These Baked Chicken Nuggets with Honey Mustard Sauce are crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. It is a healthy, flavor-packed meal that the whole family will love! Learn how to make homemade crispy oven-baked chicken nuggets with this quick and easy recipe.
Crispy Baked Chicken Nuggets: A Crowd-Pleasing Dish
Chicken nuggets are loved by both children and adults alike. They make a comforting meal or appetizer and are sure to please even the pickiest of eaters. Although you could order them at a fast-food restaurant or buy a bag of them frozen, they taste way better and are so much healthier if you make them yourself.
These nuggets are baked rather than deep-fried, so they can be enjoyed guilt-free. This recipe uses a 3-step breading method to seal in moisture and give the nuggets a good crunch without the added fat from deep-frying.
Bite-sized chicken breast pieces are first coated in flour, then egg, and finally in a breadcrumb-Parmesan cheese mixture before being baked to perfection. The secret to their crispiness is first toasting the breadcrumbs in the oven for a few minutes before coating the chicken pieces in them.
The perfect accompaniment to chicken nuggets are, of course, a tasty dipping sauce. Honey Mustard has always been my dipping sauce of choice and thankfully, it is so simple to make at home. Just mix equal parts honey, Dijon mustard and mayo for the best honey mustard sauce ever!
Click here to learn more about my favorite, must-have healthy resources!
More Kid-Friendly Recipes to try
Looking for more picky eater-approved recipes? Here are some of my favorites on the blog:
- Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake
- Creamy Homemade Mac n’ Cheese
- One-Pot Vegetarian Burrito Bowl
- The Best Creamy Tomato Soup
- Easy Unsweetened Applesauce
For this Baked Chicken Nuggets recipe, I recommend:
Here are a couple of pantry essentials that I suggest using to make this recipe. All of these ingredients can be ordered online from Thrive Market, which is an online retailer that sells healthy, organic food at wholesale prices. I like to think of it like Amazon (online retailer) meets Costco (wholesale prices) meets Whole Foods (all wholesome, junk-free foods).
- Avocado Oil Mayo – Using mayonnaise made with 100% Pure Avocado Oil makes the honey mustard sauce so much healthier. Conventional mayo is made with chemically processed, unhealthy oils like soybean and canola, so always opt for one that is made with cleaner ingredients!
- Raw Honey – Not all packaged honey is created equal, so I recommend using one that is 100% pure, raw, and unfiltered for optimal health benefits.
If you’re interested in purchasing any of the above items, you’ll need to get a Thrive Market membership. However, if you’re a reader of my website, you will get an exclusive bonus when you sign up:
If you make this Baked Chicken Nuggets with Honey Mustard Sauce recipe, let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating ★ below, because I love hearing from you! ♡
Baked Chicken Nuggets with Honey Mustard Sauce
Ingredients
For the Chicken Nuggets:
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- Salt and pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
For the Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400◦F. Spread breadcrumbs out evenly on a baking sheet and bake for about 3-5 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in Parmesan cheese, thyme and garlic powder. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the flour to a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Beat the eggs in another bowl.
- One at a time, dredge chicken in the flour to coat. Next, dip the chicken pieces in the beaten eggs and then coat the chicken with the breadcrumb mixture. Arrange on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pieces.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the center, flipping over once halfway through cooking time.
- To prepare sauce, whisk together mustard, mayonnaise and honey in a small bowl. Serve chicken nuggets warm with dipping sauce.
Notes
- If you can, I highly recommend using organic, pasture-raised chicken in this recipe for maximum health benefits.
- Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to five days or in the freezer for up to three months.
Nutrition
© Everyday Easy Eats. All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my recipes, text or images without prior permission.
OMG these look so crunchy and absolutely delicious! And that honey mustard sauce? I could definitely eat it with a spoon. YUM!
Thanks so much Kelsie! ♡ Have a great weekend!! 🙂
These are awesome! I just made them and my kids practically inhaled them. I loved the sauce too. Thanks!! 🙂
Hi Janelle! That’s great! Thanks so much! 🙂
i was snobbyyyyy as a kid and only liked those really long chicken tenders, and refused to touch chicken nuggets. now that i sufficiently become sane enough to like and enjoy and crave chicken nuggets, these sound delicious! and since they’re baked and i know exactly what’s in them (i’m very scared to see that mcdonald’s list), i can have a whole heap of them, right? (;
Hey Heather! Ooo I used to love those chicken tenders (I called them strips!) and I still do. Haha, yes tenders are pretty much the same as nuggets, so I am glad you like them too now! And YES, since they aren’t deep-fried and you know exactly what they are made of, you can totally have a whole heap of them! That’s what I do whenever I eat them! 😉 Thanks so much for stopping by! ♡