Healthy Baked Chicken Nuggets (Lectin-free)

I’ve seen a lot of interest lately from parents trying to get their children to eat better, healthier food. And give up some of the worst offenders in the Standard American Diet, such as sugar and heavily processed food. I can imagine how difficult it is for these parents when so many unhealthy choices surround their kids.

So I’ve been thinking of putting together a menu to help parents help their children eat better. Easy to prepare, easy to store for a few days and even freeze, and quite fun to involve the children in the preparation process.

I’ll start with this healthy baked chicken nuggets recipe because it is one of the children’s favorite foods.

What’s in a chicken nugget?

When fast foods push chicken nuggets as a healthy alternative for children, they don’t tell you what’s in them. First, you will never find a chicken nugget in any restaurant made with breasts from a pasture-raised chicken. You will find organic, range-free, all-natural (whatever that means, I always wondered). That doesn’t mean anything anymore. The birds are still confined in small dark spaces, inhumanly raised and fed grains, with no real access to pasture.

“You are what you ate, ate.” Dr. Steven Gundry, The Plant Paradox

So to start with, if you eat chicken, choose the best pasture-raised option you can find. A few relatively big farms in the US (such as Primal Pastures and Burgundy Pasture Beef) deliver nationwide, and there are also local small farmers if you search enough. To be clear, most still supplement with grains, but it is minimal, and if it’s the best option available, I will go with that instead of fast-food nuggets or organic chicken.

Now, what else is in fast food chicken nuggets? According to draxe.com (and confirmed by other articles): TBHQ (a petroleum-based preservative), autolyzed yeast extract (containing MSG), GMO corn, dimethylpolysiloxane anti-foaming agent, hydrogenated soybean oil, sodium (a significant amount!), bleached wheat, sugar (dextrose); not to mention that 60% of the ‘meat’ is fat, blood vessels, ground bone, and gristle. Plus, they are deep-fried in canola or mysterious vegetable oil that has been reheated and reused numerous times. SAD!

Healthy baked chicken nuggets recipe

For lectin-free healthy homemade chicken nuggets, you need pasture-raised chicken breast, spices (such as iodized sea salt and pepper, Hungarian paprika, and maybe cayenne pepper if you and your family like them a little spicy, onion powder, garlic powder, perhaps some thyme/rosemary/sage?), pasture-raised or omega 3 eggs, almond flour, and cassava flour. Easy right?

Dipping sauce for chicken nuggets

If you want to serve the baked chicken nuggets with a dipping sauce, try these lectin-free options:

• Dairy-Free Ranch Dressing (Lectin-Free) 
• Green Dream Herb Dressing
• Barbecue Sauce

Print Recipe

Healthy Baked Chicken Nuggets

(9 votes, average: 3.89 out of 5)

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By Claudia Curici – Serves: 4

Prep Time: 25 mins – Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts (halves) from a pasture-raised chicken
• 2 pasture-raised / omega 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup cassava flour
• Spices: iodized sea salt, pepper, Hungarian paprika, garlic and onion powders
• Avocado oil

Instructions

1

Preheat oven to 400F.

2

Cut chicken breasts into strips on their length and sprinkle with a mix of spices.

3

Put the two flours in two separate plates.

4

Beat the eggs well on a deep plate. Add some salt and pepper to the eggs.

5

Coat the strips with a thin layer of cassava flour. Soak each strip into the egg mixture.

6

The next layer and last will be the almond flour.

7

Arrange on an oven pan oiled with avocado oil (you can also use parchment paper) and bake for 15-20 mins, depending on how big they are. Check one after 15 minutes, you don't want to overcook them.

Notes

You can make more batches at once and freeze or store them in an air-tight glass container in the fridge, for a few days. They are good to eat warm or cold.