Using already cooked chicken to make chicken nuggets
Did you know you can make the best chicken nuggets using leftover roasted (or rotisserie) chicken? I discovered this little trick watching some Keto chicken nugget recipes on TikTok. In those recipes they typically use canned chicken and quite a bit of Mozzarella cheese. In fact, a lot of people make those nuggets with just those to ingredients.
I wanted to try something like that, but not just use a bunch of cheese and of course canned chicken is out for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ (SCD™). I very frequently have leftover plain roasted chicken breast that I don’t know what to do with, so I decided to give my own chicken nugget a try using a little less cheese and adding some almond flour and egg as a binder.
How do the SCD™ version of the Keto chicken nuggets taste?
These nuggets are so good. They are the favorite chicken nugget I’ve made, and really ever had. These have no weird additives, are made with good, fresh chicken, and are not breaded. That’s right, no dipping the chicken in egg and almond flour (or whatever you like to use to make breaded chicken). No frying in oil, and no handling of raw chicken.
If you are using an air fryer the nuggets are done in 12 minutes. It couldn’t be easier, but best of all I just love the texture and flavor of these. In this recipe I season with salt & pepper, but you can add other spices that work for you like garlic, your own Ranch seasoning, cumin, etc.
What do you need to make the SCD™ version of Keto chicken nuggets?
You only need a few simple pantry ingredients, come cooked chicken, eggs and some cheese to make these nuggets.
Chicken Nugget Ingredients
- Cooked chicken breast (you could also use thighs or a combination)
- Parmesan Cheese (you can use another hard cheese, like Provolone, or even cheddar, or as a combination)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Eggs
Equipment needed to make chicken nuggets
- Air fryer (for best results, oven instructions included below)
- Mixing bowl
- Parchment paper (if using regular oven)
- Baking sheet (if using regular oven)
Assembly is easy. You just mix and press the mixture into nugget shaped pieces, then air fry or bake!
Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. I like honey mustard or a SCD™ barbeque sauce.
Be sure to let me know what you think and join my private Facebook group where we talk about anything SCD™, beyond, IBD, and anything related to what we go through with diet and health.
Easy Chicken Nuggets Made with Roasted Chicken
Use leftover roasted chicken to make these delicious nuggets
Ingredients
- 3 cups chopped roasted chicken breast you can use roasted thighs or a combination if desired
- 2 tbsp almond flour you can sub 2 tsp coconut flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese You can use a combination of other grated hard cheese if desired
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
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Add chopped chicken to a medium mixing bowl
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Add almond flour, salt, pepper, and cheese
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Stir to just combine
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Add eggs
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Use a fork to break the yolks and stir the eggs into the chicken mixture
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Everything should be well combined
Baking in Oven
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Heat oven to 425F°
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Line baking sheet with parchment paper
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Form chicken mixture into about 1" nugget shaped pieces and place about 1" apart on the baking sheet
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Bake for 15 minutes and then turn nuggets over and bake for another 10 minutes until nuggets are crispy
Air Fryer Instructions
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Use Air Fryer setting at 400F°
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From nuggets and place on trays or in air fryer basket depending on the type of air fryer you have
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You can put the trays in right away without waiting for preheating
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Set timer for 12 minutes and flip halfway through or when prompted by air fryer
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If you are using multiple trays in a toaster-oven style fryer, rotate the trays after the first five minutes and flip the ones that were in the top position over, then flip the nuggets again when prompted
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Serve with your favorite dipping sauce
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