Fried chicken may not be on the menu too often if you like to keep an eye on your calories, but you can get a pretty close substitute with this flavorful baked version. Served with an easy homemade sweet ‘n sour sauce that’ll knock your socks off, even the pickiest eaters will have trouble resisting.
I made this dish using things that I already had available in my pantry. I had a need for a can of drained crushed pineapple for another recipe, so I saved the juice and used it in the sauce. The bread crumbs were created from some leftover croutons from the salads we ate last week. I was especially pleased with the tangy flavor of the sauce – it definitely kicked things up a notch from dipping the nuggets into ketchup or bottled BBQ sauce. Nothing wrong with that of course, you can use whatever sauce you’d like!
| Baked Chicken Nuggets with Sweet and Sour Sauce |
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- FOR CHICKEN:
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons skim milk
- ¾ cup bread crumbs*
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- Pinch of cayenne
- Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt to taste
- Cooking spray
- FOR SAUCE:
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- ⅓ cup water
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ cup demerara sugar (regular brown sugar is fine)
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- FOR CHICKEN:
- Preheat oven to 400F. Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray.
- In a bowl, whisk together milk and egg
- In another bowl, stir together bread crumbs, parmesan, thyme, cayenne, salt, and pepper
- One by one, coat chicken pieces first in the egg mixture, and then in the bread crumb mixture.
- Place pieces on cookie sheet and lightly spritz the chicken with cooking spray.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crispy and baked through.
- FOR SAUCE:
- Mix together all ingredients in a sauce pan.
- Cook on medium heat, whisking constantly to prevent lumps, until hot and thick
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