Crispy Healthy Chicken Nuggets (Air Fryer or Baked)
The BEST Healthy Chicken Nuggets! Juicy on the inside with a shattering crunch on the outside. We tested these in the Air Fryer vs. the oven, and the result is a high protein, low fat nugget that tastes better than takeout. Served with a skinny Chick-fil-A dipping sauce!
Servings: 4 People
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 1 lb chicken breast cut into 1-inch bite-sized pieces
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- ½ tsp smoked paprika powder
- 1 tsp chicken salt or kosher salt
Breading
- 1 ½ cups breadcrumbs Panko, crushed cornflakes, or ground oats
- Cooking oil spray coconut or olive oil
Healthy Chick-fil-A Sauce
- ¼ cup lite mayonnaise
- ¼ cup non-fat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup BBQ sauce sugar free
- ¼ cup yellow mustard
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp lemon juice fresh or bottled
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven or Air fryer to 390°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside (for oven only).
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the egg, onion powder, garlic powder, mild and smoked paprika, and chicken salt until well combined.
- Add the chicken pieces to the egg mixture. Toss well to ensure every piece is fully coated in the marinade.
- Pour the breadcrumbs onto a separate plate. Working in batches, take a few pieces of chicken out of the bowl (allowing excess egg to drip off) and roll them in the breadcrumbs to coat evenly.
Baking
- oven method: Place the coated nuggets onto the prepared baking sheet, ensuring they are not touching. Spray the tops generously with cooking oil spray. Bake for 8 minutes, then flip the nuggets over and bake for another 7–10 minutes until golden and cooked through.Air fry option: Spray the nuggets with cooking oil both sides, and place them in the air fryer, make sure you leave enough space between them so the air can circulate around, you can make these in batches if your airfryer is small. Cook for 12 mins at 390°F (200°C), turning half way.
- Make Sauce
- While the nuggets are baking, whisk together the mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, BBQ sauce, yellow mustard, Dijon mustard, honey, lemon juice, and salt in a small bowl until smooth.
- Serve the nuggets hot with the dipping sauce on the side.
Video
Notes
- Chicken Size Matters: Try to cut your chicken breast into uniform 1-inch pieces. This ensures they all cook at the exact same speed so you don’t end up with some dry nuggets and some undercooked ones.
- The Flavor Glue: Unlike standard breading stations where you season the flour, we season the egg mixture. Do not skip this! It locks the flavor directly onto the meat so the nugget tastes seasoned from the inside out.
- Panko vs. Breadcrumbs: We highly recommend Panko breadcrumbs for that shattering deep-fried texture. Regular breadcrumbs will work, but the texture will be softer (more like a traditional McDonald's nugget).
- Gluten-Free Option: To make this gluten-free, use Gluten-Free Panko or crushed cornflakes. Ensure your BBQ sauce for the dip is also GF.
- The Ninja Crispi Advantage: If using the Ninja Crispi, we found the Max Crisp setting gave the best result. Because you are cooking in glass, you might need to add 1 minute to the cook time compared to a standard metal basket, but the heat retention is superior.
- Don't Be Shy With The Spray: Since we aren't deep frying, the cooking oil spray is what turns the breadcrumbs golden. Spray the nuggets generously before cooking, and touch up any floury looking spots when you flip them.
- Avoid Soggy Bottoms: Air Fryer: Do not overcrowd the basket/glass container. Air needs to circulate. Oven: If you have a wire rack that fits over your baking sheet, bake the nuggets on the rack. This allows heat to hit the bottom of the nugget too.
- Make Ahead Freezer: You can freeze these raw. Bread them, flash freeze on a tray for 1 hour, then bag them up. Air fry straight from frozen at 390°F (200°C) for 14–16 minutes.
- Calories matter: The calories calculation is based on dividing the sauce and nuggets in 4 serving sizes, if you were to consume the nuggets without the sauce you will only have about 265 cal, 32g protein, 7g fat and 18g carbs.
Nutrition
Calories: 466kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 122mg | Sodium: 1365mg | Potassium: 701mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 587IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 137mg | Iron: 4mg