Homemade Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets Recipe
These Homemade Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets are incredibly easy to make! These healthy chicken nuggets only have a few ingredients! Kids and adults will both love them! Homemade air fryer chicken nuggets with ground chicken and panko. Just 5 ingredients, crispy outside, juicy inside, and air fried in 14 minutes.
Homemade Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets
Making homemade air fryer chicken nuggets is easier than you think!
These air fryer chicken nuggets use Panko breadcrumbs for the breading. This makes the chicken nuggets light and crispy!
This chicken nugget recipe uses ground chicken instead of canned chicken or chopped chicken breast. This makes air-fried nuggets mimic fast-food chicken nuggets, but they’re MUCH healthier because they’re air-fried and have limited ingredients.
Did I mention there are only five ingredients in the entire recipe?! Well, six if you count the optional step of spraying them with avocado oil to make them even crispier.
If you enjoyed these delicious Homemade Chicken Nuggets, you should check out these delicious Chicken Meatballs and Air Fryer Ground Chicken.
With these air fryer chicken nuggets, there will be no turning back! Plus, you will know exactly what is in them. No mystery meat here!
These chicken nuggets are super simple to make. The only thing that takes time is letting them sit in the fridge or freezer. It’s an essential step, so you can’t skip it!
Trust me. I know we don’t always have time to make homemade chicken nuggets. I got you covered with some frozen chicken recipes.
If you’re short on time, check out these Tyson Chicken Nuggets, Tyson Any’tizer Popcorn Chicken, Tyson Chicken Fries, and Trader Joes Kung Pao Chicken.
❤️ Why you’ll love this easy air fryer recipe
- Budget-friendly – The ground chicken was less than $4.00 for an entire pound. The other ingredients I already had on hand, but they’re inexpensive if you have to purchase them.
- Easy Recipe – You’ll love the simplicity of this recipe! With only a few steps and just 5 ingredients, this recipe is really easy to make.
Ingredients
- Ground chicken: you’ll usually find this in the chicken section next to the ground turkey
- Egg: large eggs, and I try to get local or free-range when available.
- Breadcrumbs: I used panko-style breadcrumbs because of how light and fluffy they make food turn out. But you can use regular or Italian breadcrumbs if you don’t have Panko on hand.
- Seasonings: kosher salt and black pepper, but feel free to add in your favorite chicken seasonings as well.
✳️ Tips & Tricks
To ensure the chicken stays moist, check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer. Once they reach 165F, remove them from the air fryer. Don’t overcook.
Tools to make Chicken Nuggets in an Air Fryer
- Cosori Air Fryer – this is my favorite air fryer. The large air fryer basket makes it so easy to cook your favorite recipes.
- Tongs – tongs are easiest to remove and flip the chicken nuggets
- Meat thermometer – You always want to ensure the internal temperature of ANY chicken is 165F.
How to make Homemade Chicken Nuggets in an Air Fryer
- In a large mixing bowl, add in your ground chicken, salt, and black pepper. Mix them together.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper.
- Grab some ground chicken, roll them into a ball about 1 1/2 inches, and place them on a baking sheet.
- Ensure each ball is about the same size for an even cooking time. You will have about 19-20 balls.
- Using your palm, press down on the ground chicken balls. This gives them the chicken nugget shape.
- Place the baking sheet in the fridge or the freezer. (if in the fridge, leave it in for an hour; if in the freezer, leave it in for half an hour)
- Once the chicken nuggets are a little firm, remove them from the fridge or freezer.
- Crack your eggs into a shallow bowl and whisk together until light and fluffy. Add your breadcrumbs into another shallow bowl.
- Dunk your chicken nuggets into the egg, making sure to coat them completely. Then immediately dunk them into the breadcrumbs. Make sure to coat all sides of the chicken nuggets with the breading.
- Transfer the chicken nuggets to the air fryer and spray them with avocado oil. This step is optional, but it makes them crispier.
- Cook at 390F for 14 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Once the timer goes off, make sure the internal temperature is 165F before removing.
- Remove from the air fryer basket and serve.
Oven Directions
- In a large mixing bowl, add your ground chicken, salt, and black pepper. Mix them together.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper.
- Grab some ground chicken and make it into a ball, and place it on a cooking sheet.
- Ensure each ball is about the same size for an even cooking time. You will have about 19 balls.
- Using your palm, press down on the ground chicken balls.
- Place the cooking sheet in the fridge or the freezer. (If in the fridge, leave in for an hour; if in the freezer, leave in for half an hour)
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Once the chicken nuggets are a little firm, remove them from the fridge or freezer.
- Crack your eggs into a bowl and whisk together. Add your bread crumbs into another bowl.
- Dunk your chicken nuggets into the egg, then immediately into the bread crumbs. Making sure to coat all sides of the chicken.
- Place chicken nuggets back on the cooking sheet and transfer to the oven.
- Cook for 30-35 minutes. Make sure the internal temperature is 165F.
- Remove from the oven and serve.
Substitutions
If you can’t find ground chicken at your local grocery store, you can also make these with canned chicken. You can even finely chop a chicken breast as well.
If you don’t have any Panko breadcrumbs handy, you can easily swap these with regular or Italian breadcrumbs. You can use all-purpose flour in a pinch, but the texture will change.
What to serve with Homemade Chicken Nuggets
Serve these chicken nuggets with Sweet Potato Fries, French fries, or even tater tots!
How to store
- Store leftovers in an airtight glass container for up to 5 days.
♨️ How to reheat
Remove the lid from the container and microwave on high for 1 to 1.5 minutes or until chicken is warm. Alternatively, you can transfer to a microwave-safe plate to warm them up.
If you want to warm the chicken nuggets up in your air fryer, cook them for 2-3 minutes at 400F.
❓FAQs
How do you crisp chicken nuggets in an air fryer?
Spraying the chicken nuggets with avocado oil will help crisp up your chicken nuggets.
Do you need to flip chicken nuggets in air fryer?
Yes, flipping the chicken nuggets ensures that they get crispy on both sides.
Can you air fryer chicken nuggets?
You sure can! Scroll down a little bit further for the directions 🙂
More Air Fryer Ground Chicken Recipes
If you have extra ground chicken lying around that needs to be used up, check out these other air fryer recipes using ground chicken.
Air Fryer Homemade Chicken Nuggets
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl add in your ground chicken, salt, and black pepper. Mix them together.
- Line a cooking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper.
- Grab some ground chicken and make it into a ball and place on a cooking sheet.
- Make sure each ball is about the same size for an even cooking time. You will have about 19 balls.
- Using your palm press down on the ground chicken balls.
- Place the cooking sheet in the fridge or the freezer. (if in the fridge leave in for an hour, if in the freezer leave in for an half hour)
- Once the chicken nuggets are a little firm remove them from the fridge or freezer.
- Crack your eggs into a bowl and whisk together. Add your bread crumbs into another bowl.
- Dunk your chicken nuggets into the egg then immediately into the bread crumbs. Making sure to coat all sides of the chicken.
- Transfer the chicken nuggets into the air fryer and spray them with avocado oil.
- Cook at 390F for 14 minutes flipping halfway through.
- Once the timer goes off make sure the internal temperature is 165F before removing.
- Remove from the air fryer basket and serve.
Nutrition
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