One of my favorite meals growing up was my mom’s chicken nuggets. She’d dip chicken breast in egg, then breadcrumbs and pan fry it in Crisco. We’d dip them in cranberry sauce and they were delicious.
These days, bread crumbs and Crisco are definitely not part of my pursuit to take great care of myself, but man would I be crazy about a decent replacement!
Since learning that I need to cut back on nuts and seeds due to their oxalate content, I’ve been incorporating hemp hearts much more often. Hemp hearts are actually a seed, but they are unique in that they don’t contain oxalate. They also contain all of the essential amino acids, which categorizes them as a complete protein. I talk all about hemp hearts in episode 506 of the podcast.
I’ve been sprinkling them on top of my salads, but today I branched out, threw them in the food processor, added spices and used them like a breadcrumb to recreate a healthier, spicier version of my childhood favorite.
I made 3 different variations and I’m sharing with you my favorite. In fairness, all 3 varieties were good.
In one variation (the one shared below), I put the hemp hearts in the food processor. That gave the most coverage of the chicken. I also tried it without processing the hemp hearts – just using them in their full form. It was great texturally, but the coverage of chicken wasn’t as great.
I baked some on parchment paper at 400 degrees (8 minutes on each side) and I pan fried some in coconut oil. The pan fried in coconut oil (shared below) was my favorite because the baked ones weren’t as crispy.
I share that so you know that you could absolutely choose to bake these instead of pan frying and you could skip the food processor step, just know that you won’t get quite the same degree of coverage.
Without further ado, I share with you:
Hemp Heart Crusted Spicy Chicken Nuggets
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into strips or nuggets)
3 eggs
1 cup hemp hearts
2 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp red cayenne pepper
1/4 cup coconut oil
Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo for dipping
- Put your hemp hearts in the food processor and blend until fine (about 30 seconds)
- Transfer hemp hearts to a medium size bowl and add coconut flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and cayenne. Mix well.
- Crack your eggs in a bowl and whisk
- Dip chicken pieces in egg then transfer to hemp heart mixture. Coat well.
- Heat oil in large skillet
- When hot, add chicken (don’t crowd the pan)
- Turn chicken every few minutes and remove when all sides are browned and chicken is cooked through
- Serve with Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo for dipping
I get my ghee, hemp hearts, coconut flour, salt, pepper, coconut oil and Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo from Thrive Market. Because Thrive Market brings products to you directly from the manufacturer, there’s no markup from a middle-man. This allows them to keep their prices significantly lower from most other grocers and online providers.
In October 2019, our relationship with Thrive Market changed. They decided to put their marketing dollars in avenues outside of podcasting but we still think they’re a good choice if you’re looking to save money on health & personal care products.
