These paleo chicken nuggets are gluten free and so flavorful, your whole family will love them. Paired with my copycat paleo Chick-fil-A sauce, they’re healthier substitute to the fast food version and made with nut free flour.
Ingredients in Chick fil A Nuggets
I set out to create a copycat Chick fil A nugget recipe because when you’re following a migraine diet, you really miss Chick fil A.
Many are shocked to find that this restaurant, which kinda comes off as a “healthier” fast food, literally puts monosodium glutamate in almost everything. People tend to reach for their grilled chicken pieces thinking they’re just grilled chicken salt and pepper…right?
Wrong! The below are their ingredients for Chick-fil-A’s grilled nuggets:
Grilled chicken (whole breast filet, seasoning [water, apple cider vinegar, soybean oil, yeast extract, salt, modified corn starch, palm oil, dehydrated garlic, dehydrated onion, corn maltodextrin, sea salt, natural flavor, sugar, chicken stock, cane molasses, chicken fat, spice, natural flavor {including smoke}, dextrose, lemon peel, citric acid, red bell pepper, orange juice concentrate, grape juice concentrate, natural flavor, paprika, vinegar, xanthan gum, ascorbic acid, and spices]).
Here are the fried nuggets:
Chicken (boneless, skinless chicken breast meat nuggets, salt, monosodium glutamate, sugar, spices, paprika, enriched bleached flour [with malted barley flour, niacin, iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid], sugar, salt, monosodium glutamate, nonfat milk, leavening [baking soda, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate], spice, soybean oil, color [paprika], pasteurized nonfat milk, pasteurized egg, fully refined peanut oil [with dimethylpolysiloxane {an anti-foam agent} added]).
Dare I say the fried nuggets actually look better??
Nut Free Flour
I desperately missed getting my nuggets when I switched over to a migraine diet, and I wish I would have tried to come up with these a while ago! Just the perfect amount of crispy coating mixed with flavor from quickly brining the chicken.
Are these healthy chicken nuggets? Well technically they are still fried. You definitely could use an air fryer if you’re skilled at one. This is one appliance I have yet to add to my kitchen for space sake. But I am eyeing this Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid.
Instead of using regular flour, which is totally fine if you don’t have a gluten sensitivity, I combined a mix of tapioca starch with ground up pumpkin seed “flour”, which I'll explain below.
How to Make Pumpkin Seed Flour
One of my biggest migraine triggers is actually almonds which are in about every healthy, gluten free and/or paleo chicken nugget recipe. My favorite substitute for it is to make my own pumpkin seed flour.
Sometimes I start by toasting raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas) in a clean pan, just a few minutes. Keep an eye on them as they brown. Once golden brown and fragrant, I transfer them to a mini food processor and grind them up till they are finely crumbled. They bring such a wonderful flavor to gluten free dishes and I love using it as an alternative. For this recipe, they really toast when you fry them, so I don't find it necessary to pre-toast.
Ingredients
To make these chicken nuggets fit a paleo diet, all you would have to do is to use a compliant milk, like coconut milk. Coconut milk is considered a mild migraine trigger on the Heal Your Headache diet. It should be avoided initially, but many find they’re able to add it in at a later date.
A lot of recipes just use a combination of starches as a sub for flour, but I really find that adding in the pumpkin seed flour gives it a similar crumbly texture that Chick-fil-A nuggets have.
For the brine, you can use the one from these quick pickles or a store-bought version that’s safe. Here’s one I found in my local Central Market. I have to admit, I thought it was ridiculous to brine them in pickle juice, but it truly is worth the extra time. They get so tender and flavorful from just an hour in the brine! If you can’t find pickle juice that will work for your diet, just use a basic salt water brine.
For the milk, I used full fat coconut milk I had leftover, but if you have regular milk or oat milk, those would work as well. Remember coconut milk is not allowed in the initial elimination phase of Heal Your Headache.
I used Bob’s Red Mill Tapioca flour and unsalted pepitas for the coating.
Dipping Sauces
Obviously these go best with the paleo Chick fil A sauce, but if you want some more options:
If you make these, don't forget to tag me on instagram @thedizzycook or #thedizzycook and share on The Dizzy Cook Recipe Chat.
Paleo Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds chicken tenderloins or chicken breast pounded to ½ inch thickness, cut into bite size pieces
- ½ cup pickle juice
- ⅔ cup pumpkin seed flour
- ⅓ cup tapioca starch
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons milk of choice
- ½-3/4 cup sunflower, avocado, or canola oil
Instructions
- Combine the raw chicken pieces with pickle juice (or brine) and toss to coat. Place in the fridge for an hour to sit. Meanwhile, grind your pumpkin seeds in a food processor till finely crumbled. Combine with tapioca flour, garlic, paprika, salt and pepper in a large bowl or plate. Meanwhile whisk the egg and milk together till light and frothy.
- Prepare a deep cast iron pan with the oil and heat over medium high heat until it sizzles with a splash of water flicked in. Prepare a sheet pan with paper towels and a metal rack over it to drain the chicken nuggets
- Remove the chicken pieces from the fridge, leaving behind the pickle juice, place them in the egg/milk mixture, then transfer to the spiced pumpkin seed/tapioca flour mix.
- Add the coated chicken nuggets to the oil, and for the love of cheese do not splatter yourself. You may need to work in 2 batches so the pieces have enough room to fry and do not touch each other. A splatter screen works great for dishes like this! Turn the heat down to medium and cook for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned on the first side. Flip and cook another 2-3 minutes until cooked through, being careful to not burn.
- Place on the metal rack and allow them to drain and cool. I like to pat the tops carefully with a paper towel to just soak up some extra oil. Serve warm with this honey mustard dipping sauce.
Notes
- Use pickle juice from this recipe, a quality store brand, or use a simple salt water brine.
- Pumpkin seeds can burn fairly easily so just keep an eye on how dark they're getting. If it's getting too dark too quickly, you need to turn down your heat.
- Tapioca flour can get a little less crunchy the longer it sits, so try to serve these fairly quickly.
- If your coating is not sticking well, you can coat these lightly in a little extra tapioca flour before placing into the egg mixture (I have not had this issue).
- This can probably be made with regular flour, I just have yet to try it that way.
- See the post for dipping sauce ideas.
Kaitlyn says
Yum!! I enjoyed these with the homemade Chick-fil-A sauce and homemade fries!
Tiere Sharma says
Hi,
I just started the HYH diet and I'm excited about making some of your recipes. This site is a wealth of information! Thank you! I'm thinking of making this recipe but was wondering about the addition of pickle juice before I make this. I thought anything fermented /pickled should be avoided, especially at the beginning. Should I just use the salt brine instead? Thanks
Caileen says
First off, I am on the HYH diet and frequently go to your site for references and recipes. I am a rather new cook and this was my first time attempting to fry something. I attempted this recipe with all-purpose flour rather than the provided gluten-free option and had great success! The breading did slide off some bites which is why I didn't take pictures but I would attribute that to my amateur cooking abilities rather than the recipe. My mother loved this chicken and the copycat sauce and stated it was better than Chick-fil-a's! Thank you for this "healthier" alternative to a fast-food staple.
Alicia says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! One thing that might help is not touching the nuggets too much when you fry them. Sometimes moving them around will cause that coating to loosen, and it's already a little more chunky with the breading. But it's so hard to not do that! It also helps to pat down the breading a bit to secure it. 🙂