I am not going to lie, I love fried food but with each passing year of my age I dread the idea of frying food in a pool of oil. The other day I was craving for chicken nuggets, the choice I had was to get the frozen Gf chicken nuggets or make at home. I chose the second option.
You don’t need to turn the stove or the oven on for these chicken nuggets. Thanks to my air fryer, I can make delicious golden chicken nuggets whenever I want without all the grease, and guilt. When I first got my air fryer, I didn’t realize how handy it would become or how often I would use it. But we use this thing pretty often everything from veggies to fish to chicken.
These air fried chicken nuggets are easy enough to make and doesn’t take a whole lot of time so there’s no reason not to make at home! They’re crisp on the outside and juicy and deliciously tender on the inside! Both kids and adults alike will love them!
Don’t have an air fryer? No worries, I’ll list the baking directions in the recipe.
The first step to making chicken nuggets is to cut the chicken breast in bite size pieces then make sure that you season the chicken liberally with salt and pepper. You’ll season the coating too, but seasoning the chicken helps create layers of flavor. Next, you’ll set up coating assembly line by getting 3 shallow dishes. In the first dish, add gluten free all-purpose flour. In the second dish, beat 2 eggs together with 2 tablespoons water. In the third and final dish, mix together 1 1/2 cups gf dried breadcrumbs, herbs, salt and pepper to taste. First, you will dredge each piece of chicken in the flour, then dunk it in the egg and finally press into the rice bread crumbs. Set them on a wire rack. And, repeat until all the chicken pieces are coated.
Next, place them in the Air Fryer basket. Close the air Fryer and set the temperature to 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 12-15 minutes. Turn and spray oil halfway through cooking as this will increase crispiness. Once this batch of chicken nuggets is done, repeat until all your nuggets are cooked. Pair them with a side salad and you’ve got a delicious lunch or dinner everyone will want on repeat!
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Perfectly crisp and deliciously tender air fried chicken nuggets.
Ingredients
- 3 (700 g) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into even 1-inch cubes
- 1 cup Gf all purpose Flour
- 1 cup GF bread crumbs ( I used PaneRiso rice bread crumbs)
- 3/4 tsp dried basil
- 3/4 tsp dried oregano
- black pepper to taste
- 3/4 tsp red chili powder
- Salt to taste
- 2eggs
- 2tbsp water
- All purpose sambal dipping sauce, for serving
Instructions
- First season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
- Next, make the coating assembly line: In one bowl, stir together the GF all-purpose flour. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and water. In a third bowl, add the GF breadcrumbs, little salt, red chili powder, basil and oregano.
- Coat a few pieces of chicken at a time by dredging them with GF flour, then quickly dunking them in the egg mixture, then rolling them in the GF breadcrumbs until they're coated. Shake off the excess and place them on a wire rack as you coat the rest.
- Spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray. Carefully place as many nuggets as will fit comfortably in the basket of your Air Fryer in a single layer, without crowding.
- Lightly spritz with cooking spray just to coat the top of the nuggets.
- Set the temperature for 375F and the time for 12 minutes (if your model needs preheating please do so).
- Pause the Air Fryer after 8 minutes, using heat-safe tongs, flip each of the nuggets over. Spray again with oil on both sides.
- Finish frying until crispy brown all over and cooked through (another 4 to 7 minutes).
- Serve immediately with sambal dipping sauce.
- Prepare the chicken nuggets in the same manner, but place them on a wire rack above the lined baking sheet (as in the picture above). Spray generously with oil, and bake in a 400°F oven for 8 -10 minutes. Remove from the oven, flip each of the nuggets over and spray again with oil. Return to the oven and continue to bake until lightly golden brown and cooked through (about another 10 minutes).
2pots2cook
So agree with you! Fried is so unhealthy… I would say olive oil makes it healthier but it does not taste as it should LOL! So, air fryer it is!
Pattie
I absolutely love my air fryer. This recipe looks delicious. Believe it or not, I have yet to try chicken nuggets in the air fryer, so I’m going to try your recipe this weekend.
Judee
I’ve really started to use my air fryer more frequently to avoid frying . It seems to be easy and taste great.