After a long day at the library I was in the need for some comfort food. Although a takeaway sounded so tempting, or even a pizza from Co-op, I decided I should make do with what I have at home, saving money and all that.

The remainder of my breadstick had been sitting on the side taking up space for way too long, so this was the base for my dinner. I scanned the fridge and saw a defrosted chicken breast and a host of veggies. So, with that being so, I chose baked chicken goujons with garlic roasted veggies. A slightly odd mix, but I get my comfort food and  a couple of my five a day.

As I cook veg all the time I won’t bore everyone with the chopping and roasting and all that jazz and instead I will cut to the homemade chicken nuggets.

My ingredients were:

• 1 Chicken breast, cut into strips
• Breadcrumbs
• Plain flour
• 1 Egg
• Paprika
• Cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper
• Vegetable oil

Firstly, I whizzed up the remainder of my breadstick, this was a bit tricky as it had become far more solid than I anticipated, but I soldiered on and it still tasted yummy. To the breadcrumbs I added salt and pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika. The cayenne and paprika made the breadcrumbs slightly spicy, I guess a bit like KFC, however I am not keeping my ingredients a secret, so you can all make your own.

I used the plain flour and one beaten egg to make the chicken sticky, allowing it to be coated in breadcrumbs. My breadcrumbs, egg and flour were in three separate small bowls.

This bit gets a little fiddly, and it is best to only use one hand and have one mess-free. One at a time I dipped my chicken strips in the plain flour, then the egg and finally in the spicy breadcrumbs. To make my goujons super coated I ended up re-dipping them in the egg and once
again in the breadcrumbs too. This is means I wasted less food which is a bonus!

I prepped a baking tray, covering it in foil and a light drizzle of vegetable oil. Once the goujons were coated and placed on the tray I gave them another drizzle of oil and an extra grind of salt and pepper.

Now it was time to bake them. There are many recipes that include pan-frying or shallow frying however I wanted to go for the healthier option and bake them. My oven was already on because my veggies were cooking away nicely, but if not, make sure the oven is pre-heated to 180 degrees.

After about 15 mins I flipped the chicken strips over, ensuring there was a lovely golden, crisp coating on the outside. They then cooked for a remaining 15 mins. I checked that they were piping hot and cooked evenly throughout before serving and plated them up with my veggies.
The chicken remained moist in the middle, and the coating was crispy and a little spicy, just how I like it. They weren’t too odd with the veggies and I covered the whole lot in a big glug of sweet chilli sauce, and a big spoon of my FAV mayo.

As this was a higgledy piggledy meal I am unsure on price, but all of the ingredients can be bought super low cost. I also have quite a lot leftover which will sort my lunch tomorrow, and maybe even the day after.

Although I was exhausted after uni today I am glad I took the time to make something a little different. Chicken goujons are like a hug from the inside!

(Also sorry about the lack of pics, I only decided to do this blog half way through dinner!)