Tortilla Chips and Pecans-Crusted Chicken Nuggets
Aug 27, 2014, Updated Oct 06, 2022
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Tortilla Chips and Pecans-Crusted Chicken Nuggets: Baked, healthier chicken nuggets covered in a delicious and crunchy mixture made with tortilla chips and pecans.
PECAN CRUSTED CHICKEN NUGGETS
Seriously? Literally, one of the best chicken nuggets I’ve made. The sweetness of the pecans paired with the salty chips is just BE.YOND.
The texture is, of course, amazing – crunchy and flavorful, which makes eating chips with chicken totally worth it. Totally.
On another note. Taking pictures of chicken nuggets is SOOOOO not cool. Blah. I’m sorry if your eyes hurt. Brown/yellow food is hard to photograph as it is, but when you pair that with rainy, gray days??? NOT an ideal combo when you’re photographing ugly food.
ON ANOTHER NOTE! I don’t have a middle name, but it should be “Dork”. Lemme tell you why.
I just did something completely foolish, putting it politely.
Really, though? It was straight-UP dumb.
I like coffee. I drink a lot of coffee. BUT, I can’t have coffee after 5 pm. If I do, there will be a party up in here all night long. Just ask my friends. They call me “old” because I order decaf coffee when we go out for a quick bite.
Last night, for whatever reason, I thought, hey, let’s try this again. Let’s have a cup of coffee at 7 pm and see what happens.
8 hours later, I saw “what happens”. What usually happens, that’s what! The last time I looked at the clock, it said 3:05. AM! AND I had to get up at 6:00. AM! Ugh.
I need a nap. Or a gallon of coffee to keep me company (and awake) throughout the day.
By the way, late night TV is awesome!! I watched “Friends”, I watched “Three’s Company”, and I watched “Who’s The Boss”!! An episode of “Growing Pains” would have completed me.
HOMEMADE CHICKEN NUGGETS
But but but, we have better, more delicious things to talk about. Things like Chicken Nuggets covered in Tortilla Chips and Pecans.
Since everything homemade is thousand times better than store/fast food restaurant-bought, you should absolutely cancel your dinner plans and make these tonight!
In fact, not only can you eat these chicken nuggets for, say, dinner, or even lunch – or even pack ’em up in your kid’s lunch box (!!) – they also make for an awesome appetizer (HELLO FOOTBALL), or even a snack, of course!
Now, pull up a few chairs and dig in! Don’t forget the ranch-dressing. Make sure you stir in a bit of hot sauce, too. Just sayin’.
ENJOY!
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Tortilla Chips and Pecans-Crusted Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, (about 1-1/2 pounds), cut into 1-inch cubes
- salt and fresh ground pepper, , to taste
- 2 cups crushed tortilla chips, (I always use what's on the bottom of the bag)
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1/2 cup halved pecans
- 1/4 cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Line a baking sheet with foil; lightly grease with cooking spray and set aside.
- Season chicken-pieces with salt and pepper; set aside.
- Place chips, chili powder and oregano in a food processor or blender; process until well ground.
- Add pecans and pulse a few times, or until finely ground.
- Transfer mixture to a plate.
- Pour milk into a bowl.
- Dip chicken in milk and then roll in crumb mixture to coat.
- Place coated chicken nuggets on previously prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through, turning once halfway through cooking.
- Remove from oven.
- Serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
I made these yesterday & they turned out fantastic. This recipe will become a staple for afternoon snacking!
We love these chicken nuggets, too! I am so happy to know that you also enjoyed them! Thank YOU!!
Oh my goodness, this looks delicious! I’m definitely making this! thanks for sharing! A healthier option for a family favorite.
Hee hee. I wonder if this coffee incident happened a few days ago. It was like 3 am there and you “like” my instagram feed (I was about to go to bed) and I thought wow you are hard working! Didn’t know you were suffering. LOL! What a great idea to use tortilla chips! Haven’t done it before but will need to give this a try very soon!
Yes YES! That was the night!! hahaha 😀 I was working hard because I couldn’t sleep. 🙂
I could use a huge bowl of these bites this morning. I so want it!
So fun, love these Kate! And I always crack up reading your posts. So funny.
I’m quite the opposite on caffeine. I can drink it anytime and then fall asleep whenever.
The nuggets are AMAZING.
Those crunchy nuggets look great. I’d eat the whole plate’s worth.
Tortilla chip and pecan crust?! Girl, you are brilliant!
These look so good! I want to pop them all in my mouth right now!