Beer & Vodka Batter Chicken Nuggets

Chicken nuggets for grown-ups.

18 nuggets
1 hour 30 minutes
Ethan Chlebowski

Ingredients

Chicken

  • Chicken Thighs, boneless, skinless
    454 g
  • Salt
    5 g
  • MSG
    3 g

Beer & vodka batter

  • Flour
    150 g
  • Corn starch
    25 g
  • Baking Powder
    5 g
  • Salt
    5 g
  • Cayenne Pepper
    1 g
  • Garlic Powder
    1 g
  • Smoked Paprika
    1 g
  • Beer
    227 g
  • Vodka
    43 g
  • Neutral oil
    for frying

Horseradish honey mustard

  • Dijon Mustard
    2 parts
  • Mayonnaise
    2 parts
  • Honey
    1 part
  • Horseradish Condiment
    1 part

Method

Step 1: Grind & form the chicken

Slice the boneless, skinless chicken thighs into thin slivers. Then cut across the slivers into small cubes. Rock chop the chicken continuously for about 3 minutes until it starts to resemble rough ground meat.

  • Sprinkle the salt and MSG over the chicken and continue chopping for another minute. Then, massage and mix the ground chicken with your hands for about a minute. This process helps bind the chicken.

Lay wax paper over a baking sheet and form the ground chicken into nugget shapes. I got about 18. Set them aside in the fridge while we prepare the batter and start heating the oil.

Step 2: Start the batter & begin dredging the chicken

Add about 2 inches of neutral oil to a wok over medium-low heat.

In a bowl, combine 100 grams of flour with the corn starch, baking powder, salt, cayenne, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. Mix well.

In another bowl, combine the beer and vodka.

Put the remaining 50 grams of flour in a separate bowl. Toss the chicken nuggets in the plain flour until evenly coated, then transfer them to a wire rack set on a baking sheet.

Step 3: Mix the batter & set up the fry station

Slowly pour the beer mixture into the flour mixture, whisking just until it forms a thin batter, somewhere between crepe and pancake batter.

  • Be careful not to over-mix; it's okay if there are a few small lumps of flour.

Set up the station. On the left, place the floured chicken nuggets and the bowl of batter. In the middle, have the wok with hot oil. On the right, set up a wire rack over a baking sheet with a paper towel on half.

Once the oil is at 350°F/ 176°C, you are ready to fry.

Step 4: Coat the nuggets & fry

Transfer the flour chicken nuggets to the batter, turning them to coat. Pick up a nugget and allow the excess batter to drip off. Gently lower the nugget into the oil to reduce splashing.

Work in small batches of 5 or 6, repeat until all chicken nuggets are in the oil. until the chicken nuggets are golden brown and crispy on all sides, about 4-5 minutes. Check that the internal temperature is at least 160°F/71°C.

Transfer the fried nuggets to the paper towel and immediately give them a sprinkle of salt. Dab the excess oil on both sides and move the nuggets off the paper towel.

Step 5: Make the sauce & serve

Add all of the sauce components together in a small bowl and mix together. Serve alongside the hot chicken nuggets.

“These chicken nuggets are juicy but also crispy and light on the outside. Once you dip them into the spicy horseradish honey mustard, you are going to kill for these.”

Ethan Chlebowski
Creator

Watch & Cook

Nutritional Information

Chicken & batter
Calories2075
322g
20g
105g

Show macros split into…

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Recommended: 3 servings

FAQ

Could I use pre-ground chicken?

You could use ground chicken if you don’t have thighs, but they might not be as juicy as the ones made from thighs. This method of chopping up the chicken meat creates a that resembles fast food chicken nuggets. It’s worth doing yourself.

Why use beer & vodka?

As we learn from Kenji Lopez in The Food Lab, adding the beer and alcohol to the batter does a couple important things. First, by using beer (or soda water) instead of water it will help leaven the batter creating a more open once the bubbles of carbon dioxide expand when fried. Also for beer specifically, it contains extra flavor compounds and carbohydrates that aid in the browning of our nugget.

What about the vodka you may ask? The alcohol from the vodka in the batter evaporates quicker than water so it will start browning and crisping faster.

More importantly Kenji says, replacing alcohol in the batter will limit gluten development. While great for bread doughs, if you have too much gluten development for a batter you end up with hard and tough crust instead of one that is light and .

If you need an alcohol free recipe, you can replace both with sparking water, or use one of the other deep fried recipes on the site.

Should I use fresh or store-bought horseradish

Either works. If you can find horseradish root, just peel and grate it with a microplane into the sauce. Horseradish root can be hard to find at standard supermarkets, but you can usually find horseradish puree pre-made in the condiment aisle. Taste and adjust your final sauce as needed.