About a year ago, I saw a Jamie Oliver Food Revolution episode that I wanted my kids to watch. I’m always trying to educate them on nutrition and this was the perfect opportunity! Since we sometimes are a minority by not (ever!) going to McDonalds, Wendy’s, etc. I wanted, I needed, my kids to understand why mommy doesn’t take them to these places. After showing Alice this video (Tate was just 3 so we have a way to go on him), she said “that is disgusting, I don’t ever want McDonald’s.” Which of course makes me so happy because at some point, they have to draw their own conclusions, they have to make their own choices, and this is one choice that I don’t think will be an issue for my kids. If you haven’t seen it already, I highly recommend you watch this 6 minute clip from the Jamie Oliver show, and have your kids watch it as well.
The next new thing we’ve been hearing so much about in the media is “pink slime”. Food is certainly not always what it seems and this other Jamie Oliver clip is great at explaining just how fast food or school nuggets are made. Unfortunately, Jamie’s experiment failed (because the US kids still wanted to eat it. Ughh!) so maybe just show your kids the first few minutes until Jamie asks “now who would eat this?”.
Unfortunately these fillers are not just in fast food restaurants but they are also in our kids school cafeterias (which is changing soon thankfully! see this article) and in most (70%) of the meat in our grocery stores. So, how do we avoid it? I know buying organic isn’t always cheap, but between these nasty fillers, chemicals, oh and the hormones and antibiotics these animals are on, the organic stuff is well worth it!
In honor of Jamie Oliver, I made some fabulous Coconut Fried Chicken Nuggets that were ammonia free, pink goo free, horomone free & gluten free and I promise they were far better than any processed “chicken” nugget!
Here’s what you need:
- 1.5 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 free range egg
- 1/2 cup almond meal/flour (Almond meal from TJ’s). Or, use coconut flour if allergies
- 1/4 cup shreadded coconut (from Whole Foods. Not the light.)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion dried
- 1 tsp salt and a dash of pepper
- 4 tbsp coconut oil
1. Wash and cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
2. Mix in a large bag all of the ingredients except for the chicken and egg and set aside.
3. Now beat the egg and mix it with the chicken.
4. Add the chicken (and egg) to the plastic bag and shake until the chicken is completely covered. Make sure to hold on to the top so it doesn’t open up.
5. In a large sauce pan, heat on medium high heat. Add 2 tbsp coconut oil and add chicken in.
6. Continuously stir until the chicken starts to brown. As it cooks, the coconut oil will be soaked up by the chicken so add another 2 tbsp when the pan starts to get dry. Add more if needed, but the tricky part here is you don’t want so much oil the nuggets get soggy, and not too little where they can’t fry up nicely so just keep an eye on it.
7. Allow to cool, serve, and enjoy while watching some Jamie Oliver clips!
The boy truly doesn’t know patience! Good for me, not so good for my picture. Happy weekend everyone and thanks for reading!
By the way, I would love to hear what your kids thought about the clips, or nuggets. As always, please feel free to comment or share anytime.
Shana - The coconut is such an interesting twist! I make homemade nuggets for my boys too, but I hadn’t thought of adding the coconut.
Carrie - These look delicious even for adults 🙂
I saw that Jamie Oliver episode also….so very horrible! I plan to do everything in my power to keep my kids away from that stuff some day, too.
landriav - It’s was an amazing episode everyone should see, don’t you think?
They are delicious! I loved these little things!! I’m excited to try out some of the foods on your blog. Looks yummy!
Thanks for posting!!
Alex - We make these once a week. They are my kids favorite and they beg for them! After watching those clips, my 7 year old and I had some really good discussions about our food and where it comes from. Thanks for sharing these!
Paleo Menu: Chicken Recipes for the Week — - […] Thursday -Coconut Fried Chicken Nuggets […]
Theresa - HMOG – so so so glad I found you and this recipe! We’re trying to eat Paleo, but have a 4 year old who loves Chicken Nuggets. So far, have been making her the Tyson premium ones that at least have no chemicals/preservatives, etc and wheat flour, but would prefer something else. Can’t wait to try these!
Cathi Onley - Delicious! I used sesame oil (this is what I had) instead of coconut and it worked fine. Will try coconut oil next time to see if there is a taste difference.
Thank you again for an easy recipe that is healty:)
landriav - Yay, so glad you liked it!! I bet it was good with sesame. I like to use the coconut because of all the health benefits and it does so well on high heat. I’m not sure if you can actually taste much of the oil, or it could be that we’re just so use to it. Different brands definitely have more or less of a coconuty smell. Spectrum has the least amount of smell, for what it’s worth. Thanks for posting and letting me know!! I appreciate it!
Aylahk - So, maybe I am a little slow on the process, but I had some issues with the extra “batter” getting pretty burned before the rest of the chicken was done. Was I supposed to dump the whole bag into the pan, or just select the chicken pieces?
