Considering we love so many foods and have a pretty varied palate, it’s hard to believe that long before we were registered dietitians and personal trainers we were super picky little kids. We would torture our poor mom who knew she could only feed us without a fight if she gave us a peanut butter sandwich—or chocolate or chocolate with coconut—like a Mounds bars (but the latter two weren’t meal options in our house 😉 ). So nowadays, although we enjoy so many foods, we gotta admit that sprinkling a touch of peanut butter, chocolate or coconut in any of our meals makes them that much better! A coconut sprinkling certainly sparkles up our Lime Shrimp with Coconut Rice, Coconut Fruit Pops and our Toasted Coconut Macadamia Nut Granola Parfait —and now we’ve got another one to add to the list!
Say hello to these scrumptious baked chicken nuggets with a crispy coconut quinoa coating – so easy and nutritious! Quinoa is a fiber-packed quality carbohydrate and it’s all the rage—and we include it in so many of our recipes– like our Quinoa Pizza Bites and our Greek Quinoa Salad just to name a few. And here with the quinoa, to add a little zest to these munchie bites, we added some shredded coconut. This way you get plenty of flavor and won’t be looking to dunk these nuggets into a dip. These nuggets are packed with protein and healthy complex carbohydrates. Perfect alone as a snack or eat ‘em as part of your meal, simply add some veggies and call it one delicious day! They are so easy to make and so tasty to eat!
Coconut Quinoa Chicken “Nuggets”
Yield 35 chicken nuggets
Ingredients:
- ⅔ cup flour of choice
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- salt, to taste, optional
- 3 eggs (we use Eggland’s Best because they have 25% less saturated fat than other eggs) + 2 tablespoons water
- 1 ½ cups cooked quinoa
- ¼ cup unsweetened coconut shreds
- 3, 4 oz, boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch pieces
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and cover a baking sheet with foil.
- In a small bowl whisk flour, salt (if using, we didn’t use any), and pepper. In a second bowl whisk eggs and water.
- Place quinoa and coconut flakes in a third bowl.
- Dunk the chicken pieces in flour mixture, then eggs, and finally in the quinoa being sure to coat well.
- Place on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until nuggets are cooked through and browned to a slight crisp.
- Serve and enjoy! 🙂
Nutritional Information:
7 nuggets (without optional salt)
Calories 170; Fat 5g; Saturated Fat 2g; Carbohydrates 19g; Protein 25g; Cholesterol 100mg; Sodium 151mg; Fiber 3g
The Nutrition Twins work with Eggland’s Best to help people get more nutrients.
- ⅔ cup flour of choice
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- salt, to taste, optional
- 3 eggs (we use Eggland's Best) + 2 tablespoons water
- 1 ½ cups cooked quinoa
- ¼ cup unsweetened coconut shreds
- 3, 4 oz, boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch pieces
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and cover a baking sheet with foil.
- In a small bowl whisk flour, salt (if using, we didn’t use any), and pepper. In a second bowl whisk eggs and water.
- Place quinoa and coconut flakes in a third bowl.
- Dunk the chicken pieces in flour mixture, then eggs, and finally in the quinoa being sure to coat well.
- Place on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until nuggets are cooked through and browned to a slight crisp.
- Serve and enjoy! 🙂
