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The Flavor Bender Recipes Courses Appetizers & Tapas Lemongrass & Wasabi Asian Style Chicken Nuggets

Lemongrass & Wasabi Asian Style Chicken Nuggets

Appetizers & Tapas
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Author: Dini K.
Posted: 8/31/2015
Updated: 7/17/2023
Panko crumbed Lemongrass and Wasabi Chicken Nuggets from scratch! These Asian-style Chicken nuggets are crunchy, flavor packed AND freezer friendly! Infinitely better than store bought or fast food!

I’ll see your regular salt & pepper chicken nuggets and raise you homemade Lemongrass and Wasabi Asian style Chicken nuggets that taste infinitely better! Easy to make and full of bold flavours. Plus, you can make these ahead and freeze for later use.

Panko crumbed Lemongrass and Wasabi Chicken Nuggets from scratch! These Asian-style Chicken nuggets are crunchy, flavor packed AND freezer friendly! Infinitely better than store bought or fast food!

Panko crumbed Lemongrass and Wasabi Chicken Nuggets from scratch! These Asian-style Chicken nuggets are crunchy, flavor packed AND freezer friendly! Infinitely better than store bought or fast food!

Here’s a nugget of truth/observational fact. Homemade chicken nuggets always taste infinitely better than the fast food variety or the ones you find in the frozen section in your grocery store. At least to me they do, and I suspect you would agree with me too. Why? I guess it’s a combination of several things. Maybe it’s the kind of processed meat that they use, the seasoning (or the lack of it), and the method of cooking. Whatever it is, the meat always seems bland to me and taste like cardboard (not that I’ve actually eaten cardboard before, but I imagine that’s what it must taste like if I did) and you need to dunk it in good ol’ ketchup to make it worth your $$.

And here’s another nugget of truth/honesty. I still loved eating the fast food variety as a kid, just like most kids still do. Maybe it’s because I didn’t really get to eat them often back then, though I eventually got sick of it pretty quickly.

Panko crumbed Lemongrass and Wasabi Chicken Nuggets from scratch! These Asian-style Chicken nuggets are crunchy, flavor packed AND freezer friendly! Infinitely better than store bought or fast food!
marinated chicken pieces
Panko crumbed Lemongrass and Wasabi Chicken Nuggets from scratch! These Asian-style Chicken nuggets are crunchy, flavor packed AND freezer friendly! Infinitely better than store bought or fast food!
the crumbing station!

So imagine how great your homemade chicken nuggets could taste? Even if you seasoned them with just salt and pepper, they’d still taste better than anything you can get in the store. Now imagine how great these sweet & spicy, Lemongrass and Wasabi Asian style Chicken Nuggets could taste? Marinated in sweet and slightly citrusy lemongrass, coupled with that awesome and unique spicy kick you get from wasabi, these made from scratch chicken nuggets are a great example of how a simple combination of bold flavours can completely elevate a common dish!

But why stop there? I paired these beauties with the best dipping sauce – Vietnamese Nam Jim Dipping sauce that complements all these Asian flavours perfectly! (Recipe coming soon!)

I photographed these ages ago, but never got around to posting the recipe until now. But the good thing about a recipe like this is that it’s not seasonal. No matter what time of year it is, you just can’t go wrong with these sweet and spicy chicken nuggets with a hint of lemongrass and a spicy wasabi kick!

Panko crumbed Lemongrass and Wasabi Chicken Nuggets from scratch! These Asian-style Chicken nuggets are crunchy, flavor packed AND freezer friendly! Infinitely better than store bought or fast food!

Looking for more recipes?Sign up for my free recipe newsletter to get new recipes in your inbox each week! Find me sharing more inspiration on Pinterest and Instagram.

5 from 3 votes

Lemongrass & Wasabi Asian Style Chicken Nuggets

Author: Dini K.
Print Rate

Ingredients:

  • 21 oz / 600g Chicken tenderloins each cut into 3-4 pieces (each piece about 2 - 2 ½ inches in length)

Chicken marinade

  • 3 tbsp finely chopped/minced lemongrass
  • 2 ½ tsp wasabi paste
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp white sugar
  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 tbsp unflavoured oil
  • 1 tsp kosher salt or to taste

Flour dredge

  • 1 cup AP flour
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper less if you like it less spicy

For breading and frying

  • Panko crumbs
  • 2 extra large eggs
  • Oil for deep frying or shallow frying

Instructions:

