white fish fillet such as lemon sole.

I also make a GFCF version of beef schnitzel, I buy a nice piece of tender beef filet and slice it as thin as I can. And follow the same recipe as below. A traditional schnitzel recipe calls for grated parmesan in the breadcrumb mix, however I omit the cheese and just use a variety of seasonings to make up for it. I usually serve the ‘schnitzel’ with a wedge of lemon and a side salad. Simple yet delicious.

In this recipe, I prefer to use Ogran GFCF Multi Purpose Flour. The combination of rice and corn flour makes the nuggets cripsy and crunchy. You can use either egg or Egg Replacer, just prepare according to the manufacturer’s instruction. You will need 1 egg’s worth. I love fresh breadcrumbs, packaged breadcrumbs just do not give the same taste and texture in my experience. Making fresh GFCF breadcrumbs is super easy. I usually have GFCF bread at home, best to use day-old bread rather than freshly baked. I just take 2-3 slices of GFCF bread, place it in the blender and blitz it until it produces fine breadcrumbs. Plain fresh breadcrumbs tastes wonderful just as it is. However, I have also seasoned it with salt, garlic powder, mixed spice, paprika, cumin, turmeric, parsley or any other sort of spices you want. I just add the seasonings into the blender or food processor with the GFCF bread slices and blitz.

I am often asked what oil I use for cooking. I generally use Sunflower Oil. I try to avoid soybean oil, peanut oil and corn oil, not for any particular reason other than I’m trying to avoid too much soy, peanuts and corn. Many children have peanut allergies or issues with soy or corn. So do avoid it if your child has allergies or intolerance to these foods. My husband doesn’t like Palm Oil and I believe Canola Oil is not a healthy choice. So just by process of elimination, we are left with Sunflower Oil. I use it for deep frying or asian cooking which requires high heat. However, for western food or recipes that requires low to medium heat, I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil which has many health benefits.

Chicken Nugget are one of the few protein rich snacks I can feed my girls, who are picky eaters at best. They even tolerate a few bites of beef schnitzel. I hope you try it and love it as much as Mei and Min Min do!

GFCF Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients:
GFCF Flour
1 egg, beaten or Egg Replacer
GFCF breadcrumbs (season if desired)
Chicken meat cut into desired shape and size
Oil for frying 

Method:
1. Heat oil in frying pan, you can deep fry or pan fry in shallow oil which I prefer.
2. Coat the chicken pieces in flour, shake off excess flour
3. Dip both sides quickly in the beaten egg or Egg Replacer mix
4. Coat thoroughly in breadcrumbs, pressing it in to the meat
5. Fry in hot oil

Enjoy!