Crispy Chicken Nuggets With Tangy Dipping Sauce

Crispy Chicken Nuggets with Tangy Dipping Sauce

There is a moment in almost every busy week when someone in my house asks for chicken nuggets, and I have learned that the answer does not have to come from a drive through window.

These crispy chicken nuggets with tangy dipping sauce are the version I make at home now, and they have quietly replaced the frozen bag I used to keep at the back of the freezer.

I first made a big batch for a neighborhood potluck, and I have been asked for the recipe at every cookout since.

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The nuggets are cut from real chicken breasts rather than ground chicken, and that is what gives them the flaky, satisfying bite you get from a good chicken sandwich.

Chicken breasts are lean, so the recipe starts with a quick brine of cold water, kosher salt, and Worcestershire sauce. Thirty minutes to one hour in that brine seasons the meat all the way through and keeps it juicy while it fries.

After the brine, the chicken gets a two part coat. Frothy egg whites go on first to help everything stick, then the pieces are tossed in a mixture of flour, crushed panko breadcrumbs, and spices.

Panko is the Japanese style breadcrumb that absorbs less oil, and crushing it gives the crust a finer, more even texture.

A little baking soda in the dredge creates tiny air bubbles as the nuggets fry, and those bubbles are what make the coating shatteringly crisp.

The dipping sauce is a five ingredient honey mustard that comes together in one bowl: mayonnaise, honey, barbecue sauce, yellow mustard, and lemon juice. It is tangy, a little sweet, and it is the reason my kids stopped asking for ketchup. If you prefer something creamier, ranch works just as well alongside it.

The recipe serves 6, with about 30 minutes of prep and 15 minutes of cooking, so it fits into a weeknight if you start the brine as soon as you get home. Here is how I make it, step by step.

Key Ingredients in This Recipe

Every ingredient here has a job, and once you know what each one does, you can shop and cook with confidence. Here is the full lineup for the nuggets and for the sauce.

Worcestershire sauce is the quiet hero of the brine. It brings concentrated fermented flavor from vinegar, molasses, anchovies, garlic, tamarind extract, and chili pepper, and it works with the salt to season the chicken from the inside out.

The coating is a partnership between flour and panko. Flour clings to the egg white and builds the structure of the crust, while crushed panko adds the light, crisp shards that make every bite crunchy.

Baking soda is alkaline, and that alkalinity helps the coating brown and puff into tiny air pockets, which is where the signature crunch comes from. Egg whites, whisked until foamy, are the glue that holds the breading in place. Exact quantities are listed in the table above.

What’s in The Dipping Sauce?

The tangy dipping sauce is a copycat of the honey mustard from Chick fil A, and it is simply five condiments whisked together in one bowl: mayonnaise, honey, barbecue sauce, yellow mustard, and lemon juice.

Whisk it smooth, cover it, and keep it in the refrigerator. It stays fresh for up to one week, so you can make it well before you plan to fry.

pro tip

Keep an infrared thermometer within reach when you fry. Oil temperature is the difference between a golden, crisp nugget and a greasy or undercooked one, and a thermometer tells you the truth in a second. Aim for 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and let the oil come back up to temperature between batches.

How to Make Chicken Nuggets in an Air Fryer

The air fryer version needs one extra step, and it is worth it. Start by toasting the panko in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until it turns golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Toasted crumbs brown faster in the air fryer, so the crust finishes crisp instead of pale. Let the crumbs cool, then build the dredge as usual.

Coat the chicken pieces in the egg whites and then in the flour and breadcrumb mixture, exactly as directed. Place the nuggets in the air fryer basket in batches so they are not touching or overcrowded.

Cook at 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius) for 6 minutes, flip each nugget, then continue cooking until crispy, about 6 to 7 more minutes.

How to Make Baked Chicken Nuggets

Heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius) and coat the chicken in the dredge as instructed. Arrange the nuggets in a single layer on a wire rack set over a baking sheet. The rack lets hot air circulate underneath, so the bottoms crisp instead of steaming.

Spray the nuggets evenly with vegetable oil cooking spray, then bake until cooked through, about 20 minutes total. For extra color, flip them once halfway through. Serve them hot, while the crust is still crunchy.

How to Make Homemade Crispy Chicken Nuggets (Step by step)

This is the stovetop method, and it is the one I reach for when I want the crispiest result. Read through the steps once before you start, then set your bowls in a row so the coating moves quickly.

Make the sauce first.

1. Add the mayonnaise, honey, barbecue sauce, yellow mustard, and lemon juice to a medium mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
2. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. The sauce can be made up to 1 week in advance.

Then make the nuggets.

