Chicken Nuggets with Honey Mustard, Carrots + Cauliflower

Active Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Why we love it:

Don’t be fooled that these are only for kids. We’re taking delicious, juicy pieces of chicken in crispy breading back for the grown ups! Share them if you have to, lead them to believe this is all for them, but whatever you do, make these nuggets tonight!

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Ingredients

1 pound Chicken Breast (boneless, skinless, thighs are great too)
2 cups Buttermilk
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt (divided)
1 head Cauliflower
2 Carrots
1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (divided)
1¹⁄₂ cups Breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon Dried Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon Unsalted Butter
2 teaspoons Honey
2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard (whole grain is wonderful here)

Cooking Instructions

1. PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 425 DEGREES
2. CHICKEN

Slice the chicken into pieces - you can opt for roughly square shapes as in our photo, or 1” thin strips the length of the breast. Place them in a bowl. Pour the buttermilk over the chicken. Add ¼ of the total salt.
3. VEGETABLES

Cut the cauliflower into florets. Use the leaves and most of the core too - you can trim off just the yellowed or dry leaves and core. Place on a baking sheet.

Wash carrots, keep the peel on. Dice into 1” chunks and add to the cauliflower.

Toss both with ½ of the olive oil and another ¼ teaspoon salt. Place pan in the oven and roast for about 17 minutes, tossing once or twice, until veggies are browned and just tender throughout.
4. BREADING

Place the bread crumbs in a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish. Add the remaining salt and the dried Italian seasoning. Gently stir.

Lift chicken pieces out of the buttermilk and place in the breadcrumbs. Toss to coat and gently press on each piece to adhere the crumbs.

Drizzle about ½ of the remaining olive oil on a baking sheet, then place the nuggets on the pan. Drizzle the tops with the last of the olive oil and dot evenly with the butter.

Place in the oven and roast for about 10 minutes. After that time, slide out the pan and close the door, gently use tongs and/or a spatula to flip the pieces over. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until baked through (time will depend on how large your pieces are).
5. HONEY MUSTARD

Stir together honey and mustard until evenly combined.
6. SERVING

Serve the nuggets with sauce for dipping and roasted veggies on the side.

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Substitutions

GLUTEN FREE:

works fantastically as is but with GF crumbs
DAIRY FREE:

use coconut milk or oat milk to marinate the chicken
PALEO:

use a mixture of unsweetened coconut and 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast as the breadcrumbs. Also great if you add hemp seeds and sesame seeds too
CHICKEN BREAST:

chicken thighs are wonderful for this recipe, they’ll stay juicy and are less expensive
BUTTERMILK:

regular milk or yogurt work well. If you can’t find a pint size container of buttermilk, you can freeze the leftovers for next time. Or use it to make scones, cakes, or pancakes later. Freezing might make it look curdled but it’s completely fine in the final product
KIDS CORNER:

this dish is likely a slam dunk, classic “kid food” but perhaps serve with a different dipping sauce, or cut this honey mustard with some yogurt to make it creamier. Perhaps leave the herbs out of the crumbs to make it more plain