Chicken nuggets are wonderful, aren’t they? They’re simple, easy to make, and, when made from scratch in your own home, can be quite healthy. If you’ve got a surplus of homemade chicken nuggets, you might consider freezing them. But is this OK?
Can You Freeze Chicken Nuggets?
Yes, you can freeze chicken nuggets for up to 3 months. Transfer cooked nuggets onto a baking sheet, and freeze for around 1 hour. When they’re frozen, transfer the nuggets to a freezer bag, label them with the correct date, and return them to the freezer.
Do Chicken Nuggets Freeze Well? Yes
Can You Refreeze Chicken Nuggets? No
How to Freeze Chicken Nuggets
The method for freezing chicken nuggets is fairly hands-off. However, you will want to flash freeze them before popping them into bags. The full method is below:
- Make Nuggets: The first step is ensuring you’ve cooked them. You should go through making the chicken nuggets, including breading and frying, before turning them out and allowing them to cool completely.
- Place Onto a Baking Sheet: Then, when they’re cool, place the nuggets onto a lined baking sheet before transferring that sheet to the freezer. Freeze the nuggets for around 1 hour before removing them from the freezer.
- Bag Up: When you’ve removed the nuggets from the freezer, transfer them into freezer bags, being sure to press out as much air as possible from the bags because the air in the bags is likely to cause the breading on the nuggets to soften over time.
- Label and Freeze: After bagging the chicken nuggets, ensure that the bag is entirely sealed before labelling with the correct date and transferring to the freezer, where they will freeze well for around 3 months.
3 Tips for Freezing Chicken Nuggets
Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing chicken nuggets to have the best results:
Freeze With Space
When placing the nuggets onto a baking sheet, we recommend that the nuggets sit on the baking sheet with a centimetre or two between them. This way, they’ll have plenty of air circulation to allow them to freeze very quickly, maintaining the texture of the chicken and the outside of the nuggets.
Store in Portions
We suggest portioning the nuggets out into separate bags. That will mean that when you inevitably come to make some nuggets in a hurry, you can easily just dump a whole bag onto a tray rather than measure them out.
Write Clear Instructions
You might remember how to cook those nuggets today, but in a month or 2, you’ll have forgotten. This is why it’s a great idea to write clear instructions on the bag before freezing them. Simply write “cook from frozen for 15 minutes at 190c” alongside the date.
How Long Can You Freeze Chicken Nuggets?
You can freeze homemade chicken nuggets for around 3 months, which is the general rule of thumb for freezing most things you make.
We suggest that the best way to extend this time a little is to ensure that there’s as little air in the bag as possible, though, in truth, it’s unlikely chicken nuggets will last that long in most freezers.
Unfortunately, cooked chicken nuggets do not last very long in the fridge. They will keep for between 1 and 2 days in the fridge.
How Do You Defrost Chicken Nuggets?
The best way to defrost chicken nuggets that have previously been fried is to cook them in the oven. You’ll need to cook the nuggets for between 10 and 15 minutes in a 190-200C oven.
As with any meat product, the centre of the nugget must be piping hot. If you have a meat thermometer, you can use this to confirm it is hot. You’re looking for an internal temperature of at least 75C.
Can You Refreeze Chicken Nuggets?
No, certainly not!
When poultry, and meat in general, is involved, you should never allow the meat to completely thaw and then freeze it again. Contaminants can settle on meat quickly, making your food unsafe to eat.
Do Chicken Nuggets Freeze Well?
Yes, chicken nuggets do freeze well. No portion of the recipe or the food contains a lot of water, meaning that they can easily be frozen without the risk of destroying any essential part.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing chicken nuggets or nuggets in general, then these may help:
Yes, you can freeze McDonald’s chicken nuggets. Once cool, spread them out onto a baking sheet and freeze. Once solid, you can pop them into freezer bags to store them for the longer term. 
Baked chicken nuggets can be frozen, but you may find that the coating becomes a little soggy and soft in the freezer. They can be frozen for around 3 months.
