Homemade Baked Chicken Nuggets (with GF option)

I promised a few weeks back to share our homemade chicken nuggets recipe, so... here it is!

I love this meal because it's a great way to stretch meat-- about 2 chicken breasts will make enough nuggets for my girls with leftovers.  Even buying organic/free range chicken this can still be a meal under $3.  We serve them with at least two veggies on the side to fill up bellies.  You can use the extra coating mix on anything you like... we've done fish and pork chops.  It's a fun, easy, finger lickin' meal!

Baked Chicken Nuggets

 

Coating Mix: 

(taken from the More With Less Cookbook)

2 cups bread crumbs*

 1 1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp celery salt**

1 tsp onion powder

 1/4 cup olive oil

Meat:

1/2 pound chicken

*To make the nuggets gluten-free, I substitute 1 cup of cornmeal and 1 cup of brown rice flour for of the bread crumbs.  Or, for a more nutritious (but not gluten-free) option, I grind up a sprouted bread (like Ezekiel) and use two cups of that for the bread crumbs.

**Once, when I was out of celery salt, I subbed in a teaspoon of garlic salt.  Yummy.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix the ingredients for the coating mix in a large bowl.  Transfer 2/3 cup of bread crumb mixture to a large ziplock bag.  Transfer the rest to an airtight container and store in your cupboard... it will keep for a couple of months!

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces (about 1 inch), dip into a bowl of water, and toss into the ziplock bag with the 2/3 cup of bread crumb mixture.  Shake!  Remove chicken pieces from the bag and discard the extra crumbs.  Arrange the breaded nuggets in a single layer in a 2-quart casserole dish (or a larger shallow dish if you're doubling the recipe), cover, and bake covered for 20 minutes.  Remove cover and bake 5 minutes more.  (Baking time will depend on the size of your nuggets-- check by cutting a nugget in half and making sure all pink is gone.)

 Enjoy!