1. Cut the chicken into 2 inch (5 cm) pieces.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together 2 cups of cold water, 1½ tablespoons of the kosher salt, and the Worcestershire sauce until the salt dissolves. Add the chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
3. In one mixing bowl, combine the flour, crushed panko, the remaining kosher salt, onion powder, pepper, garlic powder, and baking soda. In another mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy.
4. Remove the chicken from the brine and pat it dry with paper towels.
5. Add enough vegetable oil to reach 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the side of a large cast iron pan or Dutch oven. Heat the oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).
6. Working in batches, add the chicken pieces to the egg whites and turn to coat. Then toss the chicken in the breadcrumb and flour mixture until evenly covered. Shake off any excess breading.
7. Fry the nuggets in the hot oil, turning occasionally, until golden brown all over, about 4 minutes total.
8. Remove the nuggets to a cooling rack set over a baking sheet to drain, then repeat with the remaining chicken.
9. Serve hot with the dipping sauce.

Work in batches and give the oil a minute to recover between them. Crowding the pan drops the temperature and turns crisp nuggets greasy.

How to Reheat Chicken Nuggets

Cold nuggets lose their crunch, but a two stage reheat brings it back. For refrigerated nuggets, microwave them on a plate for 20 to 30 seconds, just long enough to warm the middle.

Then arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and broil on high until the outside is crisp again, flipping once halfway through, about 3 minutes total.

Broilers vary a lot from oven to oven, so stay close and watch the chicken rather than trusting the clock alone.

For frozen, already cooked nuggets, heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius). Arrange them in a single layer and bake until crispy, flipping halfway through, about 20 minutes total. Skip the microwave step here, because it steams the crust before the oven has a chance to crisp it.

Troubleshooting Fried Chicken

Frying is simple once you know what the oil is telling you. Most problems come down to temperature and crowding, and both are easy to correct once you spot them.

If you do not own a thermometer, you can test the oil with the handle of a wooden spoon or a wooden skewer. Dip the end into the oil: small, gentle bubbles around the wood mean the oil is ready. Hard, vigorous bubbling means it is too hot and needs a few minutes off the heat.

Adding food to hot oil drops the temperature sharply, so give the oil a minute to recover between batches. That short pause is the difference between a light, crisp crust and a heavy, oily one.

Oil temperature is also a safety matter, not only a flavor one. Keep the pan on a stable burner, never leave hot oil unattended, and keep children and pets away from the stove while you fry.

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THIS RECIPE?

Readers who have made these nuggets tend to say the same three things: they are tasty, they are easier than they look, and they beat anything from a store bought bag. Several home cooks mentioned that their kids could not tell the difference between these and the fast food version, which is exactly the reaction I hope for.

If you try this recipe, I would love to hear how it went. Did you fry them, air fry them, or bake them? Did you use the tangy dipping sauce or go your own way with ranch?

Leave a comment and let me know, and if your family has a favorite dipping sauce, share that too. Thanks for cooking with me.

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Crispy Chicken Nuggets with Tangy Dipping Sauce There is a moment in almost every busy week when someone in my house asks for chicken nuggets, and I have learned that the answer does not have to come from a drive through window. These crispy chicken nuggets with tangy dipping sauce are the version I make at home now, and they have quietly replaced the frozen bag I used to keep at the back of the freezer.

• Total Time: 0 min
• Yield: 6 1x

Ingredients

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For the sauce:
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup honey
¼ cup barbecue sauce
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice

For the chicken nuggets:
1½ pounds large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 4 medium chicken breasts
2 tablespoons kosher salt, divided
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup panko breadcrumbs, crushed
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
3 large egg whites
Vegetable oil, as needed, for frying

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Instructions

For the sauce:
1-Add the ingredients for the sauce in: Add the ingredients for the sauce in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.
2-Cover and refrigerate until ready to use: Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. The sauce can be made up to 1 week in advance.

For the chicken nuggets:
3-Cut the chicken into 2″ (5cm) pieces: Cut the chicken into 2″ (5cm) pieces.
4-In a medium mixing bowl, stir together: In a medium mixing bowl, stir together 2 cups of cold water, 1½ tablespoons of the salt and Worcestershire until the salt dissolves. Add the chicken to the brine then cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
5-In one mixing bowl combine the flour,: In one mixing bowl combine the flour, breadcrumbs, remaining salt, onion powder, pepper, garlic powder and baking soda. In another mixing bowl whisk the egg whites until foamy.
6-Remove the chicken from the brine and: Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry with paper towels.
7-Add enough oil to reach 1″ (2: Add enough oil to reach 1″ (2.5cm) up the side of a large cast iron pan or Dutch oven. Heat oil to 350ºF (180ºC).
8-Working in batches, add chicken pieces to: Working in batches, add chicken pieces to the egg whites, turning to coat. Then toss the chicken in the breadcrumb and flour mixture until evenly covered. Shake off any excess breading, then fry in the oil, turning occasionally until golden brown all over, about 4 minutes total.
9-Remove the chicken to a cooling rack: Remove the chicken to a cooling rack set over a baking sheet to drain. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
10-Serve hot with the dipping sauce: Serve hot with the dipping sauce.

• Prep Time: 30 min
• Cook Time: 15 min
• Method: stovetop

Nutrition

• Calories: 454kcal
• Sugar: 17g
• Sodium: 3018mg
• Fat: 18g
• Saturated Fat: 3g
• Carbohydrates: 42g
• Fiber: 1g
• Protein: 30g
• Cholesterol: 80mg