a simple real food recipe :: chicken nuggets and dips :: grain and dairy free with nut and egg free options

Let’s freak the kids out happy with a chicken nugget night, shall we?!

These chicken nuggets can very easily be prepped in big batches and frozen. Just make them up, freeze them uncooked on a tray, and stick in freezer bags. You can pull out what you want and bake!

You can shape them however you want! Sometimes we do the nugget and sometimes more of a chicken strip. If you are really creative, you could probably do real shapes like stars or hearts 🙂

You’ll need:

2 cups or more of cooked chicken from your weekly chicken

1 cup blanched almond flour (if you are nut free use coconut flour or a sprouted flour)

2 eggs (if you are egg free use 1/3 cup milk, coconut milk, or even just water for the egg wash, and a flax egg or egg replacer for the binder in the chicken)

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp pepper

1 ½ TB Italian seasoning

1. Put the egg in a small bowl, and the almond flour in a large bowl or dish. If you are egg free use 1/3 cup milk, coconut milk, or water instead of the egg.
2. Put the chicken in a food processor or blender.
3. Put ½ the minced garlic, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, and all of the Italian seasoning in the almond flour, and the other half of the garlic, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp salt, and ½ tsp pepper in the blender with the chicken.
4. Use a fork to whisk the almond flour and seasoning to a good blend.
5. Blend up the chicken with the seasoning with an egg to bind. If you are egg free use a flax egg or egg replacer.
6. Roll up balls of the chicken mixture and flatten in your hand to the shape you want.
7. Dip the flattened chicken in the egg wash, and then into the almond flour mixture. Make sure they are coated well.
8. Place the chicken nuggets on a large cookie sheet lined with silpat or parchment paper.
9. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes, then flip them over and bake another 10-12 minutes.

And let’s talk dipping!

Most kids will probably pick ketchup – which I don’t see anything wrong with. We stick to the organic kind since tomatoes are typically GMO’d and highly pesticided otherwise.

But remember those honey mustard cups at McyD’s?! I’m not sure if they still have them, but those were my FAVORITE. I make my own to skip out on the preservatives and high fructose corn syrup.

And my hubby’s fav is barbeque sauce. Again – couple minutes to make and you skip out on the preservatives and high fructose corn syrup. I made up my recipe based on looking at the back of a brand of bbq sauce my husband likes 😉

HONEY MUSTARD:

¼ cup organic mustard (watch the ingredients!)

1 ½ TB raw honey (local if possible!)

1. Use a fork or spoon to mix in a small container with a lid so you can store leftovers in the fridge!

BARBEQUE SAUCE:

½ cup organic ketchup (watch ingredients!)

1 TB blackstrap molasses

1 ½ TB organic mustard (watch ingredients!)

½ tsp sea salt

1 tsp onion powder

1 small clove or ½ large clove garlic, minced

1 tsp raw honey

1/8 tsp chipotle powder (If you like more heat go for more! My girls will eat this recipe as is so it’s pretty light on the heat. My hubby always adds more to his!)

1. Mix well in a small container with a lid to keep leftovers in the fridge for later!

**The sauces will keep in the fridge for weeks so you can make batches based on how much you think you will go through. The BBQ sauce brushes well for chicken on the grill, and the honey mustard works well to bake up honey mustard chicken too!

YOUR TURN!

Would the kids flip out if you told them it was chicken nugget night?! Let me know if you try the recipe and like it!

This post was shared at Butter Believer’s Sunday School, Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesday, Real Food Freaks Freaky Friday, and Too Many Jars At My Kitchen’s Fill Those Jars Friday!