"Chicken" Nuggets

You can use this recipe for vegan chicken nuggets, fingers or strips. Adapted from Vegan Dad blog.

"Chicken" Nuggets

Ingredients

Makes 24 nuggets

1 cup gluten free gluten substitute

1 tsp vegan poultry spice

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup water

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups gluten free bread crumbs

2 tbsp nutritional yeast, crushed between your fingers

1/4 tsp tumeric

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground flax seed

1 1/2 cup soy milk

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Method

1. Whisk together flour and spices in a bowl. Whisk together water and oil and a separate bowl and add to flour mixture. Stir and bring into a dough. It's rather hard to knead this dough, so I stretch out the sides and then fold them into the centre. I then press down to mold it back together again. This works the gluten and helps mix everything together.

2. Roll dough out into a long log, about 12-14 inches long. Let rest while you mix together the bread crumbs, nutritional yeast, tumeric, and paprika in one bowl, and the flax seed, soy milk, oil, and vinegar in another.

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, line a baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with oil.

4. Slice dough into 24 pieces (about half inch each). Press down a bit to get a nugget shape, dip in soy milk, then lightly roll in bread crumbs. Repeat with all pieces of dough.

5. Re-dip nuggets back in soy milk (let it soak up so you get a thick breading), and roll again in the bread crumbs. Press the nugget into the crumbs to get a nice thick coating and to maintain the nugget shape. Place on baking sheet.

6. Bake for 10 mins, flip, then bake for another 10 mins. Flip again and cook for 4 mins, then flip and cook another 4 mins (this keeps the breading from browning too much).

7. Serve with dipping sauce of you choice. These are a bit chewy when they are piping hot, but firm up nicely when they cool down a bit.

A NOTE ON BREADING: the key to a good breading is to keep one hand wet and the other dry. Use one hand to dip the nuggets and place into the breading. Shake the bowl to coat the nugget in crumbs, then use your dry hand to handle/press the nugget.