Here’s a fun little paleo recipe for you – easy “shake and fry” Italian chicken nuggets served hot and ready to dip into your favorite marinara sauce!
This one is so simple it’s ridiculous. Just cut up some chicken breasts, mix the Italian seasonings and flours together, coat the chicken with whisked egg, and then throw everything into a plastic bag – and shake! Then you just fry them up in a pan, and you’re done!
This is a fun little finger food recipe for the kids (they’ll no doubt want ketchup with their nuggets!) But it also makes for a great adult meal with a little Italian flair – especially when served with your favorite marinara dipping sauce!
These chicken nuggets won’t be ready quite as fast as a drive-thru window, but this recipe does give you a tasty meal pretty quick. Plus you’ll know you’re enjoying wholesome chicken (I bought organic for this recipe), fried the nuggets in a healthy oil (coconut or avocado, your choice) and gave them a crispy, gluten-free coating (these are coated in a mixture of almond flour, coconut flour, and a few herbs).
Just a few helpful cooking tips before you jump in:
• Cut the chicken nuggets all about the same size so they can come out of the frying pan at the same time.
• After you’ve shaken the nuggets in the seasoning mix and removed them from the plastic bag, gently tap each nugget to remove any excess flour and seasonings.
• And remember to cook these in batches…don’t throw all your nuggets in the frying pan at the same time. Overcrowding the pan will get you in trouble. It took me three batches to cook the entire 1.25 lbs of chicken nuggets.
I now have a multipurpose marinara sauce recipe on the site you’d like to whip that up sometime – it’s really good!
Or for this little recipe, you can always use your favorite, paleo-approved, marinara sauce in a jar – just heat some up and serve on the side.
Hope you enjoy this easy paleo and gluten-free chicken nugget recipe!
Easy Paleo “Shake & Fry” Italian Chicken Nuggets Recipe
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 1/4 lb boneless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces
Seasoning/Coating Mixture
- 1 cup almond flour
- 2 tbsp tapioca flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp black ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne powder depending on how spicy you like it
Binder
- 2 eggs whisked – place in a shallow dish
Frying Oil
- Coconut oil or avocado oil about a 1/4″ layer in frying pan
Dipping Sauce
- Serve with your favorite heated marinara sauce
Instructions
- Cut chicken breasts into bite-size pieces, all about the same size
- Mix together the herbs, spices and flours in the Seasonings/Coatings Mixture and transfer to a small plastic bag
- Whisk the two eggs in a separate shallow dish
- Dip each chicken nugget in the whisked eggs, and place in bag with coating mix
- Gently shake bag to distribute mixture evenly over the chicken nuggets
- Remove the coated nuggets from bag and tap each once to remove any excess seasoning mix
- Pour about 1/4-inch of melted coconut oil into a frying pan and heat to medium
- Carefully place about one-third of the chicken nuggets in the hot oil and fry about 2-3 minutes per side – or until cooked through and a light golden-brown color.
- IMPORTANT: Fry nuggets in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan – repeat until all nuggets are cooked
- Place nuggets on paper towels to drain
- Plate with a warm marinara sauce for dipping (optional)