Pepperoni Crusted Chicken Nuggets

Everyone who knows me knows that I claim that I could eat pizza every day. It is mostly because of the pepperoni. I could eat that everyday. So goes with our family. We sometimes buy the three pound bag at the warehouse club. I use it for snacks too though--plain with a cheese cube or crisped into chips.  And pepperoni scrambled eggs, don't forget how those jazz up breakfast. Just this weekend I made a mean Italian soup with beef, pepperoni and veggies. Zucchini and pepperoni sauteed together. Yum. But those things are easy. This recipe is ingenious. My hubster was totally addicted. We never got to eat them as a meal. I had the plate on the table to photograph. They disappeared while I was editing the photos. One at a time. Everyone in the house was a sneak. Guess that made them our superbowl food. Glad we had something to ease the pain! (Congrats Seahawks)

I mean other people may use flour, or panko crumbs. Who but we low carbers get to use crushed pepperoni chips to coat our chicken nuggets? Ohhhhhhh my! The taste is not overpoweringly pepperoni, but it is unique and delish. You just gotta try it.

Pepperoni Crusted Chicken Nuggets

28 slices of pepperoni
1 lb chicken breast, cut into bite size chunks
3 tbsp almond meal
1 tbsp dried minced onion
1 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Place the pepperoni slices in a single layer on the sheet. Bake for 7 minutes or until crisp. Let cool. Place chips in a plastic bag and crush them with your hands. To the bag, add almond meal, onion, Parmesan and salt. Mix well. Spread onto a plate or shallow bowl. 

In a small bowl, beat the egg. Dip the chicken pieces into the egg, then immediately roll in the pepperoni mixture. Place each nugget on the parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.

Serves 4  Per serving:   244 calories   1 g carb      28 g protein     14 g fat


Hints: You might need to add another tablespoon of almond meal and reduce your cooking time if you make smaller nuggets than I did. Mine did fine with just one beaten egg, but I have seen recipes call for 3 eggs. As with all recipes, YMMV.

If you need to add some fat to make them KETO friendly, try dipping the nuggets in some garlic butter? I was going to try that, but they had disappeared before I got back to the kitchen.

Ready to head out to the warehouse club to get the big bag of pepperoni?





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