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These homemade air fryer chicken nuggets are made with chicken breast and panko, and are extra crispy. Ready in 20 minutes, this recipe is great for an easy weeknight meal with a kale crunch salad.
A Quick Look
- ✅ Ready in: 20 minutes
- 🛒 Ingredients: 7, not including salt and pepper
- 🍽️ Serves 4 as a main dish
- 👩🍳 Difficulty: Very easy – a beginner can do it!
- 🧊 Make-Ahead Friendly: Can be made ahead and frozen for easy use!
Using an air fryer helps to get these nuggets nice and crispy in the same time it takes to reheat frozen nuggets. This air fryer chicken nugget recipe also uses minimal, straightforward ingredients like panko, chicken breast, and garlic powder. These pair perfectly with this copycat Chick-Fil-A sauce.
Want more air fryer recipes? Try my air fryer flank steak, air fryer hash browns, air fryer cheese quesadillas, and air fryer halibut.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Fast – Ready in 20 minutes. This is a very easy recipe without any extra steps or ingredients. You probably already have it all in your pantry!
- Better ingredients – Simple wholesome ingredients you can feel good about instead of processed frozen chicken nuggets. This recipe uses chicken breast instead of thighs.
- Super crispy – An air fryer makes this easy! I also give directions for baking in a conventional oven.
- Freezer friendly – Store these nuggets in the freezer to reheat whenever you need them!
Serve these nuggets with a simple green bibb lettuce salad, a dipping sauce like this homemade ranch, or crockpot mac and cheese. Mix it up with these paleo chicken nuggets, or try my air fryer chicken tenders.
Ingredients
A full list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
- Chicken breast – I recommend purchasing “air chilled” chicken breast which doesn’t contain excess water because it’s processed through air chambers instead of being dunked into a solution to clean. This means it releases less moisture during cooking, which is great for crispy foods like chicken nuggets.
- Panko – A crispy Japanese breadcrumb, you can use regular or gluten free for this recipe.
- Spices – All you need is garlic powder and smoked paprika, as well as salt and pepper.
- Sugar – This is typically added to famous fast food chicken nuggets, and balances the saltiness in this recipe, however you can also omit it.
Variations
- Chick-Fil-A air fryer nuggets – Chick-Fil-A’s classic flavor comes from a marinade of milk and pickle juice. Combine 1/2 cup milk with 1/2 cup pickle juice and marinate the chicken nugget pieces for at least one hour. Then follow the rest of this recipe as written.
- Gluten free – Use Jeff Nathan’s gluten free panko.
- Egg free – Use this chicken tender base instead where you can use an egg-free mayo base.
How to Make Homemade Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets
Step 1: Preheat your air fryer to 400ºF for 4 minutes. Place the cubed chicken in a mixing bowl and add all the spices. Use a spoon to mix well.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, beat the egg. Add the seasoned chicken to the eggs and toss well until the chicken is fully coated.
Step 3: Pour the panko breadcrumbs onto a large plate. Dredge each piece of chicken, one by one, in the breadcrumbs.
Step 4: Working in batches, place the chicken bites in the air fryer – do not crowd them! Spray the bites with oil spray.
Step 5: Air fry the chicken bites for 7 minutes until they’re golden brown and fully cooked, turning halfway through. Immediately season the bites with another sprinkle of salt. Keep them warm in a 200ºF oven if doing a large batch.
Baking Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread chicken nuggets out on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper. Bake 15-20 minutes, flipping once halfway through to brown on both sides. Internal temperature should reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit when checked with a meat thermometer.
You can also use a metal rack on top of the sheet pan to create more air flow underneath the chicken nuggets. This will get them a little more crispy if baking.
Recipe Tip
While you may think a convection oven can replace an air fryer, they do cook differently. An air fryer is such a small space, that the chicken nuggets crisp up better with concentrated heat circulation. In a larger space, like a convection oven, you may have an issue with the nuggets getting golden brown and crispy as quickly. To accommodate for this, you can pre-toast your panko in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 3-5 minutes, or until just lightly browned.
