McDonald’s Style Chicken Nuggets

I’ve been wanting to try my hand at making McDonald’s Style Chicken Nuggets at home for a while now, and during this boycott for a Free Palestine seemed like a perfect time to try. Y’all know I love recreating restaurant dishes at home! It’s super simple as long as you have the right equipment, and for those of us that can’t get that photo of pink slime out of our heads when we think of McDonald’s nuggets? These are even better than theirs.

I made a spicy version of these as well by adding a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and a couple of tablespoons of Texas Pete hot sauce to the chicken, and an extra teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the batter. If you’re a fan of their Spicy McNuggets, give that a try! You’ll be shocked how similar it is!

McDonald’s Style Chicken Nuggets Ingredients

Feel free to jump to the full recipe, but here are useful notes about the ingredients you will need to make this McDonald’s Style Chicken Nuggets recipe:

• Boneless skinless chicken breasts, large egg: You can use thighs for your McDonald’s Style Chicken Nuggets, if that is your preference. The egg is for binding, and moisture retention. Don’t omit it.
• Water, cornstarch, self-rising flour: Water and self-rising flour make up the main body of our nugget batter. The cornstarch is for dusting the raw chicken batter in and serves too purposes: makes them easier to shape, and also ensures the wet batter adheres to the nugget. All-purpose flour is fine for the batter, but self-rising will provide more lift, making it lighter and crispier.
• Kosher salt, paprika, garlic powder, seasoned salt, onion powder, cayenne pepper: Our seasonings. Only salt in the nuggets themselves (unless you’re making the spicy version mentioned above in the introduction). The rest are for the batter, providing both flavor and color.
• Oil: I used canola oil to fry. Use whatever oil you like. We’ll be starting these McDonald’s Style Chicken Nuggets off at a high temperature, so make sure it has a high smoke point and neutral flavor (peanut, avocado, etc.).

How to Make McDonald’s Style Chicken Nuggets

Full instructions are included in the recipe below, but here is a basic overview of what you’ll need to do, along with some important tidbits to help you make the most of this McDonald’s Style Chicken Nuggets recipe:

• Start the McDonald’s Style Chicken Nuggets. To the bowl of your food processor add the cubed chicken, egg, and kosher salt. Pulse in 3 second intervals to combine, then allow to run on high until a thick, uniform paste has formed. Add your cornstarch to large, shallow bowl. Use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion out the chicken mixture, pressing it against the side of the food processor bowl to form and remove excess. Drop the chicken from the scoop directly into the cornstarch. Toss a bit of cornstarch over the entire surface, then pick it up and use your fingers to flatten and shape the mound into a chicken nugget. Shake or tap off the excess cornstarch, and place the nugget on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat until you’ve used up all the chicken mixture.
• Prepare to Fry the McDonald’s Style Chicken Nuggets. Transfer the nuggets to the freezer to set for at least an hour, but overnight is fine, too. When you’re ready to fry, fill a deep pan halfway up with oil. Cover with a lid and place over medium-high heat. While the oil heats up, remove the nuggets from the freezer and make the batter. In a medium-sized mixing bowl add the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, seasoned salt, and cayenne pepper. Whisk together. Once combined, slowly whisk in the cold water. Whisk vigorously to get rid of as many lumps as possible (a few small ones are OK). The batter should be runny, and coat the back of a spoon but drip off very quickly, similar to a crepe batter.
• Fry the McDonald’s Style Chicken Nuggets. When the oil has reached around 390°F, dip the nuggets into the batter, let the excess drip off into the bowl. Add just enough nuggets to the oil to where they almost fill the pan, but not quite. We want them to have room to bounce around as they fry without sticking together. Let the nuggets cook, using a chopstick to keep them separate and turn as needed, until they are floating on top of the oil, golden brown, and barely sizzling. Transfer to a wire rack over a baking sheet to drain and cool. Repeat until all the nuggets are fried. Eat as soon as possible! Dassit.

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