If I have to seek a common ground on what food my beloved and I both like, it has to be fast food. Whenever we proclaim our love for fast food, we often got a mixture confusion and a puzzled look with a hint of judgement from people. This has mainly stemmed from the fact that I am a food blogger and that I love home cooking.
I’d like to say that fast food, food blogging and home cooking, they can be all in the same sentence and not mutually exclusive. At least over here at Fuss Free Cooking HQ. 🙂
It’s obvious that I don’t adhere to a specific diet, case in point that I’ve share all kinds of recipes including vegetarian, gluten free and vegan friendly recipes on this blog. What can I say, I am an equal opportunist when it comes to food and dieting ha! Like my approach to cooking and life, my dieting tip is a simple one, that is to eat in moderation. If I overindulged on one meal, I will make it up by seeking a healthier alternative on my next meal.
The beauty of home cooking is you have the power of making a healthier alternative. One of my favourite snacks to make at home is baked nuggets. I’ve posted a baked chicken nuggets recipe a while back and it has been a well-loved recipe ever since. As the original recipe has been revisited many times, it was not long after that I was comfortable enough to start tweaking the recipe.
So here it is, my homemade turkey nuggets. I hope you’ll like the recipe! 🙂
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup normal breadcrumbs (see note 1)
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (see note 1)
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 500g (about 17.6 oz) turkey mince
- 1 Tbsp basil pesto (I used this brand)
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 2 Tbsps breadcrumbs for the chicken mixture
- 1 tsp salt
- Freshly milled black pepper
- Olive oil cooking spray (if not, drizzle some vegetable oil using a teaspoon)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit). Line a large baking tray with baking paper and spray or drizzle some oil over it.
- Mix breadcrumbs on a large plate and set aside.
- Add thawed peas into a large mixing bowl. Use a fork to mash it until mushy.
- Add mince, pesto, egg, 2 Tbsps breadcrumbs, salt and black pepper to the mushy peas. Using your hands, mix these ingredients until well combined. Wash your hands after this. (Don't be alarm if the mixture still feels a little sticky.)
- Wet one palm with water. Shape about a tablespoon of mixture into a ball. Flatten the chicken mixture in the breadcrumbs . Make sure all the sides are covered in breadcrumbs. Lift the breaded chicken mixture and try to “smooth out” the edges and place it on the prepared baking tray. Repeat this step with the rest of the turkey mixture.
- Spray or drizzle nuggets with oil. Bake them for 30 minutes until cooked through and golden, turning once after 10 minutes into the cooking time.
Notes
{Note 1} Why 50% normal breadcrumbs and 50% panko breadcrumbs? I love the differing textures of panko and conventional breadcrumbs. As you may know, panko breadcrumbs have larger grains (and thus, better crunch) but tend to fall off quite easily when breading. This is compensated by the finer conventional breadcrumbs to fill the “gaps” resulting tightly breaded outer layer. But don’t worry, you can still get away with using either one of them if you don’t have both breadcrumbs on hand. {Freezing option} As suggested by taste.com.au, freeze the uncooked nuggets dividing nuggets between 2 large zip-lock bag, label, date and freeze for up to 3 months. Alternatively, my preferred option is to freeze the cooked nuggets and reheat when you’re ready to have them.
Must be very tasty. Thenks for sharing the recipe. Have a nice day. Jess
Thanks Jessica! I hope you’ll have a nice day too! 🙂 x Emily
Thanks for the recipe! I just made these for lunch, and me and my family enjoyed them a lot. We ate them with some lemon-y asparagus risotto on the side. I put 2 T pesto (had some homemade, with spinach and basil). The flavor of pesto plays along nicely in the meat. I just had ordinary breadcrumbs, and they’re plenty crispy. For next time, I’ll have to think a bit about some sauce to serve them with, Plain ketchup just didn’t seem to hit the spot. Do you have any ideas? And I’ll try and see if I can put half turkey mince half cooked lentils or something similar, to use less meat.