Kids love chicken nuggets, and this one puts a little spin on the all-time favorite. You can make these using uncooked ground turkey, or use your leftover cooked Thanksgiving turkey. Of course, you can also use ground chicken if you prefer chicken. You can also push the meat mixture through cookie cutters to create fun shapes for your little ones!
Turkey Tots
makes 24 Turkey Tots
1 lb ground turkey
¾ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
¾ cup panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional)
¼ teaspoon dried parsley
cooking spray or olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat your oven to 425°F. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray or oil.
In a large bowl, combine the turkey with ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon onion powder, and salt and pepper to taste. In a separate shallow dish combine the Panko with the yeast, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon onion powder and the parsley.
Form your turkey into about 1 ½ inch tots (the size of a chicken nugget), then press into the panko mixture. The mixture will be very soft and delicate to handle. At this point you could freeze the turkey tots to bake later, but freeze them for 30 minutes on a baking sheet first. If baking now, place the tots on the cookie sheet, and spray the tops of the tots with a bit of oil to help them brown up.
Bake for 10 minutes, then flip carefully. Continue baking for 8 minutes more, until they are brown. You can broil them for a minute or two if you'd like to brown them even more.
Note: If using leftover cooked turkey you may want to dip the turkey into a beaten egg, then press into the panko mixture. You'll need to reduce your cooking time to 10 mins total, and flip halfway through. You can broil them for a minute or two to brown them up a bit more if needed.
(nutrition info is based on a serving size of 4 turkey tots)
Cranberry Mayo
serves 6
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons cranberry sauce (try my recipe)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoon light mayo
Combine both ingredients in a small bowl, and serve cold with turkey tots.
If you're serving this mayo to adults, you can add some zing by mixing in some roasted garlic or horseradish.
