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Veggie chicken nuggets are delicious and a great way to sneak in extra veggies! Made for dipping in your favorite dipping sauce, these gluten free and protein packed homemade chicken nuggets are made with 8 simple ingredients and will be loved by the whole family!
Veggie chicken nuggets
One of my best tips for getting a little ahead in the kitchen is to simply double what you’re making.
It takes barely any extra time, but the result saves you future time.
That’s exactly what I love to do with my freezer-ready chicken and veggie nuggets.
Since they freeze so beautifully, they’re the perfect candidate for turning into a freezer meal!
Veggie-loaded and kid-approved even with picky eaters, you’ll want these healthier chicken nuggets stocked up all the time!
You’ll love these chicken and veggie nuggets because…
- they are easy to make
- hidden veggies inside
- an excellent source of protein
- freezer beautifully
- kids love them
- adults love them
- gluten free if you need them to be
Store-bought breaded nuggets are often filled with ingredients like yeast extract, soy protein concentrate, wheat starch, guar gum, citric acid, natural flavors, vegetable oil, or soybean oil, in addition to the ingredients that are hard to even pronounce.
When you make your own chicken and vegetable nuggets, you do not only know exactly what goes into it, you can give yourself a convenient lunch option o have on hand just like you would when you buy the frozen variety.
What you’ll need
- ground chicken
- egg
- grated carrot
- grated onion
- garlic powder
- sea salt
- pepper
- almond flour
How to make chicken and veggie nuggets
Scroll down to view the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, nutritional information, and step-by-step instructions.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl or a food processor, mix all of the ingredients together, except for the almond flour.
- Place the almond flour on a plate. Take heaping tablespoonfuls of the chicken mixture, roll it into a ball, and gently roll the ball in the almond flour. Slightly flatten and shape it into a nugget form, then place it on the lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining chicken mixture placing them on the baking sheet in a single layer.
- Spray the top of the nuggets with olive oil spray. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown, flipping them halfway through.
- Enjoy them right away, or follow the freezer instructions below. Serve with homemade kefir ranch, honey mustard, or ketchup for dipping!
How to turn them into frozen nuggets
These chicken veggie nuggets are a good option to make in a big batch. You can easily double or triple the recipe, then freeze it! Here’s how:
Follow the instructions to make your nuggets.
Allow them to fully cool on a wire rack, then place them on a parchment paper-lined flat surface to freeze.
Once frozen transfer to a freezer bag. Label and date so you don’t forget what’s in the bag!
To cook from the freezer allow to thaw, then re-heat all the way through in the oven at 350 degrees F for 5-10 minutes. They can also be warmed in the microwave. You can also warm them on a medium heat skillet for 2-3 minutes on each side.
To cook from fully frozen, place in the oven at 350 degrees F and warm through for 10-15 minutes.
Substitutions
Below you’ll find a list of substitutions that will work well in this homemade veggie chicken nuggets recipe.
If you try something different out, please leave a comment below letting us all know how it turned out!
Ground chicken – Try these with ground turkey!
Carrot and onion – Mix up the veggies and try shredded parsnip, shredded sweet potato, leek, green onion, or even broccoli that’s been pureed in the food processor.
Egg – Make a flax egg instead of using a regular egg.
Garlic powder – Granulated garlic is a great option to use here. You can even use 1-2 fresh garlic cloves in the mix. Onion powder is a good alternative to use for garlic powder.
Almond flour – Alternatives to almond flour include using bread crumbs, yellow corn flour, wheat flour, or panko breadcrumbs.
More freezer meal recipes to try
- Freezer protein waffles
- Freezer sausage, egg and veggie breakfast burritos
- Freezer friendly crockpot coconut green curry basil chicken
- Sausage and french sorrel quiche
- Meatballs
Freezer Ready Chicken and Veggie Nuggets
Ingredients
- 2 lb ground chicken
- 1 egg
- 1 egg white
- 1.5 cups grated carrot
- 1/3 cup finely grated onion
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1.5 cups almond flour, (can substitute panko bread crumbs for non GF)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl or a food processor, mix all of the ingredients together, except for the almond flour.
- Place the almond flour on a plate. Take heaping tablespoonfuls of the chicken mixture, roll it into a ball, and gently roll the ball in the almond flour. Slightly flatten and shape it into a nugget form, then place it on the lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining chicken mixture placing them on the baking sheet in a single layer.
- Spray the top of the nuggets with olive oil spray. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown, flipping them halfway through.
- Enjoy them right away, or follow the freezer instructions below. Serve with homemade kefir ranch, honey mustard, or ketchup for dipping!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If you try this chicken nuggets with veggies recipe, I’d love it if you left a star rating and comment below letting me know how it turned out!
XO
Heather
*Originally published in May 2012. Updated September 2022.*
How many egg,please? one whole egg and one egg white? Thank you!
Yup 1 whole egg and 1 egg white!
even quicker…….spread small cookie sheet size of parchment on tabletop or counter – cover with layer of panko, spread ground chicken mixture over crumbs pressing out to 1/4-1/2″ thick, cover top of meat mixture with panko press slighty into meat mix, cut into desired shapes, roll edges in panko, cook as normal – I use small cookie cutters!
Hi there i have made these and i have cooked them ready to cool to freeze and now i have been told not to freeze them or reheat once thawed coz u cant re cook chicken. Can you do this or not.
I made these this afternoon, adding some shredded/pureed zucchini to the carrots. Not only did my 16-month-old gobble them down — including shoving his second nugget into his mouth whole! (I made them small) — but I enjoyed them, too! I just wish I had a bigger oven so I could make more than 30 at a time (15 on each of two small cookie sheets). Good thing my freezer is now holding a lot of them!
nice nuggets, happy src:)
Heather, this is an awesome recipe and it looks delicious!
Cooking with you in the SRC-B
Miz Helen
I like how well the veggies are hidden in there. The look great!