Nacho chicken strips is the kind of playdate meal that will make you popular. I kid you not, the kids LOVE this. It’s worth the small amount of effort it takes to make your own chicken nuggets, and I do mean small amount of effort because these really aren’t any effort at all. There are only three ingredients! I’ve used juicy chicken mini fillets as they’re lovely and meaty, but don’t require any chopping, mayonnaise instead of beaten egg as you can just squeeze it straight out of the bottle and nachos for the crispy coating as they’re already seasoned and make a change from breadcrumbs!
Plus also, I am a VERY big fan of the nacho, so being able to work it into a meal is cooking nirvana for me. You can always count on me to keep things classy. Bashing the nachos up in a bag with a large rolling pin is all kinds of fun and works off some of that over-worked-and-exasperated mama aggression. You could let the kids do this bit, if you were feeling generous.
The key to not getting into one giant raw chicken mayonnaisey crushed nacho mess is to only use one hand for dipping the chicken in the mayo, and your other hand for the crunchy coating. Plus when you put the mayo-coated chicken into the pot of crushed nachos, a simple series of shaky shaky movements will eventually get the fillets coated. Just flip it over and repeat to make sure it’s evenly covered. I find having some funky music on in the background helps things along.
After that’s done and they’re crisping up nicely in the oven, all that’s left to do is whip up a salad, toast some pittas and any other trimmings you fancy. Sour cream, grated cheese, salsa, guacamole, more nachos… go wild and let the kids get stuck in to building their own custom stuffed pitta. The boys absolutely loved this meal, and Matthew was very enthusiastic about the vegetarian version I made using frozen quorn fillets.
I hope I’ve convinced you that there’s very little effort involved, but a large amount of glory waiting to be soaked up from your kids and their mates when they’re over for tea.
A nacho-tastic playdate tea the kids will love, these Nacho Chicken Strips are easy to prepare and go brilliantly stuffed in pittas, flatbreads or wraps
- 150 g plain salted nachos
- 4-5 tbsp mayonnaise
- 400 g chicken mini fillets
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Pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the nachos into a bag and bash into crumbs with a rolling pin, then turn out into a large plastic container. Spoon or squirt the mayo onto the lid of the container. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
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Using one hand (so you've at least got one clean hand to do things with!) dip one chicken fillet at a time in the mayo, making sure it's got a thin coating all over. Then drop into the container of crushed nachos and give it a good shake until it's fully coated. Turn the fillet over and repeat, then lift it onto the baking sheet. Repeat until all of the chicken fillets are coated.
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Bake in the oven for around 25 minutes until crisp and golden. Serve in wraps, flatbreads or pittas with heaps of salad, lashings of sour cream and some sweet potato wedges on the side.
Use frozen Quorn Fillets instead of chicken if you've got any vegetarians to feed! You don't need to defrost them first.
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My easy Crispy Lemon Chicken Goujon recipe… another classic for a family-friendly weeknight meal, and far tastier than the type you buy at the supermarket!
this is an excellent idea, and a brilliant use of that bag of chips that gets crushed on the way home from the supermarket!
Good point! I might crush a bag on purpose now Helen!
Ooh these look gorgeous! I LOVE nachos as a coating for stuff (well any new ways to eat nachos really!)
I hear you Kerry… nachos make everything nicer!
These look simple and delicious! I think my boys would love them.
Thanks Charlie… yep they’re super simple, and the tasty factor is such a winner with kids. I love that they go with whatever you’ve got in – be it a stray packet of pitta breads, jacket potatoes or chopped up to make a kind of caesar salad.