Chucking out the leftover Chick-fil-A nuggets because you couldn’t finish it is utter blasphemy. But, reheating them incorrectly leaves the crispy and crunchy nuggets soggy and way too bad for one’s likings. I learned it the hard way, but with repeating mistakes came the final success.
If you fail to reheat the nuggets the right way, all you will be left with is a bunch of soggy coating around a dry piece of a chicken nugget. Nobody wants that, even if it’s Chick-fil-A.
There are a few easy ways to reheat your favorite nuggets to retain that crispy and crunchy exterior and a juicy piece of chicken inside. So read on to know how to reheat chick-fil-A nuggets correctly.
Easy Ways to Reheat Chick-fil-A Nuggets
Reheating chick-fil-A nuggets is not rocket science. You need to know the correct ways and the right temperature settings. That’s all. I am going to share the best ways to accommodate everyone’s needs and resources in the kitchen.
In the Oven
The most convenient yet time-consuming way to reheat the nuggets is by using an oven. It takes a little more time than some of the other standard ways, but it is the one that makes the nuggets taste as if they just came out of the fryer. It ensures even reheating and leaves the exterior perfectly crunchy.
Steps to follow:
- Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Once done, line a baking tray with a reusable silicone mat and lay out the nuggets on the tray, ensuring not to crowd them a lot.
- Cover the tray with a sheet of aluminum foil to ensure even reheating from all sides.
- Set the time of the oven between 10-15 minutes, depending on the number of nuggets you have.
- Once it’s done reheating, take them out of the oven and enjoy them piping hot with a dip of your choice.
In the Skillet
Refrying is another method for reheating your Chick-fil-A nuggets. It is easy and takes a few minutes to be done, which is relatively great compared to an oven. The only tricky part here is adjusting the temperature of the oil. If it’s too hot, the nuggets will burn from the outside and stay cold inside, and if the oil is too cold, it will leave the nuggets soggy.
Steps to follow:
- Start by putting a skillet or pan on the gas stove with some oil for deep frying. Keep the flame on medium to high and let the oil heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Once the oil is hot enough, drop the nuggets into the hot oil and let it fry in the oil for 1-2 minutes, ensuring that you keep stirring them every 30 seconds.
- Try and fry the nuggets in smaller batches to prevent the oil from becoming cold.
- In case you don’t enjoy them deep-fried, you can shallow fry the nuggets for some extra crispiness.
In the Air Fryer
One of the healthiest means of reheating is by using an air fryer. It is convenient, less messy, and doesn’t require unnecessary usage of oil for deep-frying. The only downside to using an air fryer is the lack of space. You don’t have a lot of room to work with, so you need to reheat them in smaller batches.
Steps to follow:
- Start by lining the fryer of the air fryer with a baking paper.
- Once done, you can place the leftover nuggets on top of the paper and set the temperature at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Set the timer for 3-4 minutes, depending on the quantity of nuggets you have in the fryer.
- Once done, pull out the fryer and enjoy them with some ketchup on the side.
In the Toaster Oven
If you are a student or a bachelor living on your own and have a toaster oven lying around in your kitchen, don’t fret, you can use it for reheating purposes. It pretty much follows the same steps as the oven; it’s just that the portion size is less because of the toaster oven’s smaller space.
Steps to follow:
- Start by preheating the toaster oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1-2 minutes.
- In the meantime, take a baking tray and line it with some aluminum foil or a reusable baking sheet.
- To that, space out the nuggets on the tray, ensuring to lay them out in a single layer.
- Once done, put the tray into the oven and set the timer for 5-10 minutes, depending on how crispy you want them to be.
- Using the broil setting in the toaster oven is one of the best tricks if you don’t want a headache of overcooking or burning the nuggets.
- Once they are done reheating, take them out of the oven and enjoy them hot.
In the Microwave
Even though this is not a recommended method, this is the easiest and fastest method to reheat your leftover batch of Chick-fil-A nuggets.
Steps to follow:
- Transfer the nuggets into a microwave-safe bowl or container.
- Once done, cover the bowl with an aluminum foil to ensure even reheating.
- Set the timer for 2 minutes and check whether it’s done. If the nuggets are cold in the center, reheat them for another minute.
How to Make Chick-fil-A nuggets at Home
Making your batch of Chick-fil-A nuggets at home is relatively easy. All you need is to have the necessary list of ingredients at all. The recipe that I usually follow is the one I have mentioned down.
Ingredients
- Chicken breast – 1 cup (cut into small chunks)
- Eggs – 2 large
- Milk – 1 cup
- Refined flour – ½ cup
- Panko breadcrumbs – ½ cup
- Garlic powder – 1/4th tsp
- Onion powder – 1/4th tsp
- White pepper powder – ½ tsp
- Chilli powder – 1/4th tsp
- Salt – ½ tbsp
- Oil – for frying
How to Make It?
- Start by taking the cubed chicken pieces into a large bowl and add the garlic, onion, white pepper, chilli powder, and salt. Mix the chicken with the dry ingredients.
- Once done, add the milk to the chicken mixture and let it rest for 3-4 hours in the fridge.
- In a separate area, crack the two eggs and beat them to form a smooth slurry. Take some flour and salt mixture on another plate. Spread out the breadcrumbs on another plate.
- Once the chicken has marinated for a few hours, take it out and coat it in the flour mixture, followed by the egg mixture and then the breadcrumbs.
- Repeat this process twice if you like a thicker and crunchy outside to the nuggets.
- Once you have coated all the chicken pieces with the flour, egg, and breadcrumb mixture, set it aside and keep in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
- Heat some oil in a pan and let it heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Once the oil is hot enough, drop the prepared nuggets one by one into the hot oil and fry it for 2-3 minutes till the exterior is brown and the nuggets are cooked from the inside too.
- Take it out of the oil and strain the excess oil on some tissue paper before you eat it with your favorite sauce or dip
Conclusion
If you have reached the end, I hope you now know how to reheat your favorite batch of Chick-fil-A nuggets in multiple ways. Ensure that you keep the temperature in check to ensure that it tastes fresh out of the fryer, even if it is a day old. I have suggested four methods, but if you ask me the best out of the lot, I’d suggest trying out the oven or the toaster oven method.