Baked Vegetable Chicken Nuggets (with hidden veggies)
Say goodbye to frozen chicken nuggets! These veggie chicken nuggets have everything you love about nuggets with the added bonus of hidden vegetables. The whole family, including your picky eaters, will never know they’re packed with over a cup of veggies.
Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and totally delicious, these homemade chicken nuggets are a great way to sneak in veggies, especially for toddlers and babies.
Bonus points because they’re super easy to make. Simply mix everything together and toss in the oven and you have homemade baked chicken nuggets in less than 15 minutes. Serve with your favorite condiment (I’m talking to you, honey mustard) and your favorite savory sides and enjoy!
❤️ Why You’ll Love Vegetable Chicken Nuggets:
- Made with simple ingredients.
- Bake or air fry.
- Packed with extra veggies.
- Dairy-free.
- Easily make gluten-free.
- High protein.
🍲 Ingredients
Ground Chicken or Ground Turkey
Panko Breadcrumbs
Egg
Riced Cauliflower
Riced sweet potato:
👩🍳 How to Make Vegetable Chicken Nuggets
- In a large bowl, add the ground chicken, riced cauliflower, riced sweet potato, black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.
- Using your hands or utensils, mix ingredients until well combined.
- Scoop about 2 tablespoons worth of the ground chicken mixture and form into a ball. Flatten out the sides to turn into a nugget shape. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, crack the eggs and whisk them with a fork. Pour panko breadcrumbs into another bowl or plate.
- Dip the nugget into the egg mixture then into the panko bread crumbs. Make sure all sides are coated.
- Set all nuggets on the baking sheet with parchment paper about 1/2 inch apart so they are not touching. Spray avocado oil spray all over the top of the nuggets.
- Place in oven for 10 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheet and flip the nuggets then place them back in the oven for another 10 minutes. They should be golden brown. Cool on a cooling rack for a couple minutes before serving.
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- This recipe makes about 20 little nuggets – less if you make them larger nuggets.
- Double the recipe so you have more to keep in your fridge for later!
- To make homemade riced veggies, use a food processor to rice the vegetables yourself.
- Mix ingredients well so you’re not eating bites of just veggie or just chicken.
- Spraying with avocado oil spray makes them extra crispy.
- For baby led weaning, break the nuggets into small pieces, big enough for babies to grab but small enough to avoid a choking hazard.
🗒 Substitutions
- Sub sweet potatoes for carrots, zucchini, or broccoli.
- Use all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour in place of breadcrumbs.
🗒 Best served with
- Your favorite dipping sauce: bbq sauce, ketchup, etc.
- Serve with Potato Cakes or Zucchini Fries.
- You can also serve with avocado pasta or sesame rice balls. Both recipes can be found in my ebook!
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Store leftovers in a glass airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge or freeze up to 3 months in a freezer-safe bag. Reheat for 30 seconds in the microwave or 1 minute in the air fryer. You can also reheat it in a large skillet over medium heat with olive oil.
🤔 Common Questions
This is gluten-free if you use a gluten-free breadcrumb.
These are dairy-free, as is.
I think they turn out better and quicker in the air fryer so if you have one, definitely use it! Set at 390 degrees and cook for 12 minutes. Make sure to set in a single layer. No need to flip halfway.
If you love this recipe, you should try:
- Cheesy Broccoli Rice
- Shrimp Cakes
- Avocado Chicken Rollies
- Air Fried Salmon Nuggets
- Salmon Croquettes
Vegetable Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken or turkey
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 eggs
- 10 ounces package riced cauliflower and sweet potato Green Giant brand
- avocado oil spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, add the ground chicken, package f riced cauliflower and sweet potato, black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.
- Using your hands or utensil, mix ingredients until well combined.
- Scoop about 2 tablespoons of the ground chicken mix and form into a ball. Flatten out the sides to turn into nugget shape. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, crack the eggs and whisk them with a fork. Pour panko breadcrumbs into another bowl or plate.
- Dip the nugget into the egg mixture then into the panko breadcrumbs. Make sure all sides are coated.
- Set the nuggets on prepared baking sheet about 1/2 inch apart so they are not touching. Spray avocado oil spray all over top of nuggets. Place in oven for 10 minutes.
- Remove baking sheet and flip the nuggets then place back in oven for another 10 minutes.
