Asda 'Chosen By You' Chicken Nuggets Review

So, I thought to myself, 'I need to broaden my chicken horizons!' I usually stick to the same brand of nuggets, I even buy the same size pack every time. Force of habit I suppose. So I'm going to test a number of different brands of nugget from different stores starting with the ASDA own brand 'Chosen By You' breaded chicken nuggets. 

Firstly, for £1 they are pretty good value, you get 12 and they are not inedible. 
They taste fairly plain, but this could be due to them being breaded. They were very moist however, and not dry at all.
In general, I prefer battered nuggets, deep fried. Not the best for your health, but nice for a treat! 
To cook these nuggets I deep fried them for about 3 minutes and let the fat drain off in some kitchen roll, they are much less greasy if you can withstand the wait. 
They cook nicely, the breading goes a nice golden colour, and the chicken inside is white, very ascethically pleasing compared to other lower value nuggets. 
4 nuggets is 200calories, 9.1g of fat and 1.1g of salt, which is quite high for just four nuggets, however if these are going to be a treat, it isn't too bad. 

Overall I would give them a 2/5.

Special guest review!
Today's special guest is my father, Marko McNuggets.
'Bread crumbs not too good, but the chicken was moist. Much improved with salad cream... 2.5/5.' 

That gives these nuggets 4.5/10!

Thanks for reading! 
Please recommend your favourite nuggets in the comments!

The meaning of the word 'nugget'

So, I have been asked to clarify something...
'Chicken nugget' is a fairly broad term used to describe a breaded or battered piece of chicken (or chicken like product in vegetarian cases), in a variety of shapes, most notably:

• The dipper

• The boot

• The ball

• The goujon

• Popcorn chicken (some argue this isn't a nugget, I prefer to call it a 'nugglette')

Thus, I will use all of these terms to mean chicken nuggets, specifically 'dipper' as these are my preferred type of nugget!

Thanks for reading! 

Chicken nuggets can make you fat?! Who knew?!

Chicken nuggets are a good source of protein and energy, and of course amazingly delicious, however just how good for your health are these little balls of poultry heaven? 

From the nutritional information on the back of the packet you can get a fairly good idea of the calories, fat content and other useful information. Let's compare some popular brand chicken nuggets in terms of nutritional value.

Note: portion size varies between packaging! When just looking at the diagram on the pack please be aware of this!

Birds Eye Crispy Chicken dippers (70g/4 dippers) 

• calories

  175,9%of your GDA

• Sugar

  1g,< 1%of your GDA

• Fat

  9g,13%of your GDA

• Saturates

  2g,8%of your GDA

• Salt

  0.7g,12%

Beautiful and crispy, these dippers seem to be not too bad with regards of calories and saturates content. The fat and salt content, however is quite high, considering 4 nuggets is no where near enough for an adult, or greedy teenager like myself.

Tesco Ultimate Breaded Chicken Nuggets (100g)

• Calories

  240,12%of your GDA

• Sugar

  1g,1%of your GDA

• Fat

  10g,14%of your GDA

• Saturates

  1g,6%of your GDA

• Salt

  0.9g,15%

These breaded nuggets are slightly high in calorie, fat and salt content, however have very little sugar and saturates. Breaded nuggets, in my personal opinion, also taste better cooked in the over rather than the fryer, making them a slightly healthier option if you're still craving some nuggets on your diet!




Asda Frozen Nuggets (4 nuggets, oven baked)

• calories

  200,10%of your GDA

• Sugar

  1.1g,< 1%of your GDA

• Fat

  9.1g,13%of your GDA

• Saturates

  1.3g,7%of your GDA

• Salt

  1.1g,18%

Asda nuggets contain quite a lot of salt for just four, however the calories and saturate content is fairly good. The fat content could be better, especially since these are oven baked, and so this must be watched if you're planning on indulging! 

Birds Eye Breaded Chicken Nuggets (4 nuggets)

• Calories

  195,10%of your GDA

• Sugar

  Trace,< 1%of your GDA

• Fat

  9g,13%of your GDA

• Saturates

  2g,8%of your GDA

• Salt

  0.8g,13%

Compared to their crispy, battered bretherin, these Birds Eye breaded nuggets are higher in calories and salt content, however are more or less the same with regards to fat, saturates and sugars. I suppose it's a personal preference between breaded and battered that will help you decided which nugget is best!

This is just the basics for chicken comparisons, but hopefully you get the idea of it. Make sure you take care to read the nutritional information before you buy anything, as you don't want to end up eating your whole allowance for salt in one sitting! It also doesn't hurt to go for a run once or twice between meals, you know, for health and the added benefit of seeing the sights makes it all better!

Thanks for reading! 

Chicken Nugget Quesedilla Recipe

Ingredients
First thing's first, get your nugget right!
For this dish I will be using:

• Birds Eye Crispy Chicken Dippers. 
• Old El Paso Guacamole
• Old El Paso mild, chunky salsa
• 100g cheese (pick your favourite hard/semi-hard cheese, I personally like cheddar, but for this I'm using gouda)
• Plain tortilla wraps
• Iceburg Lettuce (optional, I prefer putting it on the side, as warm lettuce isn't so good...)

I'm cheating a bit here as I'm not making my own tortillas, chicken nuggets or dips, however this is for quesedilla technique more than anything. 

Utensils

• Frying pan or toastie maker/Breville 

I'm going to show you how to make quesedillas in both a toastie maker and in the frying pan. Personally I think making them in the frying pan makes them taste nicer, but if you're in a hurry then Breville all the way!

Get 4 nuggets and deep fry them for about 3 minutes. Place them in a bowl, with kitchen roll, to drain off the fat whilst you prep the rest of the quesedilla. 
Grate all the cheese, you will need to use this as adhesive as well as for flavour! 
To fry:
Heat a frying pan on a medium heat and place your wrap in the frying pan once fairly warm. You can add a smidgen of oil if your pan sticks, other wise leave it. 
Place your chicken nuggets on one side of the the tortilla and add 2 table spoons of salsa and three of guacamole. Sprinkle 3/4 of the cheese all over the wrap. Add the rest along the edge before you fold it over to make sure it sticks together. 
Fold over the quesedilla and fry for 3 minutes on each side. 

To make in a toastie maker:
Prep the tortilla before you place it on the toastie maker, same as in the frying pan, place the chicken and dips on one side of the wrap, sprinkle with cheese, making sure to add more along the edge where you are folding it. Place on the toastie maker and cook for 3 minutes (or until golden) on both sides. 

If you want to be healthy you can add some lettuce to the mix or your favourite salad! 
Serve with some nachos and your favourite cocktail, preferably a mojito!

Thanks for reading! 

Welcome!

Hi, and welcome to my blog! 
This is my first post just to say we're up and running!

My aim here is to share and explore the beautiful food that is chicken nuggets and all their variants. I shall be experimenting with recipes and sharing my favourite ways to make and serve these little pieces of chicken-y goodness!
I am planning on updating every Wednesday, with the hope of broadening a few minds, and helping my lovely followers to enjoy chicken a new way!
I'll also be using this blog for my International Baccalaureate course as a source of valuable CAS hours, so please help a student drowning in work out and share this blog with everyone you know! Even vegetarians, just cos I say 'chicken' doesn't mean I'll always use... well, meat chicken!

Enjoy, and thank you for reading!