If your kids love McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets but you want to make more meals at home, you’re going to love this recipe for Copycat McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets!
RECIPE IS BELOW IN PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD BUT BLOG POST IS FULL OF “HOW TO MAKE IT”, TIPS, INFORMATION AND FAQ
I didn’t plan on my kid falling in love with McDonalds (or as he likes to call it, Donalds!). He fell in love with while staying at my sister’s house because the happy meals came with toys. My toddler claims to love McDonalds but what he really loves is the toy in the happy meal and the occasional chicken nugget.
So while we aren’t eating McDonalds a lot, he still loves those Happy Meal boxes because he knows they contain a toy and chicken nuggets.
An old Happy Meal Box, some cheap little toys and this Copycat McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets means that he can have Happy Meals at home and I know what kind of food is going into his little body!
Why You Should Make these Copycat McNuggets…
- You’ll know exactly what is going into your food
- Make 30 nuggets in the time it would take you to drive to McDonalds for a kid’s meal
- PS – save an old Happy Meal Box, fill it with homemade nuggets for Happy Meals at home
QUICK GLANCE AT INGREDIENTS FOR homemade Chicken McNuggets:
- ground chicken
- eggs
- salt
- cornstarch
- water
- onion powder
- garlic powder
- paprika
- pepper
- flour
- Vegetable oil
(AMOUNTS IN RECIPE CARD BELOW)
How to make Copycat McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets:
-
In a food processor or mixer, blend the chicken, 1 egg and salt until chicken
resembles a paste.
-
Yes! it’s chicken nugget paste.
-
Dredge the nuggets in cornstarch until fully coat. Set aside.
-
In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, seasonings, 1 egg and water. Mix well until a smooth batter forms.
-
Place a nugget onto a fork. This will make it easy to dip into the batter.
-
Dip it into the batter. Let excess batter drip off. I like to dip and then fry in batches of 5.
-
In a saucepan or deep skillet, bring oil to 350°F.
Working in batches of 5, fry nuggets for 3 minutes or until nuggets are floating.
-
Remove nuggets with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel lined plate for 1 minute.
Continue until all nuggets are done.
Return nuggets to oil for 2 more minutes to double fry. -
Allow nuggets to slightly cool before eating.
Frequently Asked Questions
They look just like McDonald’s chicken nuggets but I think that they taste way better!
Serve with your favorite BBQ sauce, ketchup, hot mustard or honey mustard!
I don’t fry a lot, but when I do, I use Vegetable oil
More Copycat Recipes:
Copycat McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets
Copycat McDonald's Chicken McNuggets
If your kids love McDonald's Chicken McNuggets but you want to make more meals at home, you're going to love this recipe for Copycat McDonald's Chicken McNuggets!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground chicken
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/2 tablespoons onion powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
- 1 cup flour
Instructions
In a food processor or mixer, blend the chicken, 1 egg and salt until chicken
resembles a paste.
Form the chicken into tablespoon sized nuggets.
Dredge the nuggets in cornstarch until fully coat. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, seasonings, 1 egg and water. Mix well until a smooth batter forms.
Place a nugget onto a fork to dip it into the batter. Let excess batter drip off. I like to do five at a time.
In a saucepan or deep skillet, bring oil to 350°F.
Working in batches of 5, fry nuggets for 3 minutes or until nuggets are floating.
Remove nuggets with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel lined plate for 1 minute.
Continue until all nuggets are done.
Return nuggets to oil for 2 more minutes to double fry.
Allow nuggets to slightly cool before eating.
Notes
Serve with your favorite BBQ sauce, ketchup, hot mustard or honey mustard!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 5 nuggetsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 485Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 224mgSodium: 850mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 2gSugar: 0gProtein: 40g
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My kids like these but they are SO much work and mess.
They are 100% more work that driving to McDonalds haha. But I don’t mind once in a while. I like to make a ton and then freeze them.
Hi, so I’m going to try and make these. Do you fully cook them and freeze them? And then just warm them up?
Hi Debbie! That’s what I do. I fully cook them and then I freeze them in a single layer on baking sheet in the freezer. Then pop them off the sheet and into a freezer bag.
How do you reheat these?
I’ve reheated them in the air fryer and in the microwave. They’ll be crispier in the air fryer
Hi , I’m wondering what type of oil you use to deep fry them? My 3 kids love McDonald’s nuggets so this would be a life saver
I just use regular vegetable oil. McDonalds does use beef tallow in their grease/oil but we just use vegetable oil at home.
Hi Debbie
I made them and they were better then Mc Donald, I, hook on these now ]
Thank for the recipe
Love this! Is there a way to incorporate (aka hide lol) veggies in this for my picky toddler ?
You could grind up carrots and add them into the meat mixture!
Hi can I make a big batch and freeze them before frying ?
I would fry them before freezing them and then reheat them in an air fryer or oven.
