Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets

Instead of giving frozen chicken nuggets made from who knows what to your kids, why not try these quick and easy to make homemade Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets instead?! And for a more grown up version, try my Air Fryer Potato Chip Chicken!

If my daughter is an expert in anything, it’s chicken nuggets.  It’s ridiculous to the point my mom laughs every time we go out to dinner because she can’t believe should order them yet again.  But it’s serious stuff around here, and she ranks all the restaurants according to how much she like their nuggets and we’ve tried just about every brand of frozen nuggets at home.  I’ve become quite skilled in throwing some frozen nuggets plus a few tater tots in the air fryer for a quick lunch, but I finally decided to come up with a homemade version that would be just about as easy to make.  These Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets only take a few ingredients and a few minutes to make from scratch, so why not give them a try!

How do you make crispy chicken in an air fryer?

Because it cooks so hot and fast, making crispy chicken in the air fryer is almost too easy.  You really have to keep an eye to make sure it doesn’t burn.  These nuggets took only about 12 minutes.

The crispy breading comes from a few simple ingredients:

• egg for helping it bind
• a breadcrumb, potato chip and cheese coating
• a seasoning blend of your choice, although I’m partial to this one

To make it super easy to make the crumb coating, I recommend this mini-chopper which I use to chop veggies and the like on almost a daily basis in my kitchen.

How do you make chicken nuggets from scratch?

Because I like to keep things as simple and stress free as possible when it comes to dinner, I utilized a few trick to make these quick and easy.

• chicken tenderloins – easy to cut into thirds quickly for the perfect chicken nugget size
• skip the flour (and the mess!) and use panko breadcrumbs and chips instead
• a little parmesan cheese for good measure helps them brown up without a drop of oil

Serve these up with your favorite dip for the perfect kid lunch or even a dinner the adults will love!

Still need an air fryer? Here is the one I used for this recipe! I love that it has such a large capacity!

Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets

Instead of giving frozen chicken nuggets made from who knows what to your kids, why not try these quick and easy to make homemade Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets instead?!

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 27 minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 302kcal

Author: Garnished Plate

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts tenders
• 2 eggs
• 2 oz potato chips
• 2 oz panko bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon herb and garlic seasoning

Instructions

• Slice chicken into thirds lengthwise (nugget size)
• Beat eggs in bowl until smooth
• Crush chips, breadcrumbs, cheese and seasoning until fine crumbs using food processor or chopper
• Spray basket of air fryer with nonstick spray
• Dip chicken into eggs and then into coating and place in single layer in air fryer
• Cook at 380 degrees for 10-12 minutes, flipping once, until chicken is cooked through and coating is crispy and golden

Nutrition

Calories: 302kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 155mg | Sodium: 354mg | Potassium: 725mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 3.5% | Vitamin C: 4.8% | Calcium: 8.1% | Iron: 12.1%