Updated on Aug. 01, 2024
No need to hit up the drive-thru! We found the best frozen chicken nuggets you can make in minutes. Fill your cart with our Test Kitchen's faves, then break out the barbecue sauce.
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Let’s be honest: Almost no one is immune to the charms of a humble chicken nugget. Paired with some salty fries and plenty of dipping sauces, there’s basically no turning these down.
This being said, some frozen chicken nuggets are better than others. After all, if you’re going to indulge in this best-loved childhood snack (or feed the nuggets to actual kids), you want them to satisfy.
So which options are really the best chicken nuggets? Our Test Kitchen had to find out!
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If your kiddos are craving a McDonald’s- or Burger King-style nugget, you’ll want Banquet Chicken Nuggets.
These frozen nuggets are thin and uniformly shaped much like fast-food nuggets. The coating is a rich bronze color with flecks of pepper. Our team also noted touches of paprika in the breading, but nothing too strong; these would definitely appeal to kids.
Inside, you’ll find processed chicken, but that didn’t bother our testers. “They are very juicy,” says taster Sarah Tramonte in our Test Kitchen.
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Want a nugget that’s all-white meat and unprocessed chicken? Toss these Just Bare Chicken Breast Chunks in your cart.
“These are a lot like Chick-fil-A nuggets,” says tester Maggie Knoebel. And if you know your nuggets, you know there’s no praise higher than that.
So what does that mean, exactly? On the inside, you’ll find real chicken breast that’s tender and juicy. These nuggets are also batter-dipped, as compared to crumb-coated or breaded. When baked, the exterior is crispy and golden brown. Overall, these nuggets have a texture and bite our team can’t resist. (If you have time to make them from scratch, try our copycat Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets. Or, just dunk the store-bought ones in your homemade copycat Chick-fil-A sauce.)
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Gluten-free eaters, rejoice! You can get a darn good chicken nugget when you prep a bag of Tyson Naturals Gluten-Free Breaded Chicken Breast Nuggets.
Take a bite and you’ll find ground chicken inside—typical of most nuggets. It tastes as you’d expect with a pinch of salt and not too fine a texture—our team doesn’t want mush!
Where these Tyson frozen chicken nuggets really stand out from the crowd, though, is with their superb breading. Who would have thought that gluten-free breading would be a favorite in a category typically filled with flour?
“I can anticipate the crunch of the breading even before the first bite,” says the head of our Test Kitchen, Sarah Farmer. And when it comes to crunch, these chicken nuggets really do deliver. These chunks are crispy thanks to a panko-like coating, and you’ll get hints of garlic and pepper as well.
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A gluten-free and organic nugget also came in at the top of our test: Perdue Simply Smart Organics Chicken Nuggets.
Take a bite and you’ll find these nuggets are made with minced chicken—typical of kid-friendly options. However, these bites have appeal that goes beyond the grade school set.
The crisp, golden coating is ultra-satisfying. When you take a bite, you’ll get that sought-after crunch. And, according to taster Josh Rink, “because this nugget is thicker, it definitely has a satisfying bite and chew.” Texture is crucial in a snack food like this, and this offering from Perdue ticks all the right boxes.
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If you’re into the nuggets more for the chicken than the breading, try Bell & Evans Breaded Chicken Breast Nuggets.
These nuggets are made of pieces of real chicken breast—no minced or processed proteins here! They also don’t skimp on size. Typically nuggets are pretty thin and small, but in the words of Sarah Farmer, “these are boulders!” (She means this in the best way.)
The breading here was a bit sparse—more like a thin coating of fine breadcrumbs than the crispy crunching breading you expect from a nugget. This is great for folks that don’t like a thick coating and are craving more chicken flavor.
When shopping for frozen chicken nuggets, it’s important to pay close attention to the texture, flavor, overall quality and any dietary needs, like gluten-free varieties. Chicken nuggets are known for their breading, so choose one that is well-seasoned and bakes to a crispy golden brown. While chicken nuggets can be made from either minced or whole chicken, look for an option that tastes good and has a good consistency. Ultimately, what matters most is the flavor because chicken nuggets are meant to taste delicious, first and foremost.
At Taste Recipes, we’re serious about good food. That’s why every single recipe that our readers submit gets reviewed, made and sampled by our team of culinary experts. We want to make sure that everything from our kitchens deserves the label Test Kitchen-Approved.
The same goes for products. Our pros want to know what foods, gadgets and cleaning supplies are the best to fill your pantry and home. We put every product through a thorough testing process. Then, our Test Kitchen team chooses the winners. Those best-tasting and top-performing products get our stamp of approval to be called Test Kitchen Preferred.
When it comes to finding the best products—be they as fun as chicken nuggets or as pricey as good olive oil—our team of culinary pros takes testing seriously.
That’s why, to prepare for this test, we did our research! Our shoppers found the most popular chicken nuggets on the market. Most, though not all, chicken nuggets are made with minced chicken. Some are small chunks of breaded chicken (like a mini chicken tender). Both are readily available, so our Test Kitchen sourced both to sample here.
For this test, our team prepped each brand according to package directions (ensuring to avoid this common chicken nugget mistake) and sampled each nugget blindly. Every nugget was judged according to these categories:
Whether or not chicken nuggets are healthy depends on the variety you purchase. Some types of chicken nuggets yield very few nutritional benefits while others are healthier. Be sure to review the nutrition information on the packaging to inform your purchase.
Shoppers and reviewers on social media have reported that Just Bare Lightly Breaded Chicken Chunks are very similar in texture and flavor to Chick-fil-A’s chicken nuggests.
All of Perdue’s refrigerated chicken nuggets are fully cooked and ready to eat. It is recommended that you heat them for the best texture, but there is no reason you couldn’t eat them right out of the package.
