Homemade nuggets made with real pieces of chicken breast: juicy chicken inside and a light panko coating that fries golden and crisp outside. The breading is deliberately simple so the nuggets taste like chicken rather than seasoning or batter. A classic snack for sharing and disappearing from the tray while still hot.
Turn what you find into an experience you can actually bring to your kitchen.
Pat the chicken breast thoroughly dry and cut it into 24 even pieces about 3 to 4 cm across, making sure none are much thicker than the others. Season with a little more than half of the salt, half of the black pepper, and half of the garlic powder, tossing until evenly distributed.
Set up three breading stations. In the first, mix the flour with the remaining salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. In the second, beat the eggs until uniform. Place the panko in the third. Keep the stations in that order so you can work quickly without turning the breading into paste.
Coat each chicken piece first in flour and shake off the excess; then coat it in egg and finally in panko, pressing only enough for the crumbs to adhere. Arrange the nuggets separately on a tray. A thick, compressed coating absorbs more oil; a light coating stays crisper.
Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet to 175 to 180°C. Fry the nuggets in 3 batches, leaving space between them, for about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Keep the oil near that range between batches: if it drops too low, the coating absorbs oil; if it smokes, the outside will brown before the chicken is done. Remove each batch when evenly golden and crisp and a center piece reaches 74°C at its thickest point.
Transfer the nuggets to a wire rack, do not pile them up, and serve hot. The right result is a dry, crisp crust that breaks when bitten, with chicken breast still juicy at the center; if the coating is soft, the oil probably lost temperature or the nuggets were stacked. Real chicken, real crunch. Nugget solved. 🍗
