16 September, 2014

Paleo Buffalo Chicken Nuggets

Posted in : Chicken, Dinner, Organic, Paleo on September 16, 2014 by : wendland99

These paleo buffalo chicken nuggets are surprisingly tasty! (Our family fights over these every time Lea makes them.)

Now for the recipes…first come the chicken nuggets, then homemade blue cheese dressing, dairy-free ranch dressing and how to make a plain paleo chicken nuggets version.

Ingredients

Paleo Buffalo Chicken Nuggets

• 1 pound ground chicken (a little fat makes for a moister nugget)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 2 teaspoons Frank’s RedHot Original Red Hot Sauce
• 1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Paleo Chicken Nugget Coating

• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon celtic sea salt

Buffalo Chicken Nugget Sauce 

• 1/3 cup Frank’s RedHot Original Red Hot Sauce
• 3 tablespoons ghee or butter

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup coconut flour, onion powder, garlic powder and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix well.
3. In a medium bowl place the ground chicken, one egg, 2 tsp Frank’s hot sauce and the coconut flour mixture.
4. Mix with hands until well-combined but do not overmix.
5. Scoop out approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons of the chicken mixture and roll into little meatballs. (You should end up with about 20.)
6. Shape each meatball into a flatter, “nugget” shape. (I did this assembly-line style)
7. Combine the remaining 1/4 cup coconut flour, 2 tablespoons flax meal and 1/4 teaspoon salt and dip each nugget gently into the flour mixture until coated on all sides.
8. Place the coated chicken nuggets onto a baking sheet covered with a Silpat or parchment paper.
9. Bake for 15 minutes.
10. While chicken nuggets are baking, stir together 1/3 cup Frank’s hot sauce and 3 tablespoons ghee or butter and heat until warm and combined.
11. Once the chicken has baked for about 15 minutes, remove chicken nuggets from the oven and carefully dip each one in the butter mixture until coated on all sides. Place each nugget back on the baking sheet and bake for another 5 minutes.
12. Serve hot with celery sticks and dip of choice. (See following recipes for Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing and Dairy-Free Ranch Dressing.)

If you can eat dairy you might like to try our homemade blue cheese dressing recipe.

Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

4 ounces good blue cheese

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

salt to taste

Crumble the blue cheese into the remaining ingredients and stir until well-combined with a creamy texture (or as chunky as you like it) add salt to taste.

If you are dairy-free you could try a paleo ranch dressing.

Dairy-Free Ranch Dressing

1 cup paleo mayonnaise

1 cup full-fat coconut milk

2 tablespoons fresh dill, finely minced

1 tablespoon chives

2 fresh garlic cloves, finely minced

2 teaspoons lemon juice or apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon onion powder

salt and pepper to taste

Plain Paleo Chicken Nuggets

I’m a “Paleo” Nugget!

If you are making these chicken nuggets for smaller kids or simply do not love the “Buffalo” flavor I suggest the following:

Leave out the 2 teaspoons of hot sauce in the meat mixture.

Bake the coated nuggets as instructed and simply dip them in melted ghee (or butter) prior to cooking the last 5 minutes. (Without the ghee the nuggets will be too powdery)

Alternatively, you could fry the coated nuggets in some ghee for about 3-4 minutes per side and finish in the oven for 5-7 minutes.

via Paleo Buffalo Chicken Nuggets.