These homemade chicken nuggets are packed with 3(!) veggies (grated zucchini, grated carrot, + chopped spinach), are super easy to make, and absolutely delicious! Made with ground chicken, they’re juicy and tender on the inside, with the perfect crispy outside—ideal for dipping into all your favorite sauces. Perfect for lunch, dinner, or even in those school lunch boxes!

Veggie-loaded chicken nuggets on a parchment paper lined baking sheet with a bowl of ketchup and some sliced carrots, zucchini and a leaf of spinach on the sheet
4.90 from 79 votes
Featured Review

Making these for a 3rd time for my toddler! He loves them so I do a big batch and freeze them! Love that he gets all the veggies in there!

Christina
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Kinda the best homemade chicken nuggets known to man (IMO)

Allow me to set the scene for you: We were one week into the back-to-school hustle. Its Friday night. My daughter is face-planted into the pillows on the couch. The dog is sprawled out next to her. My husband, Ken, flops next to the dog and I….wedged somewhere in between them all…questioning whether dinner really had to happen.. We just sit for a moment….quiet. Crispy. Utter exhausted from the week. Ken breaks the silence and describes what we all are feeling just perfectly: “We’ve got a return-to-routine hangover.”

I drag myself off the cough (eventually)I opened the fridge and spotted the veggie-loaded chicken bites I’d made earlier in the week. OMG…score! They’d been a hit the first time and even pulled double duty as lunchbox fillers the next day. And in that moment, they became our Friday night dinner lifeline.

Sure, we could’ve defaulted to PB sandwiches or ordered pizza (and there will be nights when that’s the move). But thanks to past me pulling it together earlier in the week, these veggie-loaded chicken bites were already prepped and ready. They come together in 30 minutes (start to finish), check all the feel-good, filling dinner boxes I try to hit, and spared me from dirtying every dish in the kitchen. Or trying to use brain power I simply didn’t not have that Friday night. Satisfying, full of veggies, and a total fam dinner win when the week’s already worn you out.

Okay, let’s make these together.

Ingredients for veggie-loaded chicken nuggets laid out on a table.
Okay, so this is what you need. Let’s get all that together first.
A person wrapping out grated zucchini in a white kitchen towel.
Squeeze out that grated zucchini. It holds a lot of water and we don’t want those making our nuggets too wet, so get out as much water as you can.
A person using a spoon to mix veggie-loaded chicken nuggets together in a glass bowl.
Now let’s add that grated zucchini to a bowl with everything else (except the oil) and mix it up. Use your hands or a spoon, whatever you like.
A person forming the mixture for homemade chicken nuggets into nuggets
Got it all mixed well? Now let’s form the mixture into nuggets. I find that having wet hands helps to prevent the mixture from sticking to my hands and helps to make this step MUCH easier.
Veggie-loaded chicken nuggets in a cast iron with a spatula getting ready to slip one.
Heat up a large skillet, add a little oil.
Veggie-loaded chicken nuggets on a parchment paper lined baking sheet with a bowl of ketchup and some sliced carrots, zucchini and a leaf of spinach on the sheet. A hand is dunking one nugget into the ketchup
Thats it! You are ready to dunk them in your favorite sauce.

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4.90 from 79 votes

Veggie-Loaded Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Cuisine: American
Course: Main Course
Author: Taesha Butler
These homemade chicken nuggets are packed with 3(!) veggies (grated zucchini, grated carrot, + chopped spinach), are super easy to make, and absolutely delicious! Made with ground chicken, they’re juicy and tender on the inside, with the perfect crispy outside—ideal for dipping into all your favorite sauces. Perfect for lunch, dinner, or even in those school lunch boxes!
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Ingredients
 

  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 1 cup grated zucchini, measure before squeezing out
  • 1 cup grated carrot, or ½ cup finely grated carrot
  • ½ cup finely chopped spinach, loosely packed
  • ¼ teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • ½ Tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
  • black pepper to taste
  • oil for cooking

Instructions
 

  • Take shredded zucchini and put it in the middle of a clean dish towel or large piece of paper towel. Wrap up the zucchini with towel squeeze a few times to help drain out some of the zucchini’s moisture.
  • In a large bowl, combine drained zucchini and remaining ingredients except oil. Using clean hands or a spoon, mix until well combined.
  • Using a small cookie scoop or a heaping tablespoon, portion out the mixture into 18 nuggets. Use your hands to form each portion into a nugget shape. I find that having slightly wet hands helps the mixture from sticking to me. Place the bites on a plate until you work through the batch.
  • Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
  • Cook bites until a golden-brown crust starts to form and chicken is cooked through and have in internal temp of 165F, about 5 minutes per side
  • Enjoy warm and with your favorite dipping sauce. Allow leftovers to cool completely and store in an air-tight container in fridge for 4-5 days

Notes

    • Make them with ground turkey instead! Both are very interchangeable with one another in recipes!
    • Use more of one veggie and less (or none) of another! Modify this recipe to fit your family’s personal taste preferences or to use what you have on hand! If your crew doesn’t like spinach, skip it and add a little more zucchini or carrot.
    • Bake them instead. Pop them into a 400℉ oven for 20ish minutes (or until cooked through).
    • Make them into burgers!
Serving: 3bites, Calories: 123kcal, Carbohydrates: 3g, Protein: 14g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.05g, Cholesterol: 65mg, Sodium: 355mg, Potassium: 541mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 3853IU, Vitamin C: 6mg, Calcium: 25mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutritional information provided here is only an estimate shared for convenience and as a courtesy. Information will vary based on ingredients + brands used to create the recipe.