Perfectly crispy and tender hidden veggie nuggets for picky eaters and toddlers! An easily customizable recipe- add chicken, extra veggies, cheese, and more! They can be baked, air-fried, or pan-fried. Plus, these are gluten-free and can be made nut-free or egg-free if you have allergies in the house!
What Makes This Recipe Great
Sometimes, you do your best to hide veggies for your toddler or picky eater and they somehow instantly know and decide it’s not for them. I’ve been there, and it can be incredibly frustrating.
However, these homemade veggie nuggets were an instant success for my 2-year-old. We love dipping them with ketchup or “honey” mustard sauce. They are so easy to make, especially if you have a food processor, and can be frozen as well! They are veggie-loaded, delicious, and super easy to make!
For my toddler, I added ground chicken, but this recipe is a “use what you have on hand” and easily customizes to food preferences, allergies, and more! Make them veggie-only, veggie and chicken, veggie and cheese, egg-free, nut-free, etc.!
And if you’re always looking for kid-friendly ways to “hide veggies”, I’ve got you covered! Try my Hidden Veggie Lasagna Casserole, this Hidden Veggie Mac & Cheese, or this Sweet Potato and Avocado Chocolate Pudding.
Watch a Short Video of This Recipe
How to Make Veggie Chicken Nuggets
I opted to make veggie chicken nuggets and added cauliflower, carrots, and garlic to the chicken mixture. However, you can be versatile with whatever veggies you have on hand! You can omit the chicken, add more veggies, add cheese, etc. I will give tips below for how to customize it!
The breading gets crispy and crunchy with a nutty flavor, and the finely chopped veggies blend so well with the chicken that you’ll hardly notice they are there. Even my husband and I love these nuggets!
Ingredient Notes
There are 2 components to these veggie chicken nuggets: the filling and the breading.
Filling (with Chicken)
- cauliflower: Broccoli will also work well!
- carrots
- garlic
- ground chicken: You can also substitute with ground turkey.
- egg: If there’s an egg allergy, feel free to leave this out.
- sea salt
- onion powder
Breading
- egg: Again, if there’s an egg allergy, you can leave this out. The filling will be moist enough that the breading can still stick.
- almond flour: You can use almond meal or blanched almond flour. If you are making it nut free, you can crush up plantain chips or tortilla chips in the food processor and use that instead.
- arrowroot starch: Either arrowroot starch or tapioca starch will work.
- paprika
- sea salt
How to Make Veggie Nuggets Without Chicken
If you’d prefer to leave the chicken out of these veggie nuggets, simply omit that ingredient and add the following:
Filling
- More Veggies: Add 1 cup of another veggie like more cauliflower, or add broccoli.
- Egg: Add one additional egg.
Breading
- More Flour: Instead of ½ cup, use 1 cup of almond flour or breadcrumbs for the binding factor.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- For baked nuggets, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. To air fry, preheat to 390 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add cauliflower florets, carrots, and garlic to the food processor, and process until finely chopped.
- Combine the veggies in a large bowl with the rest of the ingredients for the filling, and mix them together. Use your hands to form into balls, flattening slightly. I made about 32.
- In a small, shallow bowl, beat an egg. In another shallow bowl, mix together almond flour, arrowroot starch, paprika, and sea salt.
- Dip a nugget into the egg wash, then dredge in the breading mixture to coat completely. Arrange in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet (use the baking sheet even if you are air frying or pan frying so the nuggets don’t stick to each other or other surfaces before cooking).
- Choose your preferred method of cooking:
- OVEN-BAKED VEGGIE/CHICKEN NUGGETS: Spray the tops of the nuggets with cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes, flip, spray again with cooking spray, then bake for another 10 minutes until golden brown.
- AIR FRYER VEGGIE/CHICKEN NUGGETS: Add the nuggets to the air fryer tray or basket in a single layer – you may need to do multiple batches. Spray the tops with cooking spray, then cook for 4 minutes. Flip, spray again with cooking spray, then cook for another 4 minutes until crispy and golden.
- PAN FRIED VEGGIE/CHICKEN NUGGETS: Heat about 1/4 inch of your favorite neutral oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Once sizzling hot, add the nuggets in a single layer. Pan fry for 4 minutes, flip, then pan fry for another 4 minutes.
- Serve warm with ketchup, honey mustard, or your favorite dipping sauce!
Expert Tips
- Adding Cheese: If you’d like to add cheese, add a small cube of mozzarella or cheddar to the center each nugget when shaping them.
- Nut Free: To make nut-free veggie nuggets, replace almond flour with crushed-up plantain chips or tortilla chips.