I made these last night and loved them! I didn’t have any ground chicken so i chopped it up first then blended in the food processor. They looked exactly like the photos and overall I was very impressed, especially because I’ve never made homemade nuggets before! Next time i’ll sprinkle them with little salt after frying, I felt like they needed a touch more salt but overall will be keeping this recipe for the future! 🙂
Would flour work as a substitute for corn starch?
You can use flour but I don’t feel like it gives it the same crust
Can you spray these with oil and air fry them?
I have not tried cooking them in the air fryer but I have reheated them in the air fryer.
made a double batch of these last night but I kinda changed things. I use 4lbs of tenders which I put through my meat grinder kitchenaid attachment then added 2eggs 1t each of salt,pepper, garlic powder and onion powder and mixed til well combined. then dropped them on parchment with a cookie scoop. once I had them all scooped I wet my hands and molded each into shape. I then made a double batch of batter added closer to 3 cups of water( batter was too thick with just 2 cups) while the oil heated. working in batches
rolled nuggets in corn starch dropped in batter then into the oil for around 90 seconds, allowed them to drain and cool. placed them in the freezer overnight. This morning I bagged them.
For lunch I cooked some up and they were amazing. I know my grandkids will love them
did you try air frying them? if so how did they turn out? I’d really like to try these but I don’t cook in oil.
Yum! These turned out so good. I made a big batch to free for future meals! Thank you for the recipe!
Has anyone tried these with a GF flour mix?
Corn starch is GF usually
Let me start out by saying, these are delicious. So much tastier than McDonald’s nuggets. But when she says you can make these quicker than going to McDonald’s and buying a happy meal, she must live far away from McDonald’s, LOL. I live four minutes away. This is a process and took me 45 minutes to make and probably 45 minutes to fully clean up the mess, I’m OCD. They are tasty though…
We live pretty close to one now but a while ago we lived over 45 minutes away from McDonalds. 🙂
Will not make again. Didn’t like the batter it stuck to my basket and too crunchy. Sorry
Hi Pam! What basket are you referring to? This is not an air fryer recipe. You have to deep fry these.
Can you bake these instead of fry?
I haven’t tried baking them but I have fried them and then frozen them and baked to reheat.
I have a question. Are the spice measurements correct? Seems like a lot, especially the paprika. It’s quite red (I use smoked paprika). Plus, in your pic it doesn’t look like 1 1/2 tablespoon of garlic and onion powder. And neither does the paprika look like 1 tablespoon.
Yes, the spice measurements are correct 🙂
Hi! So I don’t ever fry foods, but I’m willing to start to make homemade nuggies. What oil is best, and what do you do with the used oil? Also how much oil? Sorry for not knowing the basics.
I don’t fry a lot of food, but when I do, I use Vegetable Oil. I fill the pot about 1/2 way. After frying, let the oil cool 100% and you can pour the cool oil into bottles, cans or milk bottles and then pop them into the trash. I do not recommend pouring it down the drain.
would these be able to be cooked in the airfryer
This particular recipe needs to be fried.
I ended up freezing these because I couldn’t dip then in the cornstarch or batter without it falling apart.
I have 14 year old daughters, and they loved them as well as myself! next time I will double the wet batter. I ran out before I was done so I had to make another batter. We made a copycat Cane’s dip and it was a great dinner!
Please tell me what I did wrong! I did every step to a T up until I have to stick a fork in the nuggets and dip them in the batter. The nuggets just fell apart before I could do anything with them. Too soft to stick a fork in so I tried picking them up with my hand it pure smoosh. I am super bummed. I wasted so much duck fat lol. I am new to all this. Should I have refrigerated the nuggets after the corn starch step? Please help! I really want to try this again and get it right.
Hi Leigha! I’m so sorry that you had a rough time with it. I think that what happened was you stuck the fork IN the nugget mixture and tried to dip it like a cake pop. You just need to sit the cornstarch nugget ONTO the fork. “Place a nugget onto a fork. This will make it easy to dip into the batter.” Then dip it into the batter. If you try to stick it into the chicken mixture like a popsicle stick, it won’t work because the chicken mixture is too soft. You just want to place in on the fork tongs and dip the nugget into the batter.
Anyone that currently enjoys mcdonalds mcnuggets would enjoy these. I tried making these cuz I thought they’d be better than mcdonalds, and they technically were. For me tho, I just couldn’t get past the consistency of the nuggets. Making the “chicken paste” was probably the grossest thing I’ve encountered in over 10 years. Next time I go for these, I’m not gonna blend everything into a paste. Just gonna do an old fashioned ground chicken seasoned mix, shape them out, then freeze it, then do the cornstarch and wet batter mix. otherwise like I said, it’s pretty spot on for mcnugget lovers tho.
You did so awesome on this recipe!! I’m gluten, meat, and dairy free, so I made a few substitutions, but this works amazingly using GF flour, super firm tofu(that I just sliced into nugget size)and tapioca powder(for cornstarch)as replacements! I also added sparkling water (Topo Chico) as the cup of water and it makes them airy and crispy like McD’s!
*GF flour people might have to add extra water to batter though since it’s more drying. Thank you so much!! 🙂