Easy Chicken Strips Recipe (Giant Chicken Nuggets)
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These easy chicken strips are tender and juicy. You can serve this chicken recipe so many ways! Dip them in sauce as an appetizer, serve them next to mashed potatoes for dinner or use them as chicken sandwich patties (healthier than the popular “Chick-a-bay” as my son used to say, because homemade has zero MSG – that’s right, “chick-a-bay” has MSG. Sorry if I ruined it for you. I ruined it for myself when I read their ingredient list).
These chicken strips have just 4 main ingredients and a 3-year old could pronounce them all. Yes! They are also delicious for lunch the next day – served warm in a thermos or cold with an ice pack. My son enjoys it both ways for his school lunch.
Ingredients for Breaded Chicken Strips:
2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
salt & pepper
2 large eggs
3/4 cup bread crumbs (I used Italian Style)
How to make these giant “chicken nuggets” 😉
1.Slice both chicken breasts in half so they are half their thickness then cut each piece again so you will have a total of 8 pieces (You can cut them into strips or nuggets if you wish, but smaller pieces will take a little longer to bread). Place chicken pieces on a cutting board, cover with plastic wrap and use a meat mallet to pound it into uniform 1/4″-thickness.
2. Set up 3 shallow dishes. In the first, combine 1/2 cup flour with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. In the second dish, whisk together 2 eggs. In the third dish, place 3/4 cup bread crumbs.
3. Lift a piece of chicken by piercing a corner with a fork (this keeps your hands clean and allows for easy dipping/turning). Dip chicken into flour, shaking off excess then dip both sides into beaten eggs and finally into the breadcrumbs, turning a couple times to coat well.
4. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add enough oil to generously coat the bottom of the pan (about 3 Tbsp). Once oil is hot, slide in a piece of chicken and saute for 3-4 minutes per side, turning once. Chicken should be cooked through with a golden brown crust. Remove chicken to a plate lined with papertowels to drain excess oil. Repeat with remaining chicken, adding more oil as needed.
Easy Chicken Strips Recipe (Giant Chicken Nuggets)
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- salt & pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup bread crumbs, I used Italian Style
- Oil to Saute
Instructions
- Slice both chicken breasts in half so they are half their thickness then cut each piece again so you will have a total of 8 pieces. Place chicken pieces on a cutting board, cover with plastic wrap and use a meat mallet to pound it into uniform 1/4"-thickness.
- Set up 3 shallow dishes. In the first, combine 1/2 cup flour with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. In the second dish, whisk together 2 eggs. In the third dish, place 3/4 cup bread crumbs.
- Lift a piece of chicken by piercing a corner with a fork (this keeps your hands clean and allows for easy dipping/turning). Dip chicken into flour, shaking off excess then dip both sides into beaten eggs and finally into the breadcrumbs, turning a couple times to coat well.
- Heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add enough oil to generously coat the bottom of the pan (about 3 Tbsp). Once oil is hot, slide in a piece of chicken and saute for 3-4 minutes per side, turning once. Chicken should be cooked through with a golden brown crust. Remove chicken to a plate lined with papertowels. Repeat with remaining chicken adding more oil as needed.
Notes
You can use panko instead of Italian breadcrumbs if you want a crispier crust.
If you don't have a meat mallet, use the back of a small sauce pan.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Tender, juicy and delicious any way you shake it! 😉 If you make these, let me know how you served them.
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
FIRST OF ALL.. GOD BLESS YOUR BLESSED HANDS, NATASHA…
SECONDLY… CAN ANY OF YOUR RECIPES… CAN BE COOKED IN AN AIR FRYER… LIKE THIS WITH THE CHIKEN???
ALSO.. INSTEAD OF 2 EGGS, CAN I USE 1 EGG???
ALSO INSTEAD OF BREAD CRUMBS… MAY I USE QUAKER OATMEAL(DUE TO BEING A STAGE 2 DIABETIC)???
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING…
SANDRA FROM, HERAKLEIO, CRETE, GREECE…. 💖💖
Thank you! Regarding your question, I have not tested cooking this using an air fryer but I know that you can reheat them using an air fryer. If you try it, we’d love to know how it goes.
Hi Natasha, I haven’t made this yet but I was wanting to try it out tonight. What oil did you use for frying?
Hi Ruth! You can use any good frying oil that has a high smoke point such as vegetable, canola, peanut, etc.
I made a substitution with these, and I’m wondering if that’s why they ended up browning a bit more than I wanted to. I used crushed Ritz crackers with a tbs of Mr. Dash instead of breadcrumbs. But they tasted really good! Oh, and I used chicken tenderloins instead of chicken breast.
Hi Rebecca, that could be because of the substitution. You may try the recipe as it is next time and update us on how it goes.
