It is written for two people (or one hungry person), but is easily upscaled to however many you are feeding. And it is so easy! Really, the most difficult part is making sure you have enough defrosted chicken.
Speaking of which, I'm going to change up the order of things a bit and dive right into a technique that I'll probably post separately at some point:
Technique:
When you need to defrost frozen chicken (or for that matter, any frozen food), the best technique is to submerge it in cold water in a sink. Be sure the food is covered by something waterproof, but also try to eliminate as many air pockets as possible. Sometimes this is easy when your frozen food is air-locked sealed. But if it isn't, just grab a bowl or something and fill it with water and place it on top of the food so it remains underwater. Generally speaking, it should not take long to defrost that item. For fish and slender pieces of meat, it only takes 15-20 minutes. For thicker cuts of meat, maybe 30-40. Just be sure to use cold or lukewarm water. As crazy as it sounds, hot water will not defrost the food the way you want it to and will not speed up the process.
When you need to defrost frozen chicken (or for that matter, any frozen food), the best technique is to submerge it in cold water in a sink. Be sure the food is covered by something waterproof, but also try to eliminate as many air pockets as possible. Sometimes this is easy when your frozen food is air-locked sealed. But if it isn't, just grab a bowl or something and fill it with water and place it on top of the food so it remains underwater. Generally speaking, it should not take long to defrost that item. For fish and slender pieces of meat, it only takes 15-20 minutes. For thicker cuts of meat, maybe 30-40. Just be sure to use cold or lukewarm water. As crazy as it sounds, hot water will not defrost the food the way you want it to and will not speed up the process.
Alright, I'll probably do a whole post about that defrosting thing later on, but now that we got that out of the way, let's talk about makin' some cajun! And specially, my Pan Fried Cajun Chicken Nuggets!
Don't those look good!
Before we start out, I must warn you that this recipe utilizes Volcano Todd's Cajun Seasoning so I hope that you've checked out how to make that, but I also hope that you realize that I like things hot so the default version of this recipe is perhaps a bit too much for most people, even though I consider it mild-to-medium. I give some instruction below on how to adjust for taste, so don't fret if you don't like things too spicy. That being said, there's no way you can make things without it being at least a little bit spicy, so if that isn't your bag, let me know in the comments and I'll be sure to share some alternatives.
With that disclaimer out of the way, why don't we get down to business?
Pan Fried Cajun Chicken Nuggets Recipe:
| Preparation Time: 5 minutes | Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes | Yield: About 24 (2 servings) |
Ingredients:
- 2 chicken breasts*
- 1 Tbsp Volcano Todd's Cajun Seasoning**
- 3 Tbsp flour***
- Olive (or similar) oil spray****
** I like things hot. My 1 to 3 ratio of cajun seasoning to flour is on my own personal spectrum "medium". If you like things more mild, cut back a little on the seasoning and add a bit more flour. If you like things spicier, add a bit more seasoning but do not cut back on the flour. You may have some mixture left over, but you need the flour to act as an adhesive to the chicken.
*** Use whatever flour works for you. In the picture above, I used garbanzo flour, but pretty much any type should work as long as it is finely cut.
**** I recommend using a spray here because it cuts down on the greasiness factor, but if you'd rather, feel free to pour a little oil on your pan or substitute with butter/margarine. As I've written it, you should end up with fairly crisp nuggets with minimal oil, but if you like things a bit more charred and/or greasy, do what works for you.
Directions:
- Cut up the chicken breasts into small pieces roughly no more than about an inch in size in any direction.
- Mix the VT Cajun Seasoning and flour together and transfer to a quart sized plastic bag.
- Four or five pieces at a time, drop the chicken into the bag and give it a good shake so that the chicken's surface is covered in the mixture. Remove the pieces, place aside, and repeat until all pieces are adequately covered.
- Spray a medium to large frying pan with oil and set over medium heat.
- Place all of the chicken pieces on the frying pan so that they do not overlap. Heat for about a minute or until the heated side is no longer "spongy" and the flour/seasoning mixture does not easily separate from the chicken.
- Carefully flip all the pieces of chicken using prongs or a fork. Wait another minute or so again.
- Continue to cook and occasionally toss the chicken using a spatula until fully cooked.
- Enjoy!
Give me a shout out if you've tried them and let me know what you think!
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