We Taste-Tested 14 Brands of Frozen Chicken Nuggets—Our Winner May Surprise You

There's a reason so many kids love chicken nuggets: They're salty, crispy, and the perfect vehicle for ketchup (or, if you're Taylor Swift, ketchup and "seemingly ranch"). Plus, they're easy to prepare: Buy them frozen, and all you have to do is toss them into the oven or air fryer. Though chicken nuggets are often relegated to the world of children's food, the truth is that most people, regardless of age, love a good chicken nugget, especially when it's well-breaded, juicy, and exceptionally tender. The question is: Which brand is worth buying?

To find the very best chicken nuggets, our editors sampled 14 different brands that you're likely to find in the freezer aisle of your local grocery store or online. We cooked each nugget according to package directions, then sampled them in random order without knowing which was which. After snacking our way through many, many nuggets, we tabulated the results and crowned an overall winner, as well as two worthy contenders that we'd be happy to snack on.

**Regrettably, we weren't able to source the 365 Whole Foods Market Chicken Nuggets. They were sold out everywhere. Make of that what you will!

The Criteria

Great chicken nuggets should be meaty, tender, and savory. Each nugget should, perhaps unsurprisingly, taste like chicken—no cardboard, please! There should be just enough salt and spices, such as paprika and onion powder, to give the nuggets a deep flavor, but not so much that it masks the taste of the chicken itself. Texture matters just as much: Chicken nuggets should be satisfyingly crisp on the outside, with a juicy and tender interior.

Most chicken nuggets are made from ground chicken paste that's shaped, breaded, and fried. Others are made from boneless, skinless chicken breast meat and shaped into bite-size pieces—not unlike a tiny chicken tender.

Overall Winner

Pilgrim's Ultimate Chicken Nuggets

"These are pretty good—definitely processed, but pretty good," wrote our editorial director, Daniel, who also approved of their texture. Similarly, our senior editor, Genevieve, enjoyed that each nugget was tender yet crisp. The flavor of these nuggets reminded our senior social media editor, Kelli, of fried chicken; she, too, thought the texture was "good" and picked up on its inclusion of MSG. Our associate visuals director, Amanda, thought the seasoning was "nice," which is high praise from a self-professed chicken nugget connoisseur. I was especially impressed that the breading remained crispy, even after the nuggets had sat for 30 minutes.

Runners-Up

Just Bare Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Bites 

"Nice chunks!" wrote Daniel, who was a fan of its texture. Amanda thought it was decently crispy, but didn't enjoy the flavor as much. Genevieve thought it was well-seasoned, though Kelli found these nuggets a bit salty. I enjoyed the slightly peppery flavor and nicely browned crust, and ranked this nugget as my top pick.

Kirkland Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks

"This seems like a real piece of chicken with substantial breading," wrote Daniel, who also praised its seasoning. Kelli enjoyed the "craggly bites" of breading and the sweet and savory flavors. Amanda appreciated the "acceptable breading-to-chicken ratio," which favored more breading than the other contenders: "Tastes like a chicken nugget!" Though these nuggets were a touch sweet for me, I liked that they were appropriately bite-sized and chunky. Though Genevieve thought these were a bit "too salty" and firm, she could see why others would enjoy them. 

The Contenders

• Applegate Naturals Chicken Nuggets
• Bell & Evans Breaded Chicken Breast Nuggets
• Good & Gather Chicken Breast Nuggets
• Just Bare Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Bites
• KidFresh White Meat Chicken Nuggets
• Kirkland Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks
• Nature's Promise Chicken Nuggets
• Perdue Simply Smart Organics Lightly Breaded Chicken Nuggets
• Pilgrim's Ultimate Chicken Nuggets
• Real Good Foods Chicken Nuggets
• Stop & Shop Chicken Nuggets
• Trader Joe’s Breaded Chicken Breast Nuggets
• Tyson Fully Cooked Chicken Nuggets
• Wegmans Frozen Fully Cooked Chicken Breast Nuggets, Family Pack
  

Key Takeaways and Conclusion

Most chicken nuggets are made with breast meat, which gives nuggets their familiar pale color and uniform texture. Others include rib meat—the slightly darker portion of the breast attached to the rib—which adds tenderness and a deeper flavor.

Our winner, Pilgrim's Ultimate Chicken Nuggets, contains rib meat processed into a paste, as do six other contenders outside of our top three. Meanwhile, our two runners-up do not use rib meat. While rib meat can enhance tenderness, that alone is not enough to make a great chicken nugget: The seasoning and breading matter, too. Our favorite chicken nuggets are breaded in wheat flour. Our winner uses enriched wheat flour, while our two runners-up both use a blend of wheat flour, sugar, salt, paprika, spices, and leaveners (such as baking soda) to create a well-seasoned crust. Baking soda also encourages browning. Wheat is the most common flour used for breading, although some brands substitute rice flour, tapioca flour, or chickpea flour, which can give the coating a noticeably sandy or grainy quality, according to our editors.

Pilgrim's is also the only brand to include monosodium glutamate (MSG); the ingredient adds a savory depth to many dishes and is likely why our editors found it satisfyingly savory and umami.

Overall, our top three brands follow the classic nugget formula: wheat flour breading, straightforward seasoning with paprika, and neutral oils.

Our Testing Methodology

All taste tests are conducted with brands completely hidden and without discussion. Tasters taste samples in random order. For example, taster A may taste sample one first, while taster B will taste sample six first. This is to prevent palate fatigue from unfairly giving any one sample an advantage. Tasters are asked to fill out tasting sheets, ranking the samples according to various criteria. All data is tabulated, and results are calculated with no editorial input to provide the most impartial representation of actual results possible.