Serving Suggestions
My favorite way to serve this is on top of a kale crunch salad drizzled with a little bit of honey. Or make these into a wrap with lettuce, and ranch dressing or honey mustard.
Dipping sauces are recommended for these air fryer chicken nuggets, and my favorites are homemade Chick-fil-A sauce, homemade ranch dressing, honey mustard ranch or creamy curry dressing.
For sides, go with a classic crockpot mac and cheese with cream cheese, creamy broccoli pasta, fingerling potato salad, or coleslaw with apples.
Storage and Reheating
Store leftover nuggets in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
To reheat chilled chicken nuggets in the air fryer – Pop them back into the air fryer at 380F for 3-5 minutes, or until just warmed through. Shake the pan once throughout cooking.
Freezer method – Place chicken nuggets in a single layer in a storage container or bag. Try to keep them from stacking all in one giant piece, otherwise they may freeze together.
To reheat chicken nuggets from frozen – Place them in a single layer in an air fryer preheated to 360F. Cook for 5 minutes, shake the air fryer so the nuggets flip to another side, and cook another 2 minutes, or until just warmed through.
Air Fryer Recipes
Chicken
Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Taquitos
Seafood
Air Fryer Halibut with Crispy Panko
Beef
Perfect Air Fryer Filet Mignon
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 review in the recipe card! Don’t forget to tag me @thedizzycook on Facebook and Instagram, and follow along on Pinterest for more great recipes!
Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets with Panko
Equipment
- 1 Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar (optional)
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- olive oil or avocado oil spray
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 400ºF/200℃ for 4 minutes. Place the cubed chicken in a mixing bowl and add salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and sugar. Use a spoon to mix well. In a separate bowl, beat the egg. Add the seasoned chicken to the egg and toss well until the chicken is fully coated.
- Pour the panko breadcrumbs onto a large plate. Dredge each piece of chicken, one by one, in the breadcrumbs. Working in batches, place the chicken bites in the air fryer, being sure that they’re not touching each other. Spray the bites with the oil spray.
- Air fry the chicken bites for 7 minutes at 400℉/200℃, shaking halfway through or turning with tongs, until they’re golden brown and fully cooked. Immediately season the bites with another sprinkle of salt. Keep them warm in a 200ºF oven if working in batches.
Notes
- The chicken nuggets are delicious served with my Copycat Chick-Fil-A Sauce
- An air fryer will cook these faster than a convection oven or traditional oven. Use a meat thermometer to make sure the chicken comes to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Traditional oven instructions – Preheat to 400F/200C and place on a sheet pan with parchment paper. Bake for about 15-17 minutes, or until fully cooked through and light brown.
- For gluten free, use gluten free panko.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I think of chicken nuggets as “kid food” and the frozen ones are ultraprocessed so not something I usually eat, but these are great. I used Trader Joes organic bread crumbs instead of panko because I wanted to avoid malted barley which is in the panko, but not the organic. I reduced the garlic a bit for my own taste. I baked them instead of air frying because I had a pound and a half of chicken and it would’ve taken forever in batches. But the air fryer worked great for reheating both from refrigerated and frozen. This goes well with the Maui salad (recipe in the first cookbook). A good one to have on hand in the freezer.
Thank you so much for such a thoughtful and helpful comment, Che!
Could you make the nuggets and freeze them to air fry them later? Usually when we have nuggets its when we are having a lazy day or in a hurry.
Yes you can! Under the “storage and reheating” section of my post I give tips on this.
These are INSANELY good! My kids love them, and the sauce is must-try, for sure. We’ve already made these a few times. Definitely will become a staple in our family!
So good with your Chick-fil-A sauce!!! Served these with an arugula salad.
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed!
My husband raved about this recipe with the Copycat Chick-fil-A dipping sauce.
Ah I love that! So good!