Crunchy, pure white-meat chicken nuggets made healthier with Greek yogurt and spicy whole wheat panko crumbs. They're delicious as is, but they can also be tossed in a simple, authentic, 2-ingredient Buffalo wing sauce to turn them into the best boneless Buffalo wings you've ever had. This is some serious game-day or kid-friendly nosh!
Ingredients
8bonelessskinless chicken breasts
2 1/2cupsplain Greek yogurt
2teaspoonscumindivided
1 1/2teaspoonscayenne pepperdivided
1 1/2teaspoonsgarlic powderdivided
1 1/2teaspoonsonion powderdivided
3teaspoonskosher saltdivided
1/2teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
4-6cupspanko bread crumbspreferably whole wheat
Cooking oil spraycanola, vegetable, grapeseed or peanut.
1to 1 1/2 cups Homemade Garlic Buffalo Sauce
Optional for serving:
Bleu Cheese Dressing for dipping
Instructions
Combine the yogurt, 1 teaspoon each of the cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder, 2 teaspoons of the kosher salt, and the black pepper in a one-gallon resealable plastic bag. Close it and use your hand to squish the contents around until it's mostly evenly combined. Set aside.
Trim the chicken breasts of any gristly bits and slice them into even pieces. I usually cut it in half cross-wise, then into pieces that are about 2-inches by 1 1/2-inches by 1/2-inch but you can cut them into any shape you'd like as long as they're mostly equal in size. This makes them cook more evenly. Transfer all of the chicken pieces into the bag with the yogurt, seal the bag, and squish everything around so the chicken is evenly coated in the spiced yogurt. Let this rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly spritz it with cooking oil (either a spray bottle of oil or non-stick cooking spray.)
Add 4 cups of the the panko bread crumbs and the remaining cumin, cayenne, garlic and onion powders, and salt to a pie plate or other shallow dish and stir them together. Using tongs to keep your hands neat, remove one chicken strip at a time and lay them in the dish of bread crumbs. Flip them over, pressing crumbs onto all yogurt covered surfaces, then transfer the coated piece of chicken to the lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining chicken and crumbs, leaving a little space between each piece to allow air to circulate around it as it bakes. If you find yourself running out of crumbs, add the remaining panko and spice it up with a little more cumin, garlic and onion powder, and salt. When you have coated all of the pieces, bake for about 25 minutes or more, depending on the size you've cut the chicken to, or until the coating is golden brown and crunchy and the internal temperature of the thickest piece is 170°F.
These can be served as is with a variety of dips ~OR~
To Make Boneless Buffalo Wings:
Stir together the proportions of hot sauce and butter to create the degree of heat in the sauce you prefer. You can either serve this as a dip (as my husband prefers) or toss the crispy wings in the sauce. If you toss them in the sauce, serve them immediately as they do soften after a short while. These are wonderful with the traditional bleu cheese dip!
Store leftover nuggets or wings, if you have any, tightly wrapped in the refrigerator and eat within 3 days.
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.