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Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Frozen chicken nuggets arent just desperate kid dinners in our house.

Id even argue thateveryonenot just parentsshould keep frozen chicken nuggets on hand for quick weeknight dinners.

Different brands of chicken nuggets (still in the bag) splayed on a counter

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Theyre delicious, nostalgic, and can be satisfying in both texture and flavor.

This got me questioning the ones I had been buying for the last few years.

Were they really the best?

Different brands of chicken nuggets (each type of nugget on a plate with a sticky note next to each plate) and a baking tray with baked chicken nuggets

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

What are the best frozen chicken nuggets on the market for busy home cooks these days?

I visited Target, Whole Foods, Walmart, and Trader Joes in my nugget quest.

I didnt discern between nuggets or bite-shaped but excluded popcorn chicken and strips.

Different brands of chicken nuggets (each type of nugget on a plate with a sticky note next to each plate)

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

The tasting wasnt truly blind because I had to keep track of the brands and cooking methods.

The taste-testers were my 11-year-old, eight-year-old, 38-year-old partner, and me.

While they get decently crisp in the oven, air-fried Just Bares bites rival homemade nuggets.

Bag of Just Bare chicken nuggets and a plate with some of the nuggets

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

At Kroger, a 24-ounce bag is $12.99.

The breading is well seasoned and crisped up incredibly well in the air fryer.

Overall, we found the air-fried nuggets outperformed the oven-baked test batches.

The nuggets were overall crispier and many cooked in less time than conventional baking.

Homemade Nuggets and Tenders