Can you microwave frozen chicken dippers or chicken nuggets? How do you microwave frozen chicken dippers or nuggets so they aren’t soggy?

Sometimes “needs must”, as they say – and you want chicken dippers, but it’s a waste of energy putting the oven on for just six dippers! But, can you microwave frozen chicken dippers?

How to Microwave Frozen Chicken Dippers

Today I’ve got the Aldi Chicken Dippers, sold in a bag of 24, which I see as four portions – so I just needed to microwave six!

Every brand is different, so it’s always worth trying a variety of brands if you cook something regularly, so you can work out which you prefer! Until I’ve got a favourite, I’m happy to try chicken dippers from any shop, although they’re not something I tend to buy more than one bag every 2-3 years.

The “trick”, if you can call it that, is you need to be removing the steam from the chicken coating as they cook, to minimise the chance of the dippers or nuggets becoming soggy.

There are two ways you can combine to do this:

• Separate them in the cooking dish, so there’s space between the dippers or nuggets
• Lay the dippers/nuggets out on a piece of kitchen paper.

If you do both the above you’re more likely to get a good outcome.

Is it Safe to Microwave Chicken Dippers or Nuggets?

It is safe, so long as the chicken’s been cooked through. Ideally using a meat thermometer would prove the insides are cooked, but I’m cooking for me – and am cooking so few at a time that they’ve had every chance to cook through. If you piled up a whole bag of chicken dippers, then it’s highly likely those in the middle of the pile wouldn’t get hot enough – but if you’ve separate them out in a single layer then each dipper gets zapped!

How Long do you Microwave Chicken Dippers For?

As with anything – the more pieces you cook and the closer they are together, the longer they will take.

3 minutes is how long I’d usually microwave frozen chicken dippers for – but not in one turn of the knob. I give them short blasts, followed by a resting period between each blast in the microwave.

• Separate out the chicken dippers in your dish – you can use a piece of kitchen towel if you wish, but if you’ve run out then sometimes you just have to do this “bareback” 🙂

• Microwave on high power for 1 minute. Remove the dish from the microwave and let it sit for nearly a minute while you turn them over.
• Microwave on high power for 45 seconds. Turn them and let them rest again for 30-45 seconds or so.
• Microwave on high power for a further 45 seconds, then let them rest again for up to a minute.

If they’re piping hot, they’re cooked!

It’s that is how to microwave frozen chicken dippers: spread them out, short blasts on high, giving them a rest to give more of the steam to float away so the outside is as dry/crispy as is possible – although you won’t achieve that “crunch” using just a microwave.

How Do You Know the Chicken is Cooked?

The short and proper answer is that, to be cooked and safe, chicken nuggets or dippers needs to achieve an internal temperature of 74°C, 165°F. The only way to test this is to buy a meat thermometer – which is probably somewhere on the list of gadgets you’ll one day get round to buying 🙂

With something as small as individual nuggets or dippers then you can feel how hot each one is – they should all be HOT!

Review and Verdict

As a rule I’m quite happy to microwave frozen chicken dippers or nuggets, either to serve with chips or to put into a baguette or bread roll.

The Aldi frozen chicken dippers are a little disappointing though; it’s difficult to get them “just right” – in trying to achieve a crispy exterior it’s easy to overcook the chicken. But, they still taste the same.

I’d be prepared to cook these chicken dippers in the microwave, but I’d not rush to the shops to stock up!

I sometimes just microwave six dippers and serve with microwave chips:

Other Ways to Cook Chicken Dippers:

The best way to cook chicken dippers would be to grill them, or fry them in a pan.

There are other kitchen gadgets you could use: any piemaker, or omelette maker, or any form of worktop grill such as a George Foreman grill/similar – any gadget that has a hotplate.

An air fryer is another great, quick, way to cook chicken dippers; one of these is on my wishlist, maybe in a few years’ time, eh!

You can even cook them in a Toaster Bag in a toaster, which I used to do when I had a longer toaster; as soon as I get a toaster that toaster bags will fit I’ll be doing that again!

But if all you’ve got access to is a microwave oven then you have to work with what you’ve got!