Them nuggets look major delish huh?! And yes indeed, these nuggets contain NO gluten, egg, soy or dairy. AND, the coating is crispy. YES, that is right you heard right...c-r-i-s-p-y!
Now why do I make a big deal about the crispiness? Because if you are gluten-free, the concept of crispy "breaded" things is practically non-existant or meh. Yeah, you can simulate but it's never quite the same as the wheaty versions.
But you know me, I am one to not give up on trying to find the best "just as good as, if not better" scenario. I refuse to live without...If I can. I've gone gluten-little in an effort to cut down my gluten consumption because I realized I eat tons of wheat mainly bread, dough like in pizza, and in desserts. I've gone gluten-little four months now, and my body feels better.
So, what is the secret to making these nuggets crispy? It's these:
popchips ...Yes, a potato-y snack food found in the chip aisle of the grocery store. popchips are not only gluten-free, they are soy-free, vegan, preservative and artificial free, and Parve. They also have 0g of saturated or trans fat. But more importantly, they taste good. No cardboard taste here. It's all kinds of win people!
After you make these chicken nuggets, you have more popchips left to eat for snackage. 23 Original Flavor popchips are only 120 calories. There are 7 popchips flavors in total. I'm thinking the Parmesan Garlic flavor (sans the coconut) would make for tasty nuggets too.
Now, you're probably wondering also how I was able to get the coating to stick without using eggs. I can't eat eggs because I'm allergic, so again, we must be creative. The second secret ingredient in this nugget recipe is agave nectar.
Oh yes! Not only is agave sticky, it adds a hint of sweetness to the nuggets without being overpowering. If you use honey, you will taste the honey. Agave is far more subtle and sticky which is all you need to get the "breading" to stick. See, creative!
Ingredients (20 nuggets):
- 1/2 lb chicken cutlet cut into nugget size
- 35 Original flavor popchips (makes 1/2 cup breading)
- 3 tbsp flaked coconut
- Light agave nectar
- Seasoning salt & pepper
Let's Get Cookin':
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
- In a food processor, pulverize to bread crumb like consistency, 35 popchips to make about 1/2 cup of breading.
- In a dry plate, mix in the 3 tbsp of coconut with the popchips breading.
- Cut up the chicken into nugget size, and place into another plate. Sprinkle the chicken with some seasoning salt and pepper to taste. Slather the chicken with agave nectar to well coat the chicken. Use your hands to mix well the chicken with the seasonings and agave.
- One by one, roll a chicken nugget into the breading and place onto a baking sheet. Spread the nuggets about 1/2" from each other.
- Bake the nuggets at 400 for 10 minutes. Turn the chicken nuggets over, and bake for another 10 minutes. Any longer than 10 minutes on each side, the breading can start looking charred.
- Take out of oven, and let nuggets cool down.
Pair with sweet chili sauce or a sweet mustard. Enjoy!