Fennel Spiced Chicken Nuggets

Fennel Spiced Chicken Nuggets

     

     I have a confession. I really, really disliked fennel until about two weeks ago. I would search grocery stores for Italian sausage that didn't contain it. If a restaurant had fennel listed on the menu I avoided that dish. There aren't many foods or spices I dislike but for some reason the licorice type smell of it was not appealing to me. Right now I'm very limited in what spices I can use due to some health issues. My beloved onion, garlic, chili powder, and black pepper have had to retire. 

     I decided to give fennel another chance, maybe I would like it now that all my spicy foods that I lived off of were no longer an option, and anything had to taste better than chicken just seasoned with salt. I bought a high quality dried whole fennel seed and decided to make chicken nuggets using it. They were DELICIOUS! I LOVE fennel now! I like to make a batch of these to have on hand for lunches for the week, or even as a high protein snack. They reheat well in the air fryer or microwave and go well with gluten free pasta or potatoes! I like to dip them in dairy free pesto or tahini. 

     

Fennel Spiced Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients
1 pound ground chicken
1 tsp salt
1 egg well beaten
1 TBSP coconut flour
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 1/2 tsp dried whole fennel seed divided (half will go on top)
olive oil or olive oil cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1. In a large bowl crack the egg and whisk with a fork until the yolk and white are well mixed

2. Add the ground chicken, salt, coconut flour, dried basil, and 1tsp dried fennel, mix until ingredient are well incorporated

3. Using a large cookie scoop or tablespoon portion the meat mixture into balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper

4. Using the back of a fork gently press each mound of chicken down to flatten

5. Spray each chicken nugget lightly with 100% olive oil cooking spray or use a pastry brush to brush olive oil on each nugget

6. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 tsp of fennel seed on top of the nuggets

7. Bake for 7 minutes, take out of the oven and flip the nuggets over and bake for another 7-10 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 165

Enjoy!

A few notes
* The coconut flour and egg are optional but I have found that adding them to chicken makes the nuggets stay together and the coconut flour absorbs extra juices from the chicken as they bake making for a better texture. I have made them without coconut flour and I end up with a pan of chicken juices. ha ha
* You can use this base recipe and add whatever spices you like! If you don't like fennel you can use something else!
* Adding the fennel to the top makes these have an extra roasted fennel taste!