Baked Chicken Nuggets

This is the second time I made baked chicken nuggets.  As compared with the deep fried ones, of course baked nuggets are less oily.  From tonnes of baked chicken nuggets recipes one could refer to (online or cookbooks), I like only straight-forward non-frill preparation. I've learned that buttermilk tenderize meat, so obviously to 'soak' the chicken with some buttermilk. For the crumbs, if you are unable to find bread crumbs, cornflakes are also "do-able".

So here's my easy baked chicken nuggets .... of course do marinate the meat for few hours (or best overnight) in the fridge for a more flavorful and tastier nuggets.

Baked Chicken Nuggets
Serves 3 to 4 pax
Ingredients :
350g Chicken fillets (cut into bite sizes about 3cm cube)
150g buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon salt & some crushed pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried mixed herbs

For the crumbs
80g to 100g Cornflake (put inside Ziploc bag, sealed and crush them to fine crumbs)
Crushed pepper and pinch of salt.

Method:
Marinate the chicken with ingredients in a Ziploc bag, sealed and leave in the fridge for few hours (or overnight).

Position the rack in the center and preheat oven to 200°C.
Prepare a baking tray with lined baking paper.  Meanwhile, combine cornflake crumbs, salt and crushed pepper in a bowl.

Drain the buttermilk and coat chicken in crumb mixture.

Place the chicken pieces in a single layer on the lined tray, repeat the process.

Bake, turning once during cooking, for 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown.

We are dipping these tasty baked chicken nuggets in buttermilk ranch dressing.  This is also very easy to make ... just remember a must have 2 important ingredients buttermilk & mayonnaise :)

For the sauce, recipe adapted from : Simply Recipes with slight adjustment made below.
Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
Ingredients
120g buttermilk
55g mayonnaise (add more if you prefer a slightly thick texture)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Crushed black pepper & pinch of salt to taste
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon paprika (omit if you want your sauce to be pure white colour)

Method:
Combine buttermilk and mayonnaise in a bowl and stir till fully mixed.
Add in the rest of the ingredients, mix well and adjust the taste to your preference.
Cover and keep in fridge till serving of nuggets.

Hmm ... very addictive ! I wanted to stop at the 3rd piece of nuggets ... but somehow I kept dipping and munching "non-stop".

Enjoy ! Have a great weekend :)