Chicken nugget

History

Robert C. Baker, a food science professor at Cornell University, developed the chicken nugget in the 1950s and published it as unpatented academic work. Baker and his associates called the bite-sized, batter-coated, deep-fried pieces "Chicken Crispies." The meat industry faced problems clumping ground meat without a skin and creating a batter that could be fried and frozen without detaching. Baker solved these by coating meat in vinegar, salt, grains, and milk powder, then using an egg- and grain-based batter. Dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets were first trademarked by Perdue Farms in 1991.

Manufacturing

Processing begins with deboning, then cutting and shaping the chicken manually, with automatic blades, or by grinding softer parts through a mesh to create a meat paste that is shaped. The pieces are battered and breaded in a rotating cylindrical drum for even coating. They are fried in oil until the batter sets and reaches the desired color, then packaged, frozen, and stored for shipping. Specific ingredients and methods vary among manufacturers, but these practices are typical.

In popular culture

Chicken nuggets have been the subject of food challenges and social media phenomena. The dish has inspired gourmet restaurants, exercise routines, and feature-length productions such as the movie Cooties, about a child who eats a virus-infected nugget that turns children into zombies. Thomas Welborn holds the world record for eating the most chicken nuggets in three minutes. The most retweeted tweet of 2017 was Carter Wilkerson's request to Wendy's for free nuggets, generating over 3.5 million retweets. The largest recorded chicken nugget weighed 51.1 lbs.

Vegan nuggets

Vegan chicken nuggets, made from plant-based ingredients like pea protein, soy protein, textured vegetable protein, and wheat gluten, are now available from major retailers. Brands such as Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, Morningstar Farms, and Simulate produce them. In 2019, McDonald's tested vegan McNuggets in Norway using chickpeas and potatoes. Swedish chain Max Hamburgare sells nuggets made from falafel, while Quorn offers a fungus-based vegetarian version.

KFC added vegan nuggets to its 4,000 U.S. locations in 2022. That same year, Forbes reported over 20 brands in the market, and the Portland Press Herald noted that childhood favorites like these nuggets were linking up with youth-focused media. Taste tests appeared in Culture Map Dallas in 2021 and Bon Appétit in 2022. Studies show plant-based nuggets generally have a lower environmental footprint—cutting greenhouse gases, land use, and water use—and differ nutritionally, often with less saturated fat, which may help lower LDL and total cholesterol when swapped for meat.