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These vegan chicken nuggets are super crispy on the outside and tender and meaty on the inside! Prepared from homemade vegan chicken, these nuggets are healthier and taste so much better than store-bought!
Now that we have Vegan Chicken, let’s make chicken nuggets!
⭐️ Why You Should Try It
- It’s perfectly crispy on the outside + chewy and meaty on the inside. These vegan chicken tenders are absolutely delicious!
- It’s versatile. I am sharing different substitutes for vegan chicken as well as extra tips on how to make it. You can also play with the spices and herbs to season them.
- It’s a crowd-pleaser and perfect for your parties, appetizers, and more! Plus, kids love these vegan nuggets!
🍗 How to Make It
This vegan nugget recipe requires just 5 ingredients. Here is what you will need:
- Vegan chicken – I highly recommend using homemade vegan chicken for this recipe. However, you can also use store-bought vegan chicken like “Tofurky Chick’n” or “Daring Original Plant Chicken Pieces”. Check out the FAQ section if you want to learn how to make nuggets using tofu.
- Hot sauce – For flavor and just a hint of spiciness. You can use buffalo sauce, sweet chili sauce, or sriracha.
- Flour – It will act as a binder and help replace the eggs that are usually used as a liquid coating.
- Breadcrumbs – To create that crispy and crunchy coating. You can use regular breadcrumbs or panko breadcrumbs.
- Spices – I went with smoked paprika and black pepper for a subtle smokiness and a hint of heat. You can add your favorite herbs like thyme, oregano, rosemary, or basil.
Here is the process for making vegan chicken nuggets:
- Start by shredding the vegan chicken into large bite-size pieces. You can make them long or short, it doesn’t really matter. I personally went with long pieces to make the nuggets look like chicken tenders.
- Once this is done, prepare the batter by mixing the water, hot sauce, flour, and spices. The batter should be thick but still liquid to coat the chicken pieces.
- Next, dip a piece of vegan chicken into the batter. Shake off the excess and immediately dip it into the bowl of breadcrumbs. Stir to coat it evenly.
- Repeat with the remaining vegan chicken pieces and transfer them to a plate.
- Finally, deep-fry the vegan nuggets for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown!
🥫 What to Serve It With
While the nuggets are delicious on their own, they taste so much better with a dipping sauce! I personally served these with a spicy mustard dipping sauce (recipe below), but ketchup, sweet chili sauce, sriracha, or vegan mayo also works.
For a heartier meal, feel free to serve the nuggets with this roasted vegetable sheet-pan, glazed carrots, or this caramelized zucchini!
📔 Tips
- Tear the vegan chicken with your hands to make thick and uneven nuggets instead of slicing it into cubes. Your vegan nuggets will look even more real!
- For a lighter and crispier coating, I highly recommend using panko breadcrumbs.
- Instead of frying, you can air-fry these nuggets for 12-15 minutes (or until golden brown) in a 375° preheated air-fryer.
💬 FAQ
You can use firm tofu if you don’t have vegan chicken on hand. To do so, cut the tofu into bite-size pieces and freeze it for at least 4 hours or overnight. Next, let it thaw on the counter and squeeze it to remove as much moisture as possible. You can then coat it with the breadcrumbs and fry it.
I do not recommend baking these nuggets as it would not give you the best results in terms of texture and flavor. Frying helps create a very crunchy outside while still keeping the vegan chicken tender on the inside.
Fried nuggets will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. You can reheat them in a lightly oiled skillet over medium heat for 4-5 minutes.
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Vegan Chicken Nuggets (So Crispy!)
Ingredients
- 9 ounces vegan chicken
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp hot sauce use your favorite one
- 1/2 cup flour feel free to use gluten-free flour
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
Mustard Dipping Sauce
- 1/4 cup vegan mayo
- 2 tbsp whole grain mustard
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp buffalo sauce optional
Instructions
- Start with one loaf of vegan chicken. Using your hands, shred it into large bite-size pieces. You should end up with 8-12 pieces depending on their size. Set aside.
- Whisk together the water, hot sauce, flour, smoked paprika, salt, and ground black pepper in a bowl until the flour is fully dissolved. In another bowl, place the breadcrumbs.
- Working with one piece of chicken at a time, dip it into the flour mixture, then transfer it to the breadcrumbs and stir to coat. Dip back into the flour mixture, and one last time into the breadcrumbs bowl. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.
- Heat about 1 cup of oil in a deep saucepan. Once the oil is hot, fry 2-3 chicken nuggets at a time for about 2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oil and transfer to a plate lined with parchment paper to remove excess oil. Repeat with the remaining nuggets.
- Serve warm with your favorite dipping sauce!
Mustard Dipping Sauce
- Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Taste and adjust sweetness and spiciness to your liking.
Notes
- Tear the vegan chicken with your hands to make thick and uneven nuggets instead of slicing it into cubes. Your vegan nuggets will look even more real!
- For a lighter and crispier coating, I highly recommend using panko breadcrumbs.
- Instead of frying, you can air-fry these nuggets for 12-15 minutes (or until golden brown) in a 375° preheated air-fryer.
- No nutritional value information for this recipe, as it would not be accurate.
About the Author
Thomas Pagot is the founder, photographer, and recipe developer behind Full of Plants. He created the blog in 2016 as a personal cookbook for vegan recipes. Through years of recipe development, Thomas has successfully grown Full of Plants into a trusted resource for plant-based recipes.
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um yeah that’s not really a recipe if you’re literally just using highly processed fake meat instead of actually making the main ingredient yourself. very disappointing.
If you took the time to check the post as well as the recipe card, you would have noticed that I have a recipe for vegan chicken made from scratch…
Fab! I used sour dough discard & seasoned flour to coat as I didn’t have any breadcrumbs which worked beautifully. Juicy, tender and crunchy, this will be a regular on the menu!
Thank you for your feedback Donna 😉
Hi Thomas, I love your site! This looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it out 🙂 In the instructions it says to dip the pieces into the cornstarch mixture, but there’s no cornstarch listed in the ingredients. Am I missing something?
Thanks Kathleen!
You are completely right, this is a mistake, I meant the flour mixture. I fixed it, thanks for pointing that out!
Made this last night and it was, as stated, flavorful and CRISPY! Make this one everybody. I used a baby fryer and it cooked each piece in no more than two minutes. Perfection. Thank you Thomas!
You are welcome Deb 😉 Thanks for your feedback!
I can’t believe it! These vegan chicken nuggets tasted perfect! We tried them yesterday, and everyone, even non-vegan ones, loved them. Thank you for the recipe!!!
I’m so glad you liked the nuggets Mary!
Hey Thomas! God I love your site. Could you fry these in an air fryer?
Hey Deb,
Thank you 🙂 I think it should work in an air fryer, but I don’t own any so I haven’t tried.
These crispy chick’n nuggets are super tasty! I tried them out today, making a vegan rice curry (Japanese dish). Even non-vegan people loved them.
So happy to hear you liked the nuggets Anna! 🙂 Thanks for your feedback!
Can you tell me where to get loaf of vegan chicken
For this recipe?
Apologies. Found the link now above but maybe in the recipe would help those of us( who skipped to recipe). Oops