Kayla's Kitch and Fix

Oven Baked Chicken Nuggets (GF, DF, Egg Free, Paleo, Whole30, Chick-fil-A Inspired)

by 29 Comments

These Chick-fil-A inspired gluten free Oven Baked Chicken Nuggets are made from all real food ingredients and without any egg! The coating ACTUALLY sticks to your chicken despite being gluten free and is sure to be loved by even your most picky eater. Trust me, my fast food loving dad LOVES this recipe!

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Oven Baked Chicken Nuggets

Oven Baked Chicken Nuggets

These Oven Baked Chicken Nuggets are super easy and only take 20 minutes to bake. They require minimal ingredients and fit the needs of multiple dietary types and preferences without sacrificing ANY taste. Honestly, these are one of the best chicken nuggets I’ve ever had!

Oven Baked Chicken Nuggets
Oven Baked Chicken Nuggets

DIETARY NOTES

This recipe is made with real ingredients and fits seamlessly into the following dietary needs when using the products/brands (or ones that are similar) listed in the recipe:

  • gluten free
  • grain free
  • soy free
  • refined sugar free
  • egg free
  • tree nut free (using cassava flour and dairy milk)
  • dairy free
  • Whole30
  • paleo
Oven Baked Chicken Nuggets

COPYCAT CHICK-FIL-A CHICKEN NUGGETS

I was on day 9 of a round of Whole30 when my dad walked in with Chick-fil-A. If you’re not familiar, they make delicious fried chicken and waffle fries. I couldn’t stop thinking about those nuggets after smelling and seeing them, so I thought, why don’t I just make my own but with cleaned up ingredients?!

Not only are these comforting bites made with mindful ingredients making them a healthy choice, but they are also a great way to get your protein in! They’re free from any grains, gluten, dairy, eggs, tree nuts and refined sugars as well, so they’re super allergy friendly! Plus, they’re so crispy and delicious you could fool even your most picky eater!

Oven Baked Chicken Nuggets

WHY CASSAVA FLOUR?

Instead of using coconut and almond flour here (which you totally can if you’d like, and I’ve included a version for those flours in the recipe!), I choose to use cassava flour. It’s my favorite flour to bread things with as it makes the coating nice and flaky instead of grainy. It also sticks super well and the taste is so so so good! Trust me.

Not all cassava flours are created equal. Some are grainy while others are super high quality. Otto’s Naturals is the only cassava flour I use, and they were nice enough to give me a discount code for you all! Use “kaylaskitchandfix” at checkout for a discounted price. They also have free shipping on all orders! Click here to shop!

Crispy & Healthy Oven French Fries

HUNGRY FOR MORE?

Here are some sides that pair perfectly with these baked nuggets/tenders:

Gluten Free Fried ChickenSandwich
One Skillet Lemon & Thyme Chicken Milanese

If you’re looking for more delicious breaded chicken recipes:

Oven Baked Chicken Nuggets

FOLLOW ALONG

Be sure to follow me on Instagram and TikTok to see all of the behind the scenes of recipe creation as well as how to videos to watch them come to life! You can also head over to my Pinterest to save all of my recipes in one spot that you plan whip up in the future.

PS – If you make this recipe or any of my other recipes, I would be so grateful if you left a review so I can hear what you think! I also am happy to answer any questions you may have on here, but if you want a quicker response, be sure to shoot me a message on Instagram. Thank you so much and talk soon!

Oven Baked Chicken Nuggets

Oven Baked Chicken Nuggets

4.67 from 3 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 4 , or so
Course: Dinner, Lunch
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb chicken breast
  • ¼ cup pickle juice (I use Bubbie's)
  • ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk (I use MALK Organics)
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • ⅓ cup cassava flour (I use Otto's Naturals, can sub ¼ cup almond flour + 2 tbsp coconut flour)
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp onion powder
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • avocado oil spray (I use Chosen Foods)

Equipment

  • Wire Cooling Rack
  • Rimmed Baking Sheet

Method
 

  1. Preheat your oven to 425° F and top a rimmed baking sheet with a wire cooling rack. Spray the rack with avocado oil spray and set aside.
  2. Combine apple cider vinegar and almond milk in a bowl and allow to sit for 5 minutes in order to create something similar to buttermilk. After the 5 minutes, add in the pickle juice.
  3. Cut the chicken into your desired nugget size and add the pieces into the bowl with the marinade you just made. Allow to marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge.
  4. Combine cassava flour, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper in a bowl with a flat bottom and mix together.
  5. Once the chicken is ready, piece by piece, remove from the marinade and place into the breading mixture. Toss the nugget gently until it is evenly and fully covered, then move it to the wire cooling rack. Repeat this step until all of the chicken is coated, ensuring the nuggets are evenly spaced out on the rack.
  6. Generously spray the nuggets with avocado oil. This will help the coating get crispy, so don't be skimpy here!
  7. Bake the nuggets for 20 minutes.
  8. Remove from the oven and enjoy!

Notes

To reheat leftovers, opt for an air fryer or conventional toaster oven to get the coating crispy!

Copycat Chick-fil-A Sauce

4.67 from 3 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings: 4 , or so
Course: Dip, Sauce
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • ½ cup avocado oil mayo (I use Chosen Foods or make my own, can add more if you want a thicker consistency)
  • 2 tbsp coconut aminos
  • 1 tbsp yellow mustard
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard (I use Noble Made)
  • squeeze lemon
  • 1 ½ tbsp bbq sauce (I use Noble Made)
  • ¼ tsp salt

Method
 

  1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix together until fully combined.
  2. Add more mayo for a thicker consistency if desired.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Camille

    Thank you for this recipe. I’ve been searching for a recipe exactly like this one using almond flour and baking the nuggets, thanks I’ll leave a comment after I make them

    Reply

  4. Brittany

    Plan on making these…how would you recommend making larger batches to freeze and have on hand for air fryer oven heat up?

    Reply

    • kaylaskitchandfix

      I have not tried that, so I am not sure. I also want to note to be sure to make these in an oven as described in the recipe for them to work correctly! They are great reheated in the air fryer, though, if that’s what you meant. 🙂

      Reply

  9. Dj

    4 stars
    Nice recipe, I’m trying it slightly modified with whole milk and different flour (don’t have cassava right now). It’s just misleading on the beginning it says treenuts free but uses almond milk and coconut flour.

    Reply

  12. Samantha

    If I use ground chicken for this, would I shape it into nuggets first and then soak in the buttermilk mixture?

    Reply

  13. Anna

    5 stars
    This was delicious! I am so happy I found a gluten free egg free oven baked chicken nugget recipe. I didn’t have cassava flour on hand so I did a mixture of sorghum flour with arrowroot starch. I also accidentally ran out of milk so instead of buttermilk, I mixed equal portions of plain Greek yogurt with water. I will definitely make this again 🙂

    Reply

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