These came out great! Just wondering, what are the approximate calories for this? I’m trying to maintain a certain calorie deficit
Hi Kiara, we are slowly working through all of our recipes to add nutrition info but it is a time-consuming process as they have to be added one at a time. Thank you for being patient!
Wow Natasha, delicious recipe!!
Came together so quick and everyone loved it.
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Rosa!
I made these for my husband and I but I cooked them instead of frying. 400 degrees for 20 minutes. The next day I used the cold leftovers, cut them in small pieces and put them in a big salad of greens, tomatoes, cucumbers and crumbled wine flavoured old cheddar cheese. All was phenomenal. The chicken was tender and flavourful. Thank you Natasha.
My pleasure Dora! Now that sounds yummy! Thanks for sharing your review and suggestions with other readers!
This is absolutely delicious! Husband and I love it! It’s a big go to when you don’t have time to cook.
I’ve substituted the Italian seasoning with planko. But either way it’s amazing!
Thank you Natasha!
Hi Zhanna, I’m so happy you liked it! 🙂
Yumm! Fast, easy, and delicious!!!
Thank you for the wonderful review! I’m so happy you liked it! 🙂
Made this recipe last night. Family loved it!! Will definitely be making again and love that it’s so easy and quick.
Thank you for such a nice review, looks like you might have a new favorite 😀.
Natasha,
I’m so happy to have found your blog. I grew up with Russians, and have adopted a lot of those cultural cooking techniques, but found myself kind of increasingly disssatisfied with my go-to’s when feeding my children, as they were often too heavy, or too “pi-see” according to my children. We’ve done your chicken fritters, chicken and buckwheat kotleti, and a few other things on here, and they’ve been OUTSTANDING and well received. My husband eats a gluten free diet, and a lot of your recipes are easily customizable, or already gf, which is amazing.
Do you think this recipe could use corn starch and corn flakes in place of the flour and bread crumbs? I’d love to try it, since it’s so versatile and leftover happy looking. Thank you!!
Hi Marina, I’m so glad to hear you and your family are enjoying my recipes :). I haven’t tried them that way but I think it may work to make them gluten free. If you test it out, let me know how you like it 🙂
If someone wants to make it without frying.
Follow this recipe except place on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Drizzle a bit of olive oil and bake for 20 minutes per side at 350 degrees. When you turn them over drizzle a little more olive oil over each piece.
Thank you so much for sharing that awesome tip! 🙂
I decided literally last minute that I wanted a chicken dish, so while my chicken was thawing I was looking up easy dishes, I wanted to try something new and this looked delicious.
let me just tell you, I made this dish for my mother and I and it was FANTASTIC.
I personalized it a little by adding more flavor to my garlic herb breadcrumbs but otherwise followed to a T. Thank you for posting this recipe.
Valerie, thank you for such a nice review and you are very welcome 😁.
great recipe. had tried this for lunch one day and my lil brother and I absolutely loved it. definitely found myself a new favorite food
I’m so happy you loved the recipe! Thanks for sharing your awesome review! 🙂
In my previous comment, I wrote that would love to try out your giant chicken nuggets. They were spot on delicious! 🍴👌🏻😀 My whole family absolutely loved them, the kids had them in their lunch boxes the next day. We are kind of chicken nuggets experts, because it is a favorite menu item for restaurants to put on the kids menu. Cannot tell you how many dry chicken nuggets I have tried but the ones from your recipe were absolute perfection! Moist, tender and crunchy……
Annette thank you so much for sharing that with me. It’s quite a compliment and music to my ears. That is the best feeling when kids love what you made :).
Can these be prepared ahead of time? And if I fry them in the morning and reheat for lunch will they taste the same?
It is best to fully cook them so the breading doesn’t get soggy in the fridge. I fully cook them then freeze them or refrigerate. You can reheat on a skillet or in the oven, or microwave I guess, but the pan and oven will give you the best crust. They are great as leftovers for lunch! My son even eats them cold in his lunch box.
Oh. My. Gosh!! These chicken nuggets are absolutely DELICIOUS!! Unfortunately, I was having a little trouble cutting up the chicken breasts into eight pieces, but was able to make twelve pieces instead!! The chicken nuggets didn’t take too long to cook, but I served them with some macaroni and cheese and spinach!! I’m so glad that I found your blog through the Google search engine, and looking forward to cooking more recipes. Thank you so much, Natasha!! 🙂
LaTrice, thank you for the awesome feedback and you are welcome :D.
Just made these for dinner and they were a TOTAL HIT!! One of my favorite chicken stripes/nuggets so far 😋
Venessa, thank you for such a great review, I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe :).
