Name: Baked Whole Wheat Chicken Nuggets at Home
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 22 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1/2 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs (or regular breadcrumbs); 1/2 cup whole wheat Panko breadcrumbs (or regular panko); 1 teaspoon dried oregano; 1 teaspoon dried basil; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese; 1 cup buttermilk; 1 egg; 2 pounds chicken tenders (or thinly cut chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces); kosher salt; 10 ounces apricot preserves; 1/4 cup grainy dijon mustard

Who doesn’t love kitchen-made chicken nuggets?

The seasonings can be customizable, they’re bite-size, crispy and you can make them whole wheat if ya wanted to?! Oh and I wanted to. When I spied a box of whole wheat Panko breadcrumbs at my grocery store I knew I was going to make nuggets. Winter break is coming up and my girls will need lunch. So I whipped up this batch you see here and then flash froze them, so now they await the holiday break. Lucky for me my oldest daughter knows how to use the oven so I can sit back and nurse my Christmas cookie hangover while she takes over. Ha, I’m kidding… although not truly.

OH and there’s a to-die-for dipping sauce. Because nuggets need sauce, man.

I’m using chicken tenderloins, but you could entirely cube up chicken breasts. Chicken tenderloins were on the cheap so I went that route, plus they’re easier to cut up in my opinion.

In a medium bowl add the whole wheat Panko, breadcrumbs, basil, oregano, black pepper and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Set that off to the side while you cut up two pounds of chicken into bite-size pieces.

Whisk together one egg and a cup of butter milk.

Pour over the cubed chicken and let them soak it up for 10 minutes or so.

Allow the excess buttermilk/egg mixture to drip off of the chicken pieces…

Before tossing a few into the seasoned bread crumb mixture.

Gently press the crumbs into the chicken pieces…

…and transfer all 1,473,422 of them onto a wire rack that is set into a rimmed sheet pan that is lined with foil. Bake at 425° minutes for 20-22 minutes or until crispy, golden and completely cooked. Once the whole wheat chicken nuggets out of the oven I like to sprinkle them with kosher salt.

While those cool, how about I show you the most unfussy sweet and sour dip your eyes will ever see. It also works wonderfully as a glaze for grilled chicken or pork. Holla. Add a jar of apricot preserves {10 ounce} and a 1/4 cup of grainy, Dijon mustard into a small bowl.

Give it a good stir and that’s it.

Your whole wheat chicken nuggets are ready for dipping.

Oh yes.

So much better tasting than store bought… and way better for you!

Make now and enjoy or make now and freeze for later… either way make should be in the equation.