  • Mix all the ingredients of the marinade well, in a bowl. Add the chicken pieces to the marinade and let them marinate for at least two hours or overnight (the longer you marinate, the more flavourful they will be)
  • Set up a breading station with the eggs in one bowl (lightly whisked) and the panko crumbs on a plate and a tray lined with parchment paper to keep the breaded nuggets.
  • Dip a few of the chicken pieces in the flour mix, then the egg mix to lightly coat them, and then in the panko crumbs to completely cover them with panko crumbs. Place them on the lined tray.
  • Repeat with all the chicken pieces. You can freeze the chicken nuggets if you wish at this point (Please see Notes). Or fry immediately, otherwise.
  • Heat oil in a saucepan to about 340°F/170°C to deep-fry the chicken nuggets (at that heat, a bread cube will brown in 8-10 seconds). Alternatively, you can shallow fry these as well.
  • Fry the chicken nuggets in batches (without overcrowding) for about 5-6 minutes, making sure they cook evenly on all sides, and turn golden brown in colour. If you're shallow frying - flip the chicken nuggets over after 2-3 minutes, to cook the other side (See Notes).
  • Remove the cooked chicken nuggets and drain on paper towels for a few minutes. Sprinkle some flaked sea salt on top and serve with some lemon wedges and Nam Jim dipping sauce or sweet chili sauce, while still warm.
  • When eating, squeeze a bit of the lemon over the chicken nuggets as it enhances all the flavours.

Tips & Tricks

Notes on Freezing - Once the chicken nuggets have been breaded, you can freeze them on the baking tray, and then portion them into freezer bags and store in the freezer until you need them.
Notes on deep frying - Test the first batch of chicken nuggets to make sure they have cooked through, and haven't dried out. Adjust the cooking time according to this and the size of the chicken nuggets as well. Larger pieces will take slightly longer than the smaller ones.

“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”

Did you make this?Tag me on Instagram!I love seeing what you’ve made! Tag me on Instagram at @TheFlavorBender or leave me a comment & rating below.

Panko crumbed Lemongrass and Wasabi Chicken Nuggets from scratch! These Asian-style Chicken nuggets are crunchy, flavor packed AND freezer friendly! Infinitely better than store bought or fast food!

Notes on the Chicken meat – I used chicken tenderloins to make these nuggets. Chicken tenderloins have the same texture as chicken breast, but the meat is tender than the breast. In my opinion, chicken breasts are better at soaking up flavours of marinades, but dry out much faster if overcooked even slightly.

Chicken thighs, stay moist longer (even if overcooked slightly), but requires a longer time to marinate.

Chicken tenders on the other hand give me the best of both worlds (stay moist longer than breasts and marinate faster than thighs), although you should still take care not to overcook them.

You’re welcome to use any of these types of chicken meat for this recipe, but remember to leave chicken thighs longer to marinate, and avoid overcooking chicken breasts.

Panko crumbed Lemongrass and Wasabi Chicken Nuggets from scratch! These Asian-style Chicken nuggets are crunchy, flavor packed AND freezer friendly! Infinitely better than store bought or fast food!
Nam Jim dipping sauce

Here’s a nugget of nostalgia. Growing up in Sri Lanka, Mr. K and I used to eat a lot of street food in newspaper cones, which is how street vendors sell their goods most of the time there. And that’s exactly what we did with these beauties. Because of that Asian background, we take street food very seriously (which is almost always insanely delicious), and these were that much more fun to eat out of newspaper cones! 🙂

These were perfectly cooked; tender, moist and full of flavour, with that subtle spicy heat you get from the wasabi. The dipping sauce is insanely good (recipe for that coming soon!), but these nuggets taste fantastic on their own without the sauce too. These are great as a snack, as hors-d’oeuvres or even a complete meal! Which is precisely what we did. We had this for dinner with a light salad on the side, though I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t wish for some chips or fries. But I decided to be an adult about it and went with the salad. These would also be great with some steamed rice.

Panko crumbed Lemongrass and Wasabi Chicken Nuggets from scratch! These Asian-style Chicken nuggets are crunchy, flavor packed AND freezer friendly! Infinitely better than store bought or fast food!

And what’s also great about this recipe is that you can store these nuggets away in your freezer for a “rainy day”! And the next time you want them, just pop them out of the freezer and fry till cooked through. Of course this will take longer than frying nuggets that are at room temperature. But they will taste just as delicious in the end!

For more lemongrass options, check out these easy lemongrass chicken bowls, lemongrass noodle soup, and this lemongrass flavored savory oatmeal.

If you liked this recipe don’t forget to subscribe for new (and free) recipes and updates by entering your email address below or in the box on the side-bar (and get all these recipes delivered straight to your inbox), so you don’t miss out on a thing. You can find me on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST and GOOGLE-PLUS too.