Thanks so much!
landriav - Hey aylahk! Sorry to hear yours didn’t turn out well. I heat the oil, then put the individual pieces in the pan on high for a couple of minutes, flip, and then once brown, cook on medium or medium low until throughou cooked. I hope this helps! I hope next time they turn out better for you. I love these things!
riley - We made these tonight for dinner pretty much step by step but all of our breading floated off while it was cooking in the coconut oil. Any tips? Did we use too much egg or something?
landriav - Hey! Sorry to hear that Riley! Next time, maybe pat the chicken dry or skip the egg and see if that doesn’t help. Lately I haven’t been using the egg and it’s fine. Sorry yours didn’t turn out!
Cynthia - Just made these and they were great! Not as pretty as your picture as they did not brown as nicely, but taste was not compromised. Thank you for a healthier alternative to the frozen, store bought brands.
landriav - Absolutely! Thanks so much for your note. So nice to hear Cynthia!! 🙂
Melissa - They were a HIT! I have 4 girls, they all have VERY different tastes, so I’m thrilled when I find something that they all like (and isn’t from McDonalds 🙂 AND a bonus? My super picky husband also polished them off! And in addition to tasting great, they were so extremely easy. I mean, really really easy. Thank you!!
landriav - Melissa, that is awesome!!! Thanks so much for sharing that! So nice to hear! 🙂
Debbie - great Thai Chicken, going to try the chicken nuggets tonight. Wondering why I don’t see Turkey recipes??
Thanks for giving me hope – recently told I should be not only gluten but grain free….
landriav - Thanks Debbie! Good question. I do have a slow cooker turkey and I actually use turkey quite a bit but it tends to be a drier meat so probably use it less often unless I’m putting it in a soup or something.
Ruby - Hi does the “not light” shredded coconut mean sweetened?
landriav - Hi yes, unsweetened and not low fat.
Jen - Made these for the family and everyone loved them. I read some of the posts and cooked some on stove in coconut oil and some in oven and broiled at end to give them a bit of a crunch. Both ways turned out well.
landriav - Great to hear! Thanks for sharing Jennifer!!
Dee - I just saw you recipe for the shrimp coconut soup, and am reading your blog and recipes for the first time, and am enjoying it.
My grandson and I watch the Jamie Oliver special together, and he wanted to take his own lunch from home after viewing it.
I have been making a similar recipe to this one for several yrs… with a few changes. I dust my dried off chicken pieces with whole wheat flour or cornstarch, then dip in a beaten & frothy egg white. then dredge in a coating mixture of coconut flour, almond flour, dry unsweetened coconut flakes, parmesan cheese and season salt & pepper, garlic powder, or sometimes lemon pepper. then either bake @ 450 degrees on a rack over baking sheet, or fry in coconut oil. We all love them, including my grandson and all his friends. I use this same coating on fish, pork chops, and even zucchini. Dredging first b4 dipping in egg white helps the coating to stick. I hope this helps.
Patricia Marion - Looks like a great time for children (and adults). Can hardly wait to look at everything. Thanks for making this site for kids. Not enough fun thing for the grandchildren to do when they come to visit. Keep up the great work. A satisfied person.
Good luck with your site.
Patricia Marion - Love what I have seen so far and i just started looking at your site. GLAD TO SEE MORE IDEAS GEARED TO KIDS (and adults (lol)). There are ideas out there, but they are too hard for the younger ones. This looks like it might be interesting for the kids. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE IF I LOVE YOUR SITE.
landriav - Thanks so much Patricia!!!
Alison @SassyMomChicago - Can’t wait to try this recipe! Sharing these in my weekly meal plan. Would love for you to link up with us!!
http://sassymomsinthecity.com/real-food-recipe-round-up-weekly-meal-plan-december-7th/
landriav - Nice Alison! Thanks so much! Would love to hook up with y’all and will definitely check out the link. Thanks for your comment!!
Erin Rose - Very yummy! Thanks! My 3 year old didn’t eat it…. but that’s more than likely due to the fact that he got into mischief while I was cooking them and I had to leave the stove for a minute to stop him which caused the chicken to burn and the fire alarms to go off. So, he had no interest in the chicken after that. Ha! Just more for me! And by the way, the burnt chicken was good too! Thanks again. Will definitely make again!
landriav - Oh no! That’s awful Erin!!! Well I’m glad there wasn’t a bad fire and the chicken was still good! 🙂
Aleksandra - Do you think it would be possible to bake these instead of frying?
landriav - Heu Aleksandra, yes I would think so. I have a great baked chicken nugget recipe in my book, too. Just cook your nuggets on 400 for 10 min. Flip them and Broil them for another 5 or so. You can brush on some butter, too. I haven’t ever baked these but I’m sure it would be similar to the recipe in the book.
Sarah - I was wondering how many nuggets does this recipe serve? And also,how well does the nuggets keep if I were to pack them for my children’s lunch for school?
landriav - Hey Sarah! I think it makes about 20-25 or so if I remember correctly? They won’t be crispy but they should pack well for school lunch. I hope yall like them!