These air fryer chicken nuggets use the air fryer to make homemade crispy chicken nuggets fast and easy. Gluten free and made with clean ingredients.
Every time I make a recipe with my air fryer, I profess my love to the internet about its wonders, so I will do it again here.
When I first saw the buzz about air fryers going around, I was SURE that this was another weird appliance fad that would pass. It’s claims to fry things with little to no oil made me skeptical.
Seeing as how I love crispy things, it would make sense that I am a chicken nugget addict. I’m not sure why the combination of protein and crunchy breading makes me so happy, but it is something I seek out regularly.
To be honest, I do cave more than I’d like to admit and get the fast food versions from various places but it’s rare that I feel good after eating them. I figured out a great way to make a healthier version of chicken nuggets using the air fryer with some seasoned almond flour, ground flax seed and eggs.
What does an Air Fryer do?
The truth is, the air fryer doesn’t really fry food because it doesn’t submerge it into hot oil to be cooked. It is however, a tiny convection oven that gets really hot with plenty of air flow so it can cook your food in a dryer environment to make things more crispy.
The result is AMAZING! I am able to get that broiled crispy effect on so much of my food like potatoes, burgers and vegetables in half the time. And since I am all about the crispy texture, having an air fryer earned it’s place on my countertop.
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Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets
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How to make Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets From Scratch:
- Grease the bottom of your air fryer with avocado oil and preheat your air fryer to 400
- Grab 2 medium sized bowls: In one whisk the 2 eggs together. In another add flours and spices and whisk until fully combined.
- Add 2-3 nuggets to bowl with beaten eggs and fully coat before dredging in the breading mix making sure all sides of chicken are coated. Set aside on a plate until all of them are coated.
- Once all chicken nuggets are coated in egg and breading, place in your air fryer basket leaving room in between each piece of chicken so that air has a chance to flow through and make them crispy.
- Cook on one side for 10 minutes.
- Using tongs, carefully flip the chicken nuggets to cook for 10 more minutes or until fully cooked through.
Can I make frozen chicken nuggets in air fryer?
A great shortcut would be to purchase your favorite frozen chicken nuggets and heat them up in the air fryer on 375 for about 20 minutes flipping halfway through. Make sure they are fully cooked before serving as the thickness of frozen chicken tenders or chicken nuggets varies.
Can I use a breading that is nut free?
For the breading, I used a mixture of almond flour and ground flax seed. You could use almond flour 100% but the flax seed adds a better texture and nuttiness to the chicken nuggets you won’t find with just almond flour.
For a nut free version, you could use just ground flax seed, but make sure you watch your nuggets carefully as they can burn easier.
If you are not sensitive to gluten, regular bread crumbs or even gluten free bread crumbs would work great in this recipe.
How do I make my air fryer chicken nuggets crispy?
Make sure the bottom of your air fryer is greased with oil of choice. I grease mine with avocado oil because it can stand higher heat temperatures without smoking.
If you have a can of oil to spray from, try coating the nuggets with a little bit of oil, this will make the nuggets a touch extra crispy.
Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets
These air fryer chicken nuggets use the air fryer to make homemade crispy chicken nuggets fast and easy. Gluten free and made with clean ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 pound Chicken Breast, cut into bite sized nugget shapes
- ¾ cup Almond Flour
- ¼ cup Ground Flax Seed
- 2 Eggs
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- ⅛ tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 1 pinch Paprika
- 2 tsp Avocado Oil
Instructions
- Grease the bottom of your air fryer with avocado oil and preheat your air fryer to 400
- Grab 2 medium sized bowls: In one whisk the 2 eggs together. In another add flours and spices and whisk until fully combined.
- Add 2-3 nuggets to bowl with beaten eggs and fully coat before dredging in the breading mix making sure all sides of chicken are coated. Set aside on a plate until all of them are coated.
- Once all chicken nuggets are coated in egg and breading, place in your air fryer basket leaving room in between each piece of chicken so that air has a chance to flow through and make them crispy.
- Cook on one side for 10 minutes.
- Using tongs, carefully flip the chicken nuggets to cook for 10 more minutes or until fully cooked through.
Notes
If your air fryer basket is too small to fit all of the chicken, cook in separate batches.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 4 nuggetsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 232 Total Fat: 10g Carbohydrates: 3g Protein: 25g
Valerie Skinner is a Whole30 approved personal chef & recipe developer that bridges the gap between healthy eating and busy lives by providing simple healthy meals and recipes for you and your family.
Hi! I don’t like much seasoning in my breading because I dip my nuggets in honey mustard. Was wondering if using wet almond pulp as breading would work? Since it’s already wet, would you still need to dip in egg?
Thanks in advance!
Hey! If it is wet, it will be difficult to get a good crust.