These Healthy Homemade Chicken Nuggets taste so good, you’d never guess they’re actually good for you! This delicious recipe is low-carb, grain-free, and only requires six ingredients to make.
What if I told you that you could recreate the classic flavor of chicken nuggets in the convenience of your own kitchen with just a few easy-to-find ingredients?
And that these healthy homemade chicken nuggets would be full of flavor, low in carbs, and taste really, REALLY good?
My friends, that’s exactly what we have with this recipe! I know it sounds a bit too good to be true, but it’s not. These nuggets are so tasty, I find myself making them at least once a week.
I especially love that they contain only six ingredients: chicken breasts, almond flour, Italian seasoning, extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. Wholesome ingredients without any fillers, additives, or artificial flavorings.
I don’t know if you’ve seen the ingredients list for some of the popular chicken nuggets out there, but they’re scary! The chicken nuggets from a popular fast food restaurant contain a whopping 40 (that’s not a typo!) ingredients – that’s just way too many ingredients for a meal that should be so simple.
Instead, these chicken nuggets are easy to make, contain healthy ingredients that you can pronounce, and are gluten-free thanks to the almond flour that serves as the breading instead of breadcrumbs.
They’re a great option for anyone looking for a healthy dinner that also tastes good and brings a little fun to your dinner plate!
Healthy homemade chicken nuggets in only 40 minutes
These chicken nuggets only require about 15 minutes of prep time, which might be even faster than going through the drive-thru if you include travel time! After that, they simply bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then spend a few minutes under the broiler to make them nice and crispy. Just like chicken nuggets should be!
Step 1: Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 2: In a bowl, stir together the almond flour, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
Step 3: Trim any fat off the chicken breasts and discard, then cut into 1-inch thick pieces.
Step 4: Spray the chicken with the extra virgin olive oil.
Step 5: Place each piece of chicken in the bowl of flour and toss until fully coated, then transfer the chicken to the prepared baking sheet.
Step 6: Bake for 20 minutes.
Step 7: Turn on the broiler and place the chicken nuggets under the broiler 3-4 minutes to make the outside crispy.
That’s it! And just wait until you taste them. You may find yourself craving this healthy version more than you ever craved their fast-food counterpart… and you can enjoy them totally guilt-free!
What to serve with chicken nuggets?
If you’ve been conditioned to think of chicken nuggets as a not-so-great food choice, it’s a little tough to think of them as the basis for a wholesome, healthy meal. But this recipe is just that!
They taste great dipped in mustard or hot sauce, both of which are excellent low-carb condiment choices. Avocado oil mayonnaise is another great low-carb choice!
There are a lot of great low-carb, sugar-free, clean-ingredient sauces on the market these days, so feel free to have some fun finding the sauce that’s right for you. These chicken nuggets are absolutely delicious by themselves… but sometimes, dipping them in a tasty sauce is half the fun!
I like serving mine with some greens on the side. If you prefer mustard as your dipping sauce, whisk together a little mustard and olive oil to dress the greens for a complimentary flavor.
Substituting the almond flour
If you have a nut allergy and are looking for an alternative to the almond flour, you can also try this recipe with coconut flour instead.
Coconut flour is denser than almond flour, so you may want to reduce the amount you use. You’ll also want to be sure that you really coat the chicken in olive oil so the coconut flour has more liquid to absorb.
Storage
If you find yourself with leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
However, these chicken nuggets will be best when served right out of the oven. The chicken will be juicy, the breading will be crunchy, and your meal will be delicious!
Once stored, the crust may become a bit soggy. You also want to be careful that you don’t dry out the chicken as you reheat it.
If you do want to make these ahead of time for a later meal, store them in the refrigerator or freezer after they’ve baked for 20 minutes but before you broil them.
When you’re ready to enjoy them, let them sit out to come to room temperature for about 30 minutes, then place them under the broiler for 3-4 minutes. This will help keep the outside crispy without drying out the chicken.
More low-carb chicken recipes
Are you always looking for new tasty and healthy chicken recipes? Then look no further. We have plenty of healthy low-carb chicken recipes here on Diabetes Strong that I know you will love. Here are a few of my favorites:
If you’re looking for even more inspiration, check out my roundup of the best healthy diabetic chicken recipes!
When you’ve tried this dish, please don’t forget to let me know how you liked it and rate the recipe in the comments below!
Healthy Homemade Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, (boneless and skinless)
- ½ cup almond flour
- 1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, stir together the almond flour, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Trim any fat off the chicken breasts and discard, then cut into 1-inch thick pieces.
- Spray the chicken with the extra virgin olive oil.
- Place each piece of chicken in the bowl of flour and toss until fully coated, then transfer the chicken to the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Turn on the broiler and place the chicken nuggets under the broiler 3-4 minutes to make the outside crispy.
How many pieces are in a serving? Looks sooooo good!
They are really good. One serving is 1 chicken breast so it will depend on how small pieces you cut them in. I like to make ~5-6 pieces per serving
These healthy nuggets look delicious! However, I have a sensitivity to almonds, almond flour, etc. What about using coconut flour or rice flour?
Thanks!
I’m not sure… I often substitute almond flour for coconut flour but I can’t guarantee that it will work with this recipe. I do find that coconut flour has a slightly dryer consistency so you might have to add a little more fat. If you do try it out, please let us know how it works out
I am allergic to almond flour and it’s tough when u can’t find an alternative to it
You could use coconut flour instead
Just found this site & I am a Type II diabetic & will be looking at other recipes.
Can these nuggets be frozen & reheated? Would it be better to freeze before cooking or could they be cooked & frozen for reheating later? Our granddaughter loves chicken nuggets & sometimes they will be from a fast food place with those 40 ingredients or from a bag of frozen nuggets from the grocery.
Would like to make ahead & have available when that is one of her choices.
Thank you,
Linda
Glad you found a recipe you (and hopefully your granddaughter) likes. I haven’t tried freezing them so honestly, I’m not sure. I think I’d cook them before freezing. But I would not cook them all the way through so that when you reheat them they won’t be super dry.
Cooked these today with homemade Italian seasoning.
Everyone whooped them down. Great recipe. Thank you for sharing