Pretzel Crusted Chicken Nuggets

These pretzel crusted chicken nuggets are baked, made with ground chicken, and take less than 30 minutes start to finish. I love using honey mustard pretzels to coat the chicken and then serving these with my maple mustard sauce. If you love honey mustard like me, you will absolutely love these.

Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken Nuggets

Chicken nuggets are the ultimate kid friendly meal, but now that I have kids of my own I realize chicken nuggets are for adults just as much. This recipe for pretzel crusted chicken nuggets is based off of my recipe for Healthy Chicken Nuggets which has always been so popular on my blog. I swapped out my usual breadcrumbs for honey mustard pretzels, and I highly recommend this.

This recipe is much healthier than frozen nuggets and tasty enough for adults to enjoy too! These chicken nuggets are made with ground chicken instead of chunks of chicken breast. In my opinion, this creates a better nugget texture. Also, chicken breast chunks do not always reheat well. Using ground chicken makes the texture soft, almost meatball like, and reheats so well.

I love the ease and simplicity of baking these pretzel crusted chicken nuggets. The pretzels first go into a food processor to turn them into breadcrumbs. Then, all the chicken ingredients are added together in a bowl and then formed into small unevenly shaped nuggets. It is even easier to shape these than meatballs, because nuggets are not meant to have a uniform appearance.

Pretzel coated Chicken Nuggets

Once you form your nugget pieces, you gently coat them in a light breading of crushed up pretzels and grated parmesan, add them to a baking sheet, and spray them with avocado oil. This pretzel crusted chicken nugget recipe takes about 23-25 minutes to bake in the oven.

When I made these, I baked one batch and I put the other batch in the air fryer. Either method works wonderfully. I like making pretzel crusted chicken nuggets in the air fryer when I am only making a half batch. If I am making a full batch or a double batch, then cooking them all on the same sheet pan makes more sense for me.

If I use the air fryer for a full batch, I would have to cook it in two different batches so the nuggets can fit on the tray. The air fryer method cooks much faster, so if you are short on time and you own an air fryer, this would be a great recipe for you to try. If you want to cook these in the air fryer , they require about 11-12 minutes and you do not need to flip them.

Tips for making delicious Pretzel crusted chicken nuggets

• Use organic ground chicken instead of chunks of chicken breast. The texture will be more nugget-like and the whole family will be into it
• Choose flavored pretzels. I love using honey mustard pretzels but buffalo would also be delicious if you want a spicy kick.
• Use grated parmesan and not shredded parmesan. The grated parmesan will blend easily into the nugget mixture and also blends in easily with the coating mixture.
• Spray both sides of the nuggets with avocado oil or olive oil. This will help them get a little crispy
• Serve them with a delicious sauce, like my homemade maple mustard sauce or something else your family already loves.

How to make these chicken nuggets

INGREDIENTS  

chicken mixture

• 1 lb Ground Chicken
• 1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese grated
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper

coating

• 2 cups honey mustard pretzels or any salted pretzels
• 1/4 cup parmesan grated
• 1.5 tsp arrowroot flour or cornstard this step is optional but add an extra crispy coating
• avocado oil spray

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Preheat oven to 400F
• Add pretzels to a food processor and pulse them until they resemble breadcrumbs. Make sure the big pieces are all small. 
• Mix all the ingredients for the chicken mixture in a bowl
• Mix the coating ingredients on a flat plate
• Form little nugget sized patties from the chicken mixture and drop each nugget into the breadcrumb mixture. Wetting your hands slightly will help the chicken mixture not stick to your hands. 
• Put the nuggets on a large parchment line baking sheet and spray them with oil spray. Bake at 400F for 23-25 minutes. After 15 minutes, flip the nuggets and continue to bake.