Every recipe I try has been wonderful, I have to try this.. You know I heard about you from a series called “young and hungry”
Maha, welcome to the site and I hope you’ll find many new favorites :).
The giant chicken nuggets look delicious and I want to eat them right now:-)! It is a nice dinner and lunchbox recipe in one, will try it out tonight. Easy and quick to prepare, that is always a winner for me!
Thank you Annette, we just had some today and made them in to chicken sandwiches :).
These look soo good. Will definitely try them this week. I’ve made about 15 of your recipes already and enjoyed all of them. Thanks for the easy step by step instructions.
That’s fantastic! Thank you for such a great review :).
G.O.O.D….Day happy Week ☆.¸.☆* week Wishes… Happy day *´¨)☆.¸.☆*.
☆.¸.☆*. ☆* ☆* ☆* ☆.¸.☆*. (◕‿◕) ☆.¸.☆*. ☆* ☆* ☆* ☆.¸.☆*. (◕‿◕)👣
Thank you for the wishes Gulshan and happy week to you as well :).
Hi Natasha, I’ve been following you for a while now and I’ve done a few of your recipes. I like a lot your blog. Every recipe I’ve tried was delicious and what I like about them is that all are foolproof. I loved this nuggets. I served them with sauté mushrooms and a mixed salad. Thank you for giving us always nice ideas. Keep on posting! Nico
Nico, thank you for your sweet comment and great review. I love reading comments like these on Monday morning :).
I love this! I can’t wait to make these for my daughter. Every recipe I try has been spot on from your site. So I am 100% sure she will LOVE these.
I’m so happy to hear that you’re enjoying the recipes. I hoe your daughter loves these too! 🙂
Will make these this week 🙂 love that it’s basically only 5 ingredients! 😉 Thanks for the recipe
I love recipes like that too – you almost don’t need a recipe for this one! 😉
Thank you for this recipe! I will be making it tomorrow. Cant wait!
Also i wanted to comment on how i love that most of your recipes print out on one page instead of multiple pages! Love that! thank you so much for that!
Thank you so much for that great feedback. I’m happy you like it 🙂
Natasha I am obsessed with your website😍 As soon as you post it I make it😃 You make my life with 5 kidos so much easier 👍🏻Thank you💐
Reading your comment makes me so happy. Thank you for sharing that with me. I’m so happy my recipes are blessing your family :). How do you balance everything with 5 kidos? I have 4 sisters and we are all 1 year apart. I am just in awe when I think about how my Mom did it. 🙂
Those look so delicious. I love schnitzel. So much better than chicken nuggets, which seem to be the only thing my li’l sweetheart ever wants to eat. Homemade is so much healthier. You know what went into them b/c you make them.
You’re the second person that called this schnitzel. I guess I should have named them schnitzel. Sounds fancier than giant chicken nuggets. lol. 🙂
Well for me the are kotlety drobiowe, chicken cutlets. Great recipe.
Thanks Kuba! 🙂
I thought schnitzel was sausage? But my only experience comes from watching the Sound of Music. Oh well. This post made me laugh with the MSG comment. My husband and I are always so shocked visiting the Caribbean because many small grocery stores sell MSG in bags so you can just add it to whatever. Hmmmm. SO I’m making this just to avoid all MSG alone. Yuck! My kids absolutely love chicken nuggets.
I hope they love these “giant chicken nuggets” too! 😉 That’s wild that people would actually add it to their food. Maybe the ones who refuse to share their recipes are the ones that use it. lol.
Hello Natasha,
Thank you for you wonderful website with step by step easy to fallow recipes. You are an extraordinary person 🙂
Have you tried to bake chicken strips instead of frying it? I wanted to know if they come out dry or not .
Yes! It’s a different method. Try these, I think you will love them. Very juicy.
When I click on the link it says page not found.
Sorry about that – the link pasted in wrong. Click here for baked chicken the recipe.
That pickle juice idea sounds great. But what I really want to know is, why doesn’t Natasha have a mess all over the counter, the floor, the dog’s head… like when I try breading something at home? Haha!
Lol. I figured out if you use a fork, your hands stay super clean. I wish I had figured it out sooner because it’s so simple! I used to have a mess all over and I’d have several layers of breading on my fingers until I discovered the fork method 😉
When I lived in Israel, we called these Chicken Schnitzel 🙂 So yummy, my kids love these!! I make them the same way, but sometimes also add sesame seeds to the breadcrumbs – they remain white after frying and lstand out against the golden breadcrums crust 🙂
I love the idea of adding sesame seeds! thank you so much for sharing your tip!
Here’s a secret to getting the “chick-a-way” (as my son says) flavor: marinate the chicken a few hours (or overnight) in pickle juice!
That’s so clever! I love it! I will have to try your secret. Thanks for sharing!