These Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken Bites Will Disappear In Minutes

Pretzels and mustard, a combo that may have originated in Germany, is a pairing as perfect as peanut butter and jelly. In Patterson Watkins' recipe, this simple snack is transformed into a hearty, meaty appetizer or main dish with the addition of chicken. Watkins found this tender-crispy combination to be irresistible, and admitted she gobbled down more than a few as soon as they were done. As she told us, "I had a tough time holding back long enough to take their picture."

There are a number of reasons why this recipe works so well. The chicken itself is seasoned with a zesty combo of garlic, onion, paprika, and black and red pepper, while Watkins also singles out the pretzel coating. "It adheres nicely to the chicken and maintains its crispiness much longer than I've experienced with traditional breadcrumb or flour coatings," she explained. As for the honey mustard dip, she said, "The triple-threat mustard dip is tasty too. The sweet, tart, and moderately zesty dipping sauce is absolutely perfect — there's something to be said about that classic pretzel and mustard pairing — win-win."

For the nuggets themselves, you'll need chicken breasts, flour, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, sweet paprika, cayenne, black pepper, eggs, pretzels, and vegetable oil. Additional ingredients required for the sauce include yellow mustard, Dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, and honey.

The nuggets in the photos were made with medium-sized pretzels for aesthetic purposes, since, when crushed, chunkier pretzels provide a better balance of dark exterior to light interior than do thin ones. As a result, the nuggets don't look too brown. If you don't care so much about appearance, you can use any hard pretzel you prefer: rods, sticks, twists, or even flavored pretzel crisps. (Check out our worst-to-best flavor ranking of pretzel crisps.)

Pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels.

Place flour, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cayenne, and black pepper in a shallow bowl, and stir to combine.

Coat the chicken in the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess.

Place the beaten eggs in another shallow bowl and dip the chicken into the eggs, letting any excess drip off.

Place the crushed pretzels into a third shallow bowl. Coat the chicken pieces in the pretzels, pressing with your hands to adhere the crumbs.

Fill a pot or Dutch oven ⅓-full with oil (or fill a deep fryer with cooking oil) and heat over medium-high heat until the temperature reaches 350 F.

While the oil is preheating, place yellow mustard, Dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, and honey in a medium bowl, whisk to combine the dipping sauce. Set aside.

Once the oil is hot, fry the chicken pieces in batches (batches of 4 to 5 pieces) until cooked through and crisp, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Once cooked and crisp, remove the chicken from the oil using a slotted spoon. Set aside to drain on a wire rack or on paper towels.

Serve the chicken bites with sauce on the side for dipping and dunking.

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If you'd rather not deep-fry the nuggets, either to avoid the mess or for a lighter result, rest assured that they can also be baked or air-fried. If you're planning to use a conventional oven, you'll first need to preheat it to either 400 or 425 F, depending on how hot your oven tends to run. Arrange the nuggets on a wire rack that has been placed inside a baking sheet, then cook them for about 12 to 15 minutes until they're crisp.

Should you prefer to use an air fryer (which is, after all, a mini convection oven), set the appliance to 400 F and bake the nuggets for four to five minutes, then turn them over and give them another four to five minutes. You may need to work in batches, since otherwise the nuggets might overcrowd the air fryer basket and make for uneven cooking and non-crispy coating.

Pretzel nuggets baked in either an oven or an air fryer will taste just as good as deep-fried ones, but they won't look quite the same. One way you can compensate, if this is a concern, is to use smaller, thinner pretzels for the coating. When crushed, these crumbs have a darker appearance than those of medium-sized pretzels, so the baked nuggets will be a deeper shade of brown.

Sweet mustard isn't your only option with these nuggets since you could skip the honey and go with any or all of the three mustards listed here, or use any other type of mustard of your choice. Moving beyond mustard, you could pivot to its partner in crime, ketchup, which you could mix with mayonnaise to make fry sauce. Add a splash of hot sauce, and you'll have comeback sauce, a southern staple that can be slathered on everything. Another excellent choice would be beer cheese or any kind of cheese sauce. Since it makes a great dip for pretzels, of course, it will work with pretzel-coated chicken.

Most standard chicken nugget sauces will also stand up well to pretzels. Buffalo sauce brings a little heat, sweet and sour sauce adds a tangy flavor note that works well with savory chicken and pretzels, and ranch dressing's mild creaminess is always a safe bet. Venturing a bit further afield, there's nothing to stop you from dipping your nuggets into guacamole, hummus, marinara, or pico de gallo, if any of these is your condiment of choice.

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