Wednesday, March 17, 2010

RECIPE: Ritzy Chicken Nuggets

This week for the FNCCC we're working on chef Nigella Lawson's recipes.  She has some really wild recipes out there!  I especially was loving the recipes on her site, Nigella.com but was too impatient to do any conversions from metric to standard.  

I ended up choosing her Ritzy Chicken Nuggets since my kids LOVE chicken nuggets and we are forever trying new lunch ideas.  And besides, I was able to get 6 boxes of Ritz crackers at CVS the other week for only $.18!
Cheap ingredients when using COUPONS and SALES!

Make an assembly line to cut down on the mess.

Crispy goodness!

Cheaper than Micky D's!

Ritzy Chicken Nuggets
2-3 lbs of chicken breasts (I used 3 breasts with bone and removed the skin and bone), cut into cubes or pieces $2.56
1-3/4 Ritz cracker crumbs (I used 1 sleeve) $.03
Non-stick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray; set aside. (I used two small baking racks that fit on top of my large baking sheet.  I sprayed them with non-stick cooking spray.)

Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl and cover with buttermilk.  (Recipe says you can leave it in the fridge for up to 2 days, I let mine sit on the counter for about 15 minutes while I cleaned up the chicken mess and changed a diaper.)

Pour the cracker crumbs into a separate bowl.  Gently shake excess buttermilk from the chicken pieces and coat in the cracker crumbs, then place on the prepared baking sheet (and/or racks).  Continue until all the pieces are coated. 

Bake at 425 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.  (The recipes says you can freeze the coated and uncooked chicken pieces.  Bake from frozen adding 5 minutes to cooking time.)

Since we have leftovers, I'll experiment with freezing them from the cooked stage and reheating in the oven.  ***UPDATE*** I heated these in the oven at 375 for about 10 minutes and they were fantastic!  Definitely a great OAMC meal. 

The kids LOVED these.  Haylei ate hers with honey mustard and Hunter ate his with ketchup.  I ate mine with BBQ sauce.  They were so good!  Definitely a keeper!

And it's a cheap eat since the chicken was on sale $.99/lb. The Ritz crackers were on sale and I used coupons and store rewards to make them even cheaper.  I don't know about you, but there aren't many places you can get almost free Ritz Crackers!  

This recipe made 27 chicken nuggets and only cost $3.09 (about $.12 each)!  I got the cheese free at Kroger a few weeks ago and the apples ($.21 each) came from the Farmers' Market last week.  This lunch meal was only $.47. And it was pretty healthy since I baked them and didn't fry them.

Be sure to visit I Blame My Mother to see what others are cooking up for the FNCCC.

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Enjoy!

17 comments:

Susie said...

I am glad you had better luck with your recipe than I did with mine:-) They do look really good!!

mub said...

Oh yum, these look great. I think I'd probably die if I found chicken for 99c/lb! That's a great deal!

Anonymous said...

Candi,
How does adding vinegar to sweet milk make it buttermilk? how much vinegar? what kind?

Thanks (your forever hopless in the kitchen friend)

Jessica Jackson:)

SnoWhite said...

those look great -- and I love that they are baked!

Sarah said...

I too have a ton of Ritz crackers from a recent sale....these will be on our table in the next week :) They really are simple!

Ticia said...

I almost made this, but couldn't find the buttermlik. Great idea to substitute.

NKP said...

Great choice! Perfect for the kids.

Deanna said...

Quick, simple, yummy... fit our routine for our hectic week!

MrsJenB said...

Fabulous! And I just love using cracker crumbs as a coating - most recently on pork chops, but I'm sure there are tons more uses! Plus I love Nigella!

annies home said...

wow what a great buy you found. I think these look great I love ritz crackers and can imagine how these nuggets must taste great

Cole said...

Those chicken nuggets look fabulous!!

Mary @ Giving Up On Perfect said...

I make my nuggets with breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. I hadn't thought of crackers. I can tell from your pictures that it would be a lot crispier! Yum!

Anonymous said...

What a great alternative to frying!

Melinda said...

Definitely saving this one! Looks yummy!

Sherry @ Lamp Unto My Feet said...

Oooh, these look scrumptious! I've done a baked chicken nugget recipes, but this one looks better than the ones I tried.

Be Strong. Live Life. Love Others. said...

For the buttermilk substitute, I think it is 1 cup milk to 1 Tbsp vinegar. Allow it to sit for 5 minutes.

Lydia said...

I love that these are baked...anxious to try them.

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