Pickle Chicken Nuggets
A juicy pickle slice, right in the middle of a crispy chicken nugget! A true dream food for munchies or a late night snack! Ground chicken, seasoned with garlic and chili flakes, wrapped around a pickle chip, coated in a beer batter, and deep fried until crispy and so tasty!
The inspiration for this recipe
I saw a guy peel off the fried coating of a chicken nugget and slip a pickle in there, and I thought to myself, I can do this, but put the pickle actually inside the nugget! I thought it would be easy, but I ended up having to try it 5 times to get it right. The first try was with slices of chicken breast but I couldn’t get the pickle to stick to the chicken. Finally I switched it to ground chicken, but still had to try a few different batters and coatings to get the texture I was looking for!
Make the nugget mixture
Start with breadcrumbs and milk or cream in a large bowl, then add chicken, garlic, chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Mix it all together and let it cool a bit to firm up.
Forming the pickle chicken nuggets
Dip a pickle chip in some flour, then shake off the excess. Put some water on your palm to help prevent sticking, then with your other hand, grab some of the chicken mixture. Flatten it into your wet palm and put the pickle into the center. Wrap the meat around the pickle. In this photo you can see the pickle sticking out a bit, I tried to get it so you could see the pickle sort of sticking out of the final nuggets but in the end it didn’t really work so I would suggest sealing the pickles in a bit better.
Line the nuggets on a sheet pan with parchment and a little oil. Flipping them in the oil will also help them smooth out.
Crispy beer batter
I use equal parts flour and cornstarch, then season it with cajun and salt and pepper. Next add vodka and beer! Using alcohol brings down the water content and helps the pickle chicken nuggets get super crispy.
Batter the pickle chicken nuggets
I first tried to coat these in flour, then batter but they didn’t come out exactly how I hoped. Then I tried batter first, flour second and they worked great. I wanted the texture to be like a mcdonalds chicken nugget with a pickle in the middle, and this method worked well for me.
Fry the pickle chicken nuggets
Because these pickle chicken nuggets are so small you want to cook them hot so they brown a little on the outside but don’t overcook in the middle. I fried mine at 375 for about 4 – 5 minutes, flipping a few times during cooking.
Serving the pickle chicken nuggets
I served these with beer, more pickles, and a simple sauce based on the Chick-fil-a sauce. I usually use this simple recipe with bbq sauce, mustard, mayo, honey, and lemon, but I like to add hot sauce to the mix.
Super tasty! A perfectly juicy and flavorful chicken nugget, with a pickle stuffed in the middle!
Twists and tips for this recipe
I used wickles which are my favorite pickle right now, but you could use whatever pickle is your favorite! You could also do this with a more simple breadcrumb breading. If you want to do it in the air fryer or oven, I would toast the breadcrumbs in a frying pan with oil first, then just use them as a simple coating. They should stick to the ground chicken no problem!
For more fun pickle ideas, check out my pickle pancakes, deviled pickles, or these tasty cajun honey pickle wings.
Pickle Chicken Nuggets
Equipment
Ingredients
Chicken Mixture
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons milk or cream
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 3 cloves garlic grated or pressed
- 1/2 teaspoon gochugaru chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Stuff and fry
- oil for frying I use peanut
- 20 pickle slices
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 cups cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons cajun seasoning
- 1 ounce vodka
- 3/4 cup beer
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Mix the breadcrumbs in a large bowl with the milk and stir to combine. Add in the chicken and the rest of the ingredients, and stir well, making sure to break up the bits of breadcrumbs. Store in the fridge for an hour to firm up a bit.
- Put 1 cup of flour in a shallow bowl. One by one, dip a pickle slice in the flour and shake it out to very lightly coat. Wap a thin layer of the chicken mixture around the pickle. Place on a piece of parchment paper that has been lightly coated with oil and repeat until you make about 20 nuggets or run out of ingredients.
- Preheat the oil to 375 in a cast iron pan or deep fryer.
- To the shallow bowl with the flour, add 3/4 cup of cornstarch and half the cajun seasoning and salt. In another bowl, add the remaining flour, cornstarch, cajun, and salt. Stir the vodka and beer into this bowl until mixed into a thin batter.
- One by one, dip a nugget into the thin batter and let most of it drip off, then dip it into the flour mixture and coat as lightly as possible. Gently drop into the hot oil and fry about 2 minutes per side until browned and cooked through. Repeat in as large batches as fit your fryer.