Homemade Chicken Nuggets (Easy Baked Recipe)

As I’ve matured in my cooking journey, I’ve developed some hard boundaries.

I don’t do fussy. I don’t do tedious. And if I can’t make it on a weeknight with minimal brainpower, it’s probably not gonna happen.

Surprisingly, these homemade chicken nuggets pass the test– I just had to modify the typical technique a little.

They’re made with simple pantry ingredients, baked instead of fried, and then breaded with a highly sophisticated culinary technique known as put-it-in-a-bag-and-shake-it.

This is exactly the sort of from-scratch cooking I’m interested in these days.

I refuse complicated for the sake of being complicated. I don’t need to recreate every convenience food under the sun. And I’m not interested in performative from-scratch cooking for the sake of showing off online.

This recipe comes straight from my new cookbook, The Old-Fashioned on Purpose Cookbook, and it’s a pretty good example of what you’ll find inside: real food, practical methods, and recipes designed to make your life easier—not give you another full-time job.

I’m excited to share this little sneak peek with you today.

What Makes These Chicken Nuggets So Special:

These from-scratch chicken nuggets are genuinely so good. They are crispy on the outside, juicy in the middle, and the pickle juice gives the chicken that extra little something without making it taste overtly pickled. They’re familiar enough for picky eaters, but miles better than the freezer-bag version from the grocery store.

Make them because they’re easy, they use normal ingredients, and they hit that rare sweet spot of kid-friendly, adult-approved, and actually worth making from scratch.

From-Scratch Chicken Nuggets

Serves 4 to 5

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts (about 2 pounds), cut into roughly 1-inch cubes
• 1 cup pickle juice
• ¾ cup whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 1½ cups dry breadcrumbs
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Combine the chicken cubes and pickle juice in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate to marinate the chicken in the pickle juice for 30 to 60 minutes (or overnight).
2. When you’re ready to cook, preheat the oven to 450°F. Drain the pickle juice from the chicken and discard it.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and egg. Pour the mixture over the chicken and stir to coat.
4. In a large zip-top bag, combine the breadcrumbs, flour, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. Seal the bag carefully and shake to combine.
5. Remove the chicken from the milk-and-egg mixture and shake off the excess liquid. Place half of the chicken pieces in the bag. Seal the bag and shake until the pieces are evenly coated. Remove them and repeat with the remaining chicken.
6. Spread the nuggets in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet. A half-sheet pan (13 × 18 inches) works perfectly.
7. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, flipping the nuggets halfway through, until the internal temperature reaches 165°F and the chicken is no longer pink in the center.

Serve immediately with the dipping sauce or condiments of your choice.

A Few Notes Before You Make Them

Do I really need the pickle juice?
It’s worth using because it adds flavor all the way through and helps tenderize the meat a bit. However, if you want to skip that step, you can.

Can I marinate the chicken overnight?
Yep. This is actually one of my favorite tricks for making supper even easier. Toss the cubed chicken into the pickle juice the night before, and one step of tomorrow’s supper is already finished.

What breadcrumbs should I use?
Plain dry breadcrumbs work best here. Homemade breadcrumbs are fantastic if you have them, but store-bought breadcrumbs work fine. We’re not proving anything to anyone with this recipe. 

How do I know when homemade chicken nuggets are done?
The most reliable method is an instant-read thermometer. Chicken is done when the center reaches 165°F.

This Is the Kind of From-Scratch Cooking I Want to Keep

The older I get, the less interested I am in making things from scratch simply so I can say that I did.

I still believe deeply in knowing how to cook, and I’m still enamored by the alchemy of turning basic ingredients into supper. But I also want those skills to serve my life instead of taking it over.

That’s the philosophy that runs through my new cookbook.

There are plenty of old-fashioned skills inside it, but I wrote the recipes for actual modern kitchens, actual weeknights, and people who have other things to do besides cook all day.

These homemade chicken nuggets are a tiny example of that. Good food. Normal ingredients. No drive-thru required—but no individually breading 47 pieces of chicken, either.

Want More Recipes Like This?

My new book, The Old-Fashioned on Purpose Cookbook, is almost here (!!).

And if you preorder before the book releases on October 6th, I have a collection of bonuses waiting for you, including:

• Cast Iron Confidence
• The Bulk Buying Blueprint
• The Good-Better-Best Grocery Guide

[PREORDER THE COOKBOOK + GET THE BONUSES]

If you’ve followed me since the first cookbook, thank you for sticking around for round two. This cookbook feels like the culmination of a lot of cooking, experimenting, changing my mind, simplifying things, and figuring out which old-fashioned skills are actually worth keeping.

And I really hope this isn’t a cookbook that stays pristine on your shelf. I hope you use it, spill on it, dog-ear the pages, and scribble notes in the margins.

That’s what it’s for. <3

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More Resources and Recipes for You:

• Redmond Real Salt remains my top choice for salt that I used in my kitchen. I buy it in 25 pound bags so I never run out.
• Make sure you check out my Salty Roast Chicken recipe for another unique and easy chicken recipe for the supper table.
• Listen to my podcast episode How I’m Cooking These Days for more details on my cooking adventures lately.
• Consider dipping them in homemade mustard or homemade ketchup or even homemade bbq sauce.