Let's talk about chicken nuggets

A reader question plus things to cook, read, and buy

Reader Asks: Can you help me find some inspiration with chicken nuggets? 

My toddler eats chicken nuggets, so I serve them to her a lot. I end up eating them too. Is there anything else I can do with them besides serve them with ketchup? I feel bad with how boring it is.

First things first: Chicken nuggets are good, and you are doing a great job feeding your kid! In the spirit of the Ikea high chair mantra: Good enough is great! There is nothing for you to be bashful about — it's just that chicken nuggets have come to signify everything from laziness to parental neglect. But chicken nuggets are only a food, and a pretty delicious one at that. My kid doesn't even like chicken nuggets much and I buy them and eat them anyway. For myself. And I am a *~professional food writer~*. So, let's start from accepting that chicken nuggets are fine for you and your toddler to eat.

The thing is boredom can make you sick of anything, including chicken nuggets. And if your kid is like mine, it may well make her sick of them soon enough, too. I hate when that happens, especially when it happens with something easy to make. 

One strategy to avoid the chicken nugget boredom is to find something else to fill the chicken nugget slot in your rotation. In this case, I'm guessing you're turning to chicken nuggets because they're a heat-and-serve, no-prep option. They also are a protein. So, with that in mind, here are three other heat-and-serve, no-prep, protein-packed options:

• Frozen chicken or pork dumplings: You can heat dumplings quickly by steaming them, pan-frying them, or air-frying them. My daughter especially loves the chicken cilantro mini wontons from Trader Joe's, which are especially good for toddlers because they are relatively low sodium and they are small.

• Hard boiled eggs: You can make these in batches or go for the convenience option of buying them precooked. You can serve hard-boiled eggs from the fridge, sliced and topped with everything bagel seasoning or do what your toddler loves and offer ketchup to dip them in.

• Frozen falafel: If your toddler loves the breading aspect of a chicken nugget, she might also love the crisp exterior and fluffy-crumbly interior of a falafel ball. Serve with hummus to dip for even more protein.

But you asked what else to do with chicken nuggets, and I have ideas! Chicken nuggets are easy to jazz up when you stop thinking of them as "nuggets" and think of them as swaps for any dish that includes a breaded chicken cutlet or a piece of fried chicken.

And if any readers have a favorite chicken nugget upgrade, let us know in the comments!

Mini chicken parms in the air fryer. | Photos by Hillary Dixler Canavan

• Mini Chicken Parms: Top with a dollop of jarred pasta or pizza sauce and a bit of shredded mozzarella and sprinkled parmesan cheese. Roast in the oven, air-fryer, or toaster oven until nuggets are warmed through and the mozzarella is melted and bubbling. Honestly, these are so good. 

• Chicken Caesar Wraps: In a mixing bowl, add chopped romaine hearts, croutons, shaved parmesan, sliced chicken nuggets, and your favorite Caesar dressing or use a Caesar salad kit. Toss to combine and then add to tortillas, rolling to secure. This is one of my daughter's favorite dinners, and as I said before, she doesn't even love chicken nuggets.

• Tiny Fried Chicken Sandwiches: Assemble by adding cooked chicken nuggets to a mini bun (slider buns, Hawaiian Rolls, mini pretzel buns), topping each nugget with a sliced bread & butter pickle, and slathering your favorite Russian dressing/special sauce on the top bun. Would also be good topped with a tiny bit of coleslaw or kimchi.

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  Cook, Read, Buy

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  Post-It tabs, onigiri mold, kabsa, and harissa chickpeas.

• Cook: I am an avowed Ali Slagle fan-girl, and lately I've been making her Harissa Chickpeas with Feta on those nights when I choose to make adult dinner after bedtime. (Yes, sometimes it's easier on schooldays to make something quick and easy for kid dinner, and save feeding the adults at home for after bedtime). This is the perfect recipe for adult dinner because it's full of things my daughter doesn't typically enjoy: namely, whole beans and spicy sauce. I'm having trouble finding the recipe online; it's from Ali's 2022 cookbook I Dream About Dinner (So You Don't Have To) and well worth getting if you don't already have it. 

• Read: This essay from The Auntie Bulletin is blowing up on parenting Substack and for good reason: Lisa Sibbet's essay on how to talk to and befriend kids is so true and genuinely helpful, even for those of us who live with kids!  

• Buy: After playing with it for a couple months, I can officially recommend this onigiri mold for anyone who, like me, craves these filled rice triangles on the regular. My go-to easy filling is canned tuna or chopped smoked salmon mixed with mayo (ideally Kewpie mayo) and sriracha with a splash of soy sauce. 

• Cook: Fall means sweet potatoes, and for me, sweet potatoes means roasting-from-frozen sweet potatoes thanks to Junzi chef Lucas Sin, and my former Eater colleague, Elazar Sontag who is a sweet potato obsessive. This technique creates impossibly fluffy baked sweet potatoes, which are delicious topped with literally anything.

• Read: I very much enjoyed this week's New York Times restaurant review from interim critic Priya Krishna, in which she went to every single Carbone restaurant (there are so many of them now!). Come for Priya's wit and sharp palate, stay for the confirmation that yes, the things you loved 10 years ago have truly aged and so have you.

• Buy: For fellow lovers of school supplies and dog-earring cookbooks, consider these Post-It tabs. I've been using them to label and flag recipes in my cookbooks, which has been great for gathering inspiration and also a tidier looking bookshelf. 

• Cook from the Archives: From last week's newsletter, chef Reem Assil's weeknight kabsa is a perfect chicken and rice dinner. One pot, tons of flavor, delicious leftovers. Seriously, go make this!