Batter Fried Chicken Fingers With Tangy Dipping Sauce

These kid-friendly and family-friendly chicken nuggets will be your go-to for both the picky eaters and everyone else alike.

When Renee found herself out of ideas one day last chol hamoed Pesach, she naturally turned to her big sister. Her actual big sister, not the “big sister in your pocket”  that is known as Between Carpools. 

Renee’s 5-year-old super-picky eater missed all his favorite carbs (yes, the ones that start with a “P” and end with an “A” and are generally very Italian sounding) and didn’t like matzah. At all. She was struggling to find something for him to eat. He had eaten “Karpas” for dinner the night before (who knew boiled potatoes were such a hit), complete with salt water for dipping and all. 

There was no point in arguing. If a child wants to eat something on Pesach that is actually allowed, you don’t ask questions, you simply peel and cook 3 potatoes and smile knowing he won’t go to bed hungry (or with 3 chocolate Lebens in his system).

The big sister remembered she had a really old recipe, ripped out from a Ami Magazine’s Whisk circa 2015 that her children liked. Renee gave it a try, and guess what–it was an instant hit. The nuggets were soft, the coating delicious, and the child ate happily. Not just the picky eater–but all the children and all the adults too. She couldn’t fry them fast enough. 

Can we ask for more? 

No. But we added a dipping sauce that works really well with it anyway. 

After Yom Tov, we did some digging and found out this recipe actually belongs to our long-time friend and talented balebusta Zahava Krohn, who graciously agreed to share it here with you. 

One of the best parts? If you have chicken available, you can prepare this with no shopping needed–the ingredients are just the basics that you likely already have on hand.

Simply whisk together the oil, spices, eggs, baking powder, water, and potato starch. 

It will get thicker as it sits (that is the nature of potato starch), so if it’s too thick, add some water and mix again. 

Add chicken to the bowl all at once and mix to coat. 

There’s no need for these to marinate. You can go ahead and fry right away! Heat 2 inches of oil in a sauté pan. Fry the nuggets in batches until golden and cooked through (they stay pretty light).

All we need now is a dipping sauce to go with them. Instead of a cornstarch slurry, we’re making a potato starch slurry to thicken the sauce. Combine 1 ½ tablespoons potato starch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water.

Combine the rest of the dipping sauce ingredients (vinegar, ketchup, lemon, sugar…truly just basics). Bring to a simmer and stir in the potato starch slurry.

Whisk until smooth and cook for a couple of more minutes, until it’s nice and thick.

And dinner is served. 

These chicken fingers are best eaten fresh but are also good the next day (rewarm in the oven or microwave if you have one available).