Easy Homemade Chicken Nuggets In The Air Fryer

Treat the kids to these EASY homemade chicken nuggets in the air fryer. A healthy nugget recipe you can have ready in less than 30 minutes!

If you want to swerve the convenience food but the kids still want to eat chicken nuggets, here's the compromise!

Delicious, easy, homemade chicken nuggets made with chicken breast, and a seasoned crumb coating. You can be in complete control over what you put in, and the kids will LOVE them!

Making Homemade Chicken Nuggets In The Air Fryer Is A Good Thing, Here’s Why! 

Simple to make! - there's nothing hard about making your own nuggets, just chicken, dipped in egg and crumbs. That's it, super easy.

Healthy and air fried - no need for lots of extra oil for cooking when you air fry these chicken nuggets. Just a little spritz of olive oil and that's it.

Versatile - you can flavour these up with anything you like. Fancy Cajun spiced? Add some! Want a kick of curry powder? Throw some in! You can even split the batch in half and flavour both up differently.

Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets Recipe 

Serves – 4 people 

Prep Time – 10 minutes

Cook Time – 8-10 minutes (you may need to cook in batches depending on the size of your air fryer - and smaller nuggets will take less time, larger ones longer)

Total Time – around 25 minutes

Our Most Popular Alternative – Air Fryer Peri Peri Chicken Strips

Equipment Needed

• Air Fryer – we now use a Ninja Foodi Max Dual Zone Air Fryer – the 9.5 litre two drawer cooking space is BRILLIANT when you’re cooking for a family or cook larger portions. And it makes cooking meat, chicken or fish and potatoes at the same time super easy!

• Tongs – just makes it easier to lift the cheese toastie from the air fryer basket. I’d 100% recommend you get yourself a set of silicone tongs if you do a lot of air fry cooking. They just make it so much easier to flip and remove food. Plus they don’t scratch the air fryer non-stick coating.

• Food thermometer – I totally recommend getting yourself a food thermometer, especially for air frying, it really gives me peace of mind when cooking. I like to know that food is cooked to the right temperature.

• 3 Shallow Bowls

• Tablespoon

• Teaspoon

• Fork

• Large plate (or tray)

Grab our guide to Air Fryer Accessories You Actually Need (and will use) right here!

Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets Ingredients

Everything you'll need to make our easy chicken nugget recipe

• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts - cut into five pieces, or pick up a pack of chicken tenders.

• Cornflour - dusting the chicken with cornflour helps the eggs and crumbs to stick. You can swap this for plain flour if you prefer.

• Garlic powder

• Salt

• Black pepper

• Paprika

• 2 eggs

• Panko bread crumbs

• Olive oil spray

See calories, carbohydrates, protein and nutritional information on the recipe card below

How To Make Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets

You'll love how easy it is to make these homemade chicken nuggets and pack them with flavor

Step One - season the cornflour

• Add the salt, black pepper, garlic powder and paprika to the cornflour and mix it all together. Add a pinch of salt to the panko breadcrumbs too.

Step Two - coat the chicken pieces

• Take each chicken piece and dip it first into the cornflour, then the beaten egg and then the panko breadcrumbs.

• Once coated, put the chicken onto a plate or tray, ready to cook.

Step Three - how to cook chicken nuggets in the air fryer

• Spritz the air fryer basket with some olive oil cooking spray to avoid the nuggets sticking as they cook.

• Then, lay the nuggets in a single layer, spaced out in the air fryer basket.

Step Four - how long to cook chicken nuggets in the air fryer

• Homemade chicken nuggets take around 8-10 minutes to cook in the air fryer, on the air fry setting at 200C. Flip the nuggets half way through the cooking time using the silicone tongs to ensure they cook through and turn golden evenly.

• Check that the chicken is cooked through properly using a digital food thermometer. Check that the internal cooked temperature at the thickest part of the chicken is a minimum of 75C and that no pink chicken remains.

Try Our Delicious Chicken And Waffles Recipe Here

Step Five - serve the air fry chicken nuggets

• Remove the chicken nuggets from the air fryer using the silicone tongs. Then serve with your favourite dips and sides.

Get full cooking instructions on the recipe card below

Get all our air fryer chicken recipes here

What To Serve With Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets

These tasty chicken bites go with loads of different side dishes, just choose your favourites!

• Homemade Chips In The Air Fryer
• Air Fryer Potato Wedges
• Air Fryer Garlic Bread
• Air Fryer Sweet Potato Wedges
• Air Fryer Baked Potatoes
• Tomato And Cucumber Salad
• Air Fryer Corn On The Cob
• Pot of your favorite dipping sauce - tomato ketchup, BBQ sauce, ranch dressing, mayonnaise or honey mustard are all good picks

Get all our easy air fryer recipes here

Tasty Tips From Our Kitchen To Make Your Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets Perfect Every Time !

Change the flavour - change the flavour of the chicken nuggets by adding different spices to the breadcrumbs. Try curry powder, fajita seasoning, onion powder, smoked paprika or buffalo seasoning.

Make gluten-free chicken nuggets - just swap the breadcrumbs for a gluten free brand.

Make cheesy chicken nuggets - add a couple of handfuls of grated Parmesan cheese into the breadcrumb mix.

How To Cook Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Nuggets

Hey, sometimes you just want frozen nuggets and less work. You can cook frozen chicken nuggets in the air fryer oven quickly and easily.

I usually cook them on the air fry setting at 200C for 10 minutes, then flip them using silicone tongs and continue to cook on the other side for a further 5-10 minutes or until they're cooked through and a minimum of 75C inside the thickest part,

Love Your Leftovers

I usually keep any leftover chicken nuggets in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 24 horus after cooking.

I slice them and use them in meal prep salad bowls, or on wraps with salad and coleslaw.

Get all our chicken breast recipes here

Need Some Family Meal Ideas?

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Get more delicious meal ideas and easy recipes here

More Delicious Chicken Recipes To Try 

• Air Fryer Nando's Chicken
• Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Breasts
• Air Fryer Roast Chicken
• Chicken And Halloumi Burgers
• Air Fryer Chicken Thighs