Chicken Nuggets

Some Chicken Nuggets recipes took the least desirable parts of the chicken and put them through a grinder. We opted for skinless, boneless chicken breasts so we would know exactly which parts of the chicken we were eating. Brining the chicken prevented it from drying out, and seasoning the breast meat combated its inherently bland flavor. We cut the brining time in half by slicing the meat into nuggets beforehand.

Ground-up panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs) combined with flour and a pinch of baking soda provided a crispy brown exterior for our nuggets. Using whole eggs to adhere the coating made the nuggets too eggy, but the whites alone didn’t have as much binding power. We found that resting the nuggets before frying solved the problem.