Quinoa Crusted Chicken
Adapted from Sodiumgirl.com
This recipe is your basic chicken nuggets, but a little fancier, healthier, and gluten free, made with quinoa.
Quinoa Crusted Chicken Nuggets
3/4 cup Quinoa (cooked)
1/4 cup Mustard (no-salt-added)
2 Tbsp Tomato puree (no-salt-added)
1/2 tsp Black pepper (freshly ground)
1/4 tsp Garlic powder (no-salt-added)
1/4 tsp Dried dill (thyme, or oregano)
Pinch Red chili pepper flakes
4 Skinless (boneless chicken thighs or breasts)
Olive oil cooking spray
Place the quinoa on a baking tray and broil on high for 4 minutes.
Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. Mix together all other ingredients, except lemon and fresh herbs, in a medium sized bowl.
Once the quinoa is done, remove from oven and set oven to 400F.
Place quinoa in a medium sized bowl. Dip the chicken pieces into the spice mixture first, making sure to coat all sides. Then place chicken into quinoa, covering all sides.
Once all the chicken is quinoa-ed, spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and spread chicken out on sheet. Stick it in the preheated oven for 10 minutes and you’re done!
Getting the right amount of cooked quinoa can be a little tricky, but I found that with 6 chicken tenderloins I needed a ½ cup of uncooked quinoa.
While this recipe is egg-free, I also made a version with an egg in place of the mustard, tomato paste mixture. I kept the spices the same for both.
The breading process was really easy, but wearing an apron might be a good idea. The dipping mixtures (both egg and egg-free) will get all over your hands, so just make sure not to accidentally scratch your nose or wipe your hands on your shirt.
I tried using both parchment paper and aluminum foil. The toasted quinoa stuck some to the aluminum foil but after spraying it with a little cooking spray it worked perfectly.
While you can definitely eat these as leftovers the next day, beware the quinoa will fall off a little in the microwave.
Notes from my family:
These were definitely a hit with my family. The only thing to be careful of is the mustard. Neither my dad nor my brother like mustard, and while the mustard in the egg-free version did not bother my dad, my brother admitted that he found the flavor a little too much. Of course he wouldn’t turn down a chicken nugget, but he preferred the egg version.