- Egg Free: Simply omit the filling and skip the egg wash step in the breading. The nuggets might be a bit more fragile without the egg to bind everything together, but they’ll still be delicious. As for the egg wash, the nuggets themselves have a lot of moisture from the added veggies so you’ll still be able to make the dry breading mixture stick. You can also try an egg replacement like flax eggs or Bob’s Red Mill egg replacement.
Storage Tips
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in the air fryer, oven, or stovetop to keep them crispy. You can also use the microwave but keep in mind they will lose their crispiness.
- To freeze, cook the veggie nuggets first then cool them completely. Transfer to a freezer-safe bag, then freeze for up to a month. You can reheat frozen in the air fryer or the oven.
Recipe FAQs
This recipe is very forgiving in that you can use whatever veggies are on hand! I’ve used broccoli, sweet potatoes, chopped spinach, and even zucchini. If you do use veggies with lots of moisture like zucchini, make sure to squeeze out the liquid after chopping.
My favorite way to cook these for the crispiest texture is to pan-fry them. If I do have leftovers, I reheat them in the air fryer to crisp them back up without adding more oil.
Yes! Whether you make them with or without chicken, these nuggets are full of protein, veggies, and nutrients. They’re also gluten-free, and customizable to be allergy-friendly for your little ones.
Easy Homemade Veggie Nuggets (with Chicken option!)
Video
Ingredients
Filling
- 1/2 head cauliflower cut into florets
- 2 carrots cut into chunks
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 large egg *See notes for egg free
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
Breading
- 1 large egg *See notes for egg free
- 1/2 cup almond flour **See notes for nut free
- 1/2 cup arrowroot starch or tapioca starch
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Cooking spray or oil depending on how you cook it
Instructions
- If you're making oven baked chicken nuggets, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. For the air fryer method, preheat to 390 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add cauliflower florets, carrots, and garlic into the food processor, and process until finely chopped.
- Add to a large bowl with the rest of the ingredients for the filling, and mix together until combined. Use your hands to form into balls, flattening slightly. I made about 32.
- In a small, shallow bowl, beat an egg. In a separate shallow bowl, mix together almond flour, arrowroot starch, paprika, and sea salt.
- Dip a nugget into the egg wash to coat, then immediately dredge in the breading mixture to coat completely. Arrange in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet (use the baking sheet even if you are air frying or pan frying so the nuggets don't stick to each other or other surfaces before cooking).
- Choose your preferred method of cooking: OVEN-BAKED VEGGIE/CHICKEN NUGGETS: Spray the tops of the nuggets with cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes, flip, spray again with cooking spray, then bake for another 10 minutes until golden brown.AIR FRYER VEGGIE/CHICKEN NUGGETS: Add the nuggets to the air fryer tray or basket in a single layer – you may need to do multiple batches. Spray the tops with cooking spray, then cook for 4 minutes. Flip, spray again with cooking spray, then cook for another 4 minutes until crispy and golden.PAN FRIED VEGGIE/CHICKEN NUGGETS: Heat about 1/4 inch of your favorite neutral oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Once sizzling hot, add the nuggets in a single layer. Pan fry for 4 minutes, flip, then pan fry for another 4 minutes.
- Serve warm with ketchup or honey mustard. You can freeze these after cooking.
Notes
How to Make Veggie Nuggets Without Chicken
If you’d prefer to leave the chicken out of these veggie nuggets, simply omit that ingredient and add the following:Filling
- More Veggies: Add 1 cup of another veggie like more cauliflower, or add broccoli.
- Egg: Add one additional egg.
Breading
- More Flour: Instead of ½ cup, use 1 cup of almond flour or breadcrumbs for the binding factor.
Expert Tips
- Adding Cheese: If you’d like to add cheese, add a small cube of mozzarella or cheddar to the center each nugget when shaping them.
- Nut Free: To make nut-free veggie nuggets, replace almond flour with crushed-up plantain chips or tortilla chips.
- Egg Free: Simply omit the filling and skip the egg wash step in the breading. The nuggets might be a bit more fragile without the egg to bind everything together, but they’ll still be delicious. As for the egg wash, the nuggets themselves have a lot of moisture from the added veggies so you’ll still be able to make the dry breading mixture stick. You can also try an egg replacement like flax eggs or Bob’s Red Mill egg replacement.
Storage Tips
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in the air fryer, oven, or stovetop to keep them crispy. You can also use the microwave but keep in mind they will lose their crispiness.
- To freeze, cook the nuggets first then cool them completely. Transfer to a freezer-safe bag, then freeze for up to a month. You can reheat frozen in the air fryer or the oven.
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Thank you so much!! I used the baking method and my whole family just loved this. My kids have been rejecting veggies and they gobbled these up!
I haven’t cooked mine yet… when rolling them they were really wet and wouldn’t stick together well. Is that normal?
It should be slightly sticky and wet, but easy to roll into a ball. Were your veggies really big maybe?