Tim Chin is a professional cook and writer who has contributed to Serious Eats and America’s Test Kitchen. A graduate of The International Culinary Center, Tim has cooked at restaurants in New York and Boston, working at Rouge Tomate, Northern Spy, and BiSq.

Tim Chin

Who doesn’t love chicken nuggets? Not us. We could slam a 20-piece, easy, and not think twice about it. But what if those nuggets actually tasted like ... something? We’re not just talking about the seasoning—the white pepper, the MSG, the garlic and onion powders—that makes the sort-of-crispy, sort-of-springy nug of processed poultry so delicious. What if the nuggets tasted like an actual bird? What if it tasted like ... turkey? Introducing your new favorite <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/thanksgiving">Thanksgiving snack</a>: the turkey nugget. Reminiscent of the Happy Meal favorite in that they are, yes, nuggets, and, yes, they’re <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/extra-crispy-fried-turkey">fried</a>, and, yes, they’re made from poultry, these turkey nuggets are way, way better. They’re super crispy on the outside, with a glassy, lacy crust. They’re bouncy, juicy, and tender on the inside. And they’re packed with flavor—all the meatiness of dark turkey meat, spiked with a little chicken bouillon powder for an MSG-y, chicken-y boost. There are four keys to getting the perfect nugget texture: Seasoning turkey with salt and giving the salt time to dissolve myosin, so it forms a gel that’ll increase the water-holding capacity of the meat, yielding a juicier nugget; incorporating potato starch into both the ground turkey and the flour mix, which is used as dredge and batter, for not-too-bouncy meat and a not-too-tough glassy crust; adding baking soda to the flour mix to aerate the coating and get that characteristic laciness; and using a double-fry method to set and crisp the coating, thanks to the magic of starch retrogradation.

Thanksgiving Turkey Nuggets