Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets

  • 20MINS
  • 30MINS
  • Serves 6
  • 210KCAL

Crispy breaded chicken nuggets sprinkled with a delicious, Chinese style salt and pepper seasoning.

  • Bakes and Roasts pinchofnom.com
  • Batch Cook pinchofnom.com
  • Dairy Free pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets pinchofnom.com

NutritionPer Serving

  • Calories210
  • Carbs12g
  • Protein31g
  • Fat3.7g
  • Saturates1g
  • Sugars1.8g

Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets - Pinch of Nom Slimming Recipes

For the full list of ingredients and comprehensive instructions, please see the recipe card at the end of this post. Before you scroll, there’s important stuff to know in the blurb!

We LOVE the spicy kick of Chinese salt and pepper flavouring and it’s so easy to make at home that you’ll never have to order from the takeaway again!

Toasting the sea salt in a dry pan is the key to achieving that authentic salt and pepper taste and – as we love our food with a nice kick – we’ve left the seeds in our chilli pepper for a bit of extra heat. If you’d prefer your nuggets with a milder flavour then simply deseed your chilli before you chop it.

This recipe is also perfect for batch cooking as the nuggets can be frozen before or after cooking. Perfect if you have a busy week coming up as whether you’re cooking from raw or reheating after cooking, they’re ready in a jiffy!

What diets are these Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets suitable for?

These Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets are suitable for dairy free diets.

They can be made suitable for gluten free diets as long as you use gluten free breadcrumbs.

Please make sure to double or triple check all of your ingredients if you’re cooking for people with allergies.

Do you need any special ingredients to make these Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets?

These Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets are super simple and they don’t require any special ingredients to make.

Hints & Tips

Below we added some of our communities most common hints and tips. We hope you find them useful.

WOW grown up chicken nuggets. So tasty. A definite hit.
Also can be made Gluten free. Great cold for lunch box or picnic.

We love hearing from you, submit any tips or tricks you have for this dish and we’ll review them and add some of them here. Just click here.

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‘Me and my partner are over the moon with this recipe. We have been searching for something to replace our high calorific Chinese and this recipe does exactly that. It tastes the same if not better. Yum!’

Emma Jones

How many calories are in these Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets?

There are 210 calories per portion in these Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets which means they fall into our Everyday Light category. 

These Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets are perfect if you’re following a calorie controlled diet and fit well with any one of the major diet plans such as Weight Watchers. 

As a guide, an average man needs around 2,500kcal (10,500kJ) a day to maintain a healthy body weight. For an average woman, that figure is around 2,000kcal (8,400kJ) a day. Obviously, if your goal is to lose weight then you might want to adjust these slightly! You can read more about these recommendations on the NHS website.

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper and spray with low calorie cooking spray.

Step 2

For the salt and pepper mix: Place a small frying pan over a low heat and add the sea salt. Toast the sea salt in the frying pan for 1 – 2 minutes, stirring, until lightly golden in colour.

Step 2 pinchofnom.com

Step 3

Place the toasted sea salt in a small bowl, and stir in the sweetener, Chinese five spice powder, chilli flakes and white pepper.

Step 4

Place the lightly beaten egg on a plate and the breadcrumbs on another plate.

Step 4 pinchofnom.com

Step 5

Dip the chunks of chicken in the egg, turning to coat all over, then dip in the breadcrumbs and coat well.

Step 5 pinchofnom.com

Step 6

Place the breadcrumbed chicken on the baking tray and sprinkle the salt and pepper mixture over, turning to sprinkle on all sides. Spray with low calorie cooking spray.

Step 6 pinchofnom.com

Step 7

Place in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes, turning once, until the chicken is golden and thoroughly cooked through. Test that the chicken is cooked by cutting a piece in half, the juices should run clear and there should be no signs of pinkness.

Step 8

Place a small frying pan on a medium heat and spray with low calorie cooking spray. Add the green pepper, red pepper and chilli and fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring. Add the spring onion and cook for a further 1-2 minutes, stirring well.