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  1. Rudy says

    January 8, 2016 at 10:14

    I see that there is a flour mix that you dredge the chicken in first,but there is no mention of it in the what you need page.What spices do you mix with the flour?

    Reply
    • Rudy says

      January 8, 2016 at 10:20

      also is the recipe for the nam jam sauce available yet?sounds great.

      Reply
      • Dini says

        January 8, 2016 at 10:46

        Hi Rudy!
        Thank you so much for pointing this out! I have fixed the recipe now. The flour mix is 1 cup of flour with black pepper and cayenne pepper.
        I haven’t added the Nam Jim Sauce recipe yet but it will be on the blog soon!! 🙂 I hope you let me know how it came out 🙂

        Reply
        • Rudy says

          January 9, 2016 at 06:08

          Thanks Dini,I`m going to prepare them tonight I bet they will be great!

          Reply
  2. The-FoodTrotter says

    December 8, 2015 at 13:02

    5 stars
    I really love your idea that’s very original and I’m sure it tastes delicious 🙂

    Reply
  3. Petra says

    September 24, 2015 at 07:20

    I love your flavour combinations! Your chicken nuggets looks so delicious I really, really wish I could have one right now! I know I should never look at your blog just before lunch but lemmongrass and wasabi sounded too good not to check out straight away! Wow! 🙂

    Reply
  4. Liz says

    September 18, 2015 at 15:16

    These look soooo much better than anything you can get at a fast food restaurant. Yum!

    Reply
  5. stef says

    September 15, 2015 at 15:45

    OMG Yummy!!! I am so trying out this recipe soon! Love everything about it and awesome photos!

    Reply
  6. Claire | Sprinkles and Sprouts says

    September 14, 2015 at 21:22

    Oh these sound sensational!!!
    I love chicken nuggets 😳
    Can’t wait to try them, pinning!

    Reply
  7. Kaila (GF Life 24/7) says

    September 13, 2015 at 22:28

    These look amazing! I love how you can add your own spices and flare when you make homemade chicken nuggets. And, yours came out beautifully as well. I’m excited for the dipping sauce recipe because I’m sure they are the perfect match to the nuggets. Thank you so much for joining us at FF, and I hope you had a wonderful weekend!! 😀

    Reply
  8. mira says

    September 11, 2015 at 23:23

    5 stars
    Great flavors and these look gorgeous Dini! Saving the recipe to try it!

    Reply
  9. Jenny says

    September 11, 2015 at 16:29

    These chicken nuggets look so inviting! My son would go crazy for these, and I would feel much better about him eating them, knowing they were homemade. I especially love the photo of the nugget dipping into the sauce….beautiful! I look forward to the sauce recipe too! Happy Fiesta Friday!

    Reply
  10. Julie is Hostess At Heart says

    September 11, 2015 at 14:19

    We love wasabi, but I’ve never used lemongrass. It is on my explore list however. These would be a perfect tailgating food too, but as you said good anytime. Especially with this dipping sauce!

    Reply
  11. angie says

    September 11, 2015 at 08:19

    Putting wasabi paste on my list right now!! This is excellent, Dini!

    Reply
  12. Christine says

    September 9, 2015 at 12:11

    I’m drooling and I don’t even care for chicken fingers! But those spices sound sooogood. Must.get.some.wasabi paste.

    Reply
  13. Fareeha says

    September 8, 2015 at 04:34

    Looks so delicious and wonderful that I can eat it right off my screen.. the pictures are wonderful

    Reply
  14. jane @ littlesugarsnaps says

    September 6, 2015 at 12:24

    These sound like the perfect treat for a cosy friday night, with you exciting flavours perking up every bite.

    Reply
  15. Cakespy says

    September 4, 2015 at 13:47

    I concur – absolutely sensational photos. And what an awesome flavor idea. It’s like all the joy of fast food with the flavor and superior nutrition of the real thing. <3

    Reply
  16. Nagi@RecipeTinEats says

    September 2, 2015 at 14:52

    5 stars
    a) the photos – SENSATIONAL
    b) the flavour. OMG. Kill me now. Wasabi? I’m Japanese, of course I love it!
    c) The crunch. YUM!!!!
    Sharing!

    Reply
  17. mimi says

    September 2, 2015 at 14:39

    these look fabulous!!! can’t wait to make the sauce.

    Reply

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Hi! I’m Dini, a third culture kid by upbringing and a food-geek by nature. I was born in Sri Lanka, grew up in New Zealand and lived in Australia, and then the US, before moving to Canada in 2019! My food is a reflection of those amazing experiences!

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