These chicken dippers are coated with polenta (a type of cornmeal) rather than breadcrumbs. This means they don’t use any ingredients containing gluten. They’re perfect for parties, with their sour cream dip, or you could serve them as a main meal with sweet potato wedges and roasted vegetables.
Ingredients
Dippers
Oil for greasing
200g polenta
2 x 5ml spoons dried mixed herbs
50g gluten-free plain flour
3 medium eggs
450g chicken fillets OR mini fillets
Chive Dip
Small bunch fresh (10-15g) chives OR 1 x 5ml spoon dried chives
150ml reduced-fat sour cream
Equipment
Weighing scales
Baking tray x 2
Small bowl x 4
Pastry brush
Measuring spoons
Fork or whisk
Chopping board x 2
Sharp knife x 2
Oven gloves
Scissors (optional)
Pan stand x 2
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan or gas mark 6 and grease the baking trays.
- Weigh out the polenta into a bowl, add the dried herbs and mix.
- Weigh out the flour into a separate bowl.
- Break the eggs into a third bowl and beat using a fork or a whisk.
- If you are using whole chicken breasts, slice into smaller strips – about 3 or 4 per breast.
- Dip each piece of chicken into the bowl of flour, making sure it is fully coated. Give it a shake, then dip into the egg and then into the bowl of polenta. Shake off any excess polenta, then dip it back into the egg, and into the polenta again. Double coating in this way will make sure that you get a good crispy coating.
- Place the coated chicken strips onto the baking trays – be careful not to let them touch or they will stick together and not cook properly.
- Discard any egg and/or polenta mixture left in the bowls. Wash your hands thoroughly after touching the raw chicken and egg.
- Place the tray of dippers in the oven and bake for 15–20 minutes, until golden brown and crispy. Check on the dippers after about 10 minutes and turn them over.
- While the chicken is cooking, finely chop the chives. An easy way for children to do this is to cut it up inside a cup using scissors. (If you use a knife and chopping board do not reuse the ones used for the raw chicken, unless thoroughly washed and dried.) Add the chives to the sour cream, mix and set aside.
- To check whether the dippers are ready, cut one open and make sure the meat is white all the way through. When they are fully cooked, remove from the oven and serve with the sour cream dip.
Skills used include:
Weighing, measuring, chopping, beating and baking.
Top Tips
- You could also serve these with our Sweet Potato Wedges and roasted vegetables (see our Pasta with Roasted Vegetables for instructions, just leave out the pasta) – both these recipes are available on our website.
- For a lighter meal, serve the Corn-crunch Chicken Dippers with a salad.
Something to try next time
- You could try mixing grated Parmesan into the polenta mixture to give it a cheesy flavour.
- For spicier dippers, try adding 1 x 5ml spoon of paprika or ½ x 5ml spoon of chilli powder to the polenta and/or 1 x 5ml spoon of grain mustard to the eggs.
Prepare now, eat later
- You can prepare your uncooked dippers and store them in the fridge for a couple of hours before cooking them. Make sure you cover them with clingfilm or seal them in an airtight container to prevent the raw chicken coming into contact with other food.
- You can make your sour cream dip a few hours ahead. Just store it in the fridge, covered with clingfilm or in an airtight container.
