Chicken and Veggie Nuggets

Why on earth would someone want to make their own chicken nuggets? It seems like such a gross, daunting task. I almost didn’t make them before I read the directions, because I thought they were going to be be more work than I was willing to do at the time. I’m glad I checked because these were much simpler than I had imagined. Although mashing the veggies up with the ground chicken wasn’t my favorite feeling between my fingers, making these was really fun! How often to you get to play with your food and make it into fun shapes (besides cut out cookies)?  And it’s a great way to sneak in vegetables.

I ate these with Ranch dressing. Seems like I use that a lot these days and I blame Brent for my infatuation. I didn’t even dip my pizza in it until after we started dating. I also took it further and served these nuggets with a Ranch infused mac and cheese… which I will post tomorrow O:-).

These also reheat very well in a toaster oven, if you manage to have any leftovers that is.

Ingredients:

1-14 oz. package California Veggies, thawed

1 egg

1/2 lb ground chicken

1 tsp onion salt

2 cups Panko bread crumbs

Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Put the veggies and egg in a blender. Blend until pureed. Pour puree into a large bowl. Add the ground chicken and onion salt. Mix together with a fork until well mixed.
2. On a large cutting board, spread a thin layer of the Panko crumbs, salt and pepper them lightly. Spread chicken mixture on top of the crumb mixture until it’s about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle more Panko crumbs, salt, and pepper on top of the chicken mixture. Use a cookie cutter to cut the chicken into star shapes (the last bit of scraps I formed into a boring round nugget).
3. Transfer to a cookie sheet which has been lightly sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 14-16 minutes, or just until the chicken is cooked through. Serve with ranch dressing or barbecue sauce.

Source: Cheeky Kitchen