Step 8 pinchofnom.com

Step 9

Sprinkle the vegetable mixture over the cooked chicken nuggets and serve at once.

Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets - Pinch of Nom Slimming Recipes

What could I serve with these Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets?

You can really serve these Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets with any accompaniment that you fancy, but we think that they work especially well with any of the following:

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How do you know when these Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets are cooked?

You’ll need to cook your Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets until the breadcrumbs are golden and the chicken is cooked through with no pinkness remaining.

Standard advice here in the UK is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and stayed at that temperature for 2 minutes. This is to keep your family safe.

Can I cook these Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets any other way?

These can be cooked in an airfryer if preferred. Preheat to 170ºC and cook in two batches. Each batch will take approx 15 minutes until the nuggets are golden and thoroughly cooked through.

Cook the green peppers, red peppers, spring onion and chilli in a frying pan as in the above oven method, and sprinkle over the chicken nuggets.

How long can you keep these Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets in the fridge?

Once you’ve put it out, ideally you should eat it within 4 hours.

If you allow any leftovers to cool, make sure to refrigerate in a container with a lid and chill.  You can keep leftovers of these Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets in the fridge for approximately 3 days or so.

Can I freeze these Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets?

Yes you can! This recipe can be frozen before or after cooking. To freeze after cooking, simply place in a plastic box that is suitable for freezing.

To freeze the raw, coated chicken nuggets, place in a freezer-proof plastic box, making sure there is space around each nugget to stop them sticking together. 

Remember to make sure that you:

  • Freeze it as soon as it is cold enough.
  • Use a container or bag that is suitable for freezing.

Don’t forget to add a label with what it is, and on what date you put it in the freezer!

How do I reheat these Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets?

From chilled: Place in a microwave proof container with a loosely fitting lid and heat for 4-7 minutes until piping hot.

From frozen: Allow to defrost, and heat covered in the microwave for 3-5 minutes then stir. Cook for a further 5-7 minutes or until piping hot.

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Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets

Crispy breaded chicken nuggets sprinkled with a delicious, Chinese style salt and pepper seasoning.
  • Prep Time
    20 MINS
  • Cook Time
    30 MINS
  • KCals 210
  • Carbs 12G

Ingredients

  • 3 large skinless chicken breasts cut into 3 - 4cm chunks
  • 150 g wholemeal bread blitzed into breadcrumbs
  • 2 medium eggs lightly beaten
  • 1 tbsp sea salt
  • 1 tbsp granulated sweetener
  • 1/2 tbsp Chinese five spice powder
  • 1 good pinch of dried chilli flakes
  • 1 tsp ground white pepper
  • 1/2 green pepper finely diced
  • 1/2 red pepper finely diced
  • 2 spring onions finely chopped
  • 1 small red chilli finely chopped (deseeded if wished)
  • low calorie cooking spray

We use a fan assisted oven for all of our recipes. Check out our oven temperature conversion guide.

Please do not screenshot this. Recipes are updated often

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC. Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper and spray with low calorie cooking spray.
  2. For the salt and pepper mix: Place a small frying pan over a low heat and add the sea salt. Toast the sea salt in the frying pan for 1 - 2 minutes, stirring, until lightly golden in colour.
  3. Place the toasted sea salt in a small bowl and stir in the sweetener, Chinese five spice powder, chilli flakes and white pepper.
  4. Place the lightly beaten egg on a plate and the breadcrumbs on another plate.
  5. Dip the chunks of chicken in the egg, turning to coat all over, then dip in the breadcrumbs and coat well.
  6. Place the breaded chicken on the baking tray and sprinkle the salt and pepper mixture over, turning to sprinkle on all sides. Spray with low calorie cooking spray.
  7. Place in the oven for 25 - 30 minutes, turning once, until the chicken is golden and thoroughly cooked through. Test that the chicken is cooked by cutting a piece in half, the juices should run clear and there should be no signs of pinkness.
  8. Place a small frying pan on a medium heat and spray with low calorie cooking spray. Add the green pepper, red pepper and chilli and fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring. Add the spring onion and cook for a further 1-2 minutes, stirring well.
  9. Sprinkle the vegetable mixture over the cooked chicken nuggets and serve at once.

