The Frozen Chicken Nuggets That Double As A McDonald's Copycat
It's hard to beat the deliciousness of McDonald's golden, crispy, popular fast food chicken nuggets, but there's one grocery store product that comes extremely close. Skip the line at McDonald's and buy a bag of Pilgrim's Pride tempura battered frozen chicken nuggets to make at home instead.
Don't just take our word for it. Former McDonald's corporate chef Mike Haracz endorses the frozen chicken nuggets as a McDonald's copycat in a viral TikTok video. He advises looking for tempura battered chicken nuggets for a McDonald's dupe, declaring Pilgrim's Pride Tempura Style Chicken Breast Nuggets as the best option. After thoroughly researching McDonald's chicken nugget ingredients and comparing them to other dupes, this is the product Haracz says is the closest in taste.
In the same video, the former corporate chef also advises to skip the microwave and at least air-fry or ideally deep-fry the frozen nuggets to get them nice and crispy. Keep in mind that the nuggets are raw (unlike some other, precooked frozen chicken nuggets you buy at the store) so they need to be cooked to a minimum temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit per USDA guidelines. This can be achieved in an air fryer like the Cuisinart Air Fryer Oven or a deep fryer for extra crispiness such as the Chefman Deep Fryer W/ Basket Strainer.
Where to buy the copycat nuggets
Pilgrim's Pride tempura style nuggets can be found in Kroger grocery stores (depending on location). The 28-ounce bag is made with white meat and has the signature McNugget shape. Pilgrim's Pride also happens to be the company behind Just Bare, the makers of another popular frozen chicken product that has been compared to Chick-Fil-A nuggets. Costco's in-house brand Kirkland makes a version of these chicken nuggets that has been deemed the best frozen Costco chicken for easy meal prep.
Pilgrim's Pride is also the parent company of Country Pride, which makes an identical bag of tempura style raw chicken nuggets. The only real difference is the logo (Country Pride vs. Pilgrim's) in the corner. Mike Haracz, the former corporate McDonald's chef, also confirms this fact in a follow-up TikTok video replying to a comment regarding the Pilgrim's Pride/Country Pride nuggets. Redditors in the frozen dinners subreddit agree that Country Pride tempura style chicken nuggets are delicious and a "near perfect approximation of McDonald's McNuggets." The Reddit users also agree that air-frying or deep-frying them will produce results closest to McDonald's nuggets.
If you're lucky, you'll find a (recent) leftover McDonald's nugget sauce sitting in your fridge to amp up the flavor. If not, you can search for the best barbecue sauce to buy at the grocery store or make your own sweet and tangy barbecue sauce to give these nuggets an extra punch of flavor.