Chicken Nuggets

01 / ABOUT THE DISH

About the dish

Chicken nuggets are chicken products made from meat slurry that is breaded or battered, then baked or deep-fried. Although the dish is highly caloric, it used to be considered a healthy alternative to the beef that was already offered. The nuggets were invented in the 1950s by a food science professor at Cornell University named Robert C. Baker. His prototype nugget mastered two challenges: keeping ground meat intact without putting a skin around it, and making batter stick to the meat in spite of the explosive heat of deep-frying. Baker invented the nuggets as a way to boost poultry sales, turning it into convenience food that appealed to lazy cooks. Today, chicken nuggets are one of the most popular items on the McDonald's menu, with their first noted appearance in 1980.