Looking for Slimming World Syns or Weight Watchers (WW) Points?

With ever-changing plans and point calculations, we have made the decision to remove WW Points from the website - referring to your individual plan or advice from your consultant is always going to give the most accurate results.



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15 comments

See what others have to say

Victoria HiltonTuesday 12th April 2022

Hi folks,

Which Pinch of Nom book is the Salt & Pepper chicken nuggets in please?

Thanks

Reply

    HollyThursday 14th April 2022

    Hey Victoria, these nuggets are an exclusive recipe to our website so don’t appear in any of our books. We have a guide HERE for how to save your favourite recipes to you account for next time, hope that helps!

    Reply

JoWednesday 3rd March 2021

Hi how much is a single serving in weight please? I am on low carb diet so I worry about having to much in a serving

Reply

    HollyThursday 4th March 2021

    Hey Jo, We work out our recipes on the serving size not by weight. To work out your own weight of a serving you would need to make the finished dish and divide into servings, as the weight will vary due to variation of ingredients and water content it’s not something we can do as an exact measure. If you scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the page on the website there is a little arrow by servings and you can alter up or down to serve more or less people. Hope that helps!

    Reply

Jane HSaturday 27th February 2021

Is there a reason why the salt and pepper mix is sprinkled on afterwards rather than being mixed into the breadcrumbs before dipping the egg-coated chicken into the mix?

Reply

    SharonFriday 12th March 2021

    Hi Jane, we breadcrumbed the chicken first, and then sprinkled it with the salt and pepper mix; but there’s no reason that you couldn’t mix in the salt and pepper mix to the breadcrumbs before using. Either method will work equally well. Thanks for your question and hope you enjoy the recipe!

    Reply

LisaSaturday 6th February 2021

Hi Harriet
You can use sugar.

Reply

HannahTuesday 26th January 2021

Would it be possible to make these with frozen quorn pieces? If you browned them a little in a frying pan first? They would be more like popcorn chicken size.

Reply

    HollyTuesday 26th January 2021

    Hi Hannah, we haven’t tested this recipe with quorn pieces but it should work okay, let us know how you get on

    Reply

CherThursday 7th January 2021

I’m on a slimming journey for my wedding, my fiance not so much but I want something for dinner that I will look forward to after a long day at work and I made this for us last night with Mayflower curry sauce and homemade chips and WOW. Best dinner I have made in a long time and H2B said it was better than the chinese (slightly biased). Have lots more recipes saved to try. Thanks!

Reply

    SharonThursday 7th January 2021

    Hi Cher, we’re so pleased you enjoyed the Salt and Pepper Chicken Nuggets and that you’re saving more of our recipes to try. All the best for your slimming journey and your forthcoming wedding.

    Reply

FranSaturday 26th December 2020

Can these be reheated in the oven after being frozen?

Reply

    HollySaturday 26th December 2020

    Hey Fran, Yes they can! Allow to defrost, and heat covered in the microwave for 3-5 minutes then stir. Cook for a further 5-7 minutes or until piping hot. Hope that helps!

    Reply

PaulaSunday 4th October 2020

Hi, can these be frozen once cooked?
Thanks
Paula

Reply

    HollyWednesday 7th October 2020

    Hi Paula, This recipe can be frozen before or after cooking. To freeze after cooking, simply place in a plastic box that is suitable for freezing. To re-heat allow to defrost, and heat covered in the microwave for 3-5 minutes then stir. Cook for a further 5-7 minutes or until piping hot. Hope that helps!

    Reply

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