Sweet Potato Chicken Poppers
These sweet potato chicken poppers are the original sweet potato chicken nuggets the internet fell in love with! They’re gluten, dairy, and egg-free and are so simple to make!
Are you a chicken nugget fan? Or maybe you have one in the family? I feel you! Chicken nuggets are life, and I was obsessed for the first half of my life, if not more.
Chicken nuggets are one of those foods that seem like you’d never be able to make a healthier version of… think again! This recipe first premiered on my website in 2017 and was my very first viral recipe. It took Pinterest by storm, and really put my blog (which now reaches millions) on the map. Since then, I’ve made other versions, like my breakfast sausage chicken poppers, but this is the legit OG!
These sweet potato chicken poppers are the real food version of chicken nuggets made with veggies instead of breading. They’re gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and so easy to make!
Why you’ll love sweet potato chicken poppers
- Veggie goodness! This recipe uses veggies instead of breading for an extra nutritious boost.
- Quick and easy. These chicken poppers come together so quickly and easily. The longest part of the hands-on process is rolling them into nuggets; even then, that’s relatively quick. Think of it almost like a sheet pan meal, like this gluten-free sheet pan sesame chicken or gluten-free sheet pan shrimp fried rice. You get everything you need on one sheet pan!
- Allergen friendly. They’re paleo, Whole 30 friendly, and even AIP Diet friendly.
- Total crowd pleaser. This recipe is loved by kids and adults alike!
Recipe Ingredients
- Ground Chicken. If you can find the ground chicken in the store, you can easily use a food processor to grind chicken breast or thigh into ground chicken.
- Sweet Potato. You’ll grate the sweet potato for this recipe. You can either use a grater or a food processor.
- Coconut flour. The coconut flour helps to bind this recipe.
- Garlic powder, onion powder, and green onion.
Modifications & Substitutions
- Seasonings. These seasonings are mild and more kid-friendly, but you can easily switch up the seasonings with herbs or something spicier if you prefer!
- Ground turkey. This can easily be swapped in for ground chicken.
- Carrots. Carrots work just as well in this recipe. The only thing I’ve found is that carrots have a higher moisture content, so you’ll want to pat the carrots dry after shredding. I also have a recipe for bacon ranch chicken poppers that use carrots.
- Almond or cassava flour. Either one of these will work in place of the coconut flour.
- Avocado or olive oil. Either one will work in place of coconut oil.
How to make Sweet Potato Chicken Poppers
Here are the simple steps, with photos, to make this recipe. Find full instructions in the recipe card.
Step one. Add the ground turkey, coconut flour, coconut oil, and spices to a bowl.
Step two. Combine the mixture.
Step three. Roll the mixture into small, slightly flattened poppers about one inch in diameter (you’ll have about 20-25 poppers) and place them on the baking sheet .
Step four. Place in the oven for 25-28 minutes, flipping halfway through. Crisp further in a pan or place under the broiler if desired for 1-2 minutes to crisp further. Remove from the oven when thoroughly cooked through
Tips & Tricks
- Use a food processor to shred the sweet potato. Simply use the shredder attachment, and it’ll be done within seconds! If you wind up subbing carrots or just happen to have a sweet potato with higher water content, make sure you pat it dry if it looks at all wet.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop the poppers. This not only makes the process go faster but it makes for uniform sizes.
- Put on a set of gloves. I almost always use gloves with recipes like this to keep my hands clean.
- Make sure you press the poppers down. You want poppers/nuggets, not meatballs!
Storage and Reheating Instructions
- Store them in the fridge. Store these in the fridge in glass for 3-4 days. You can then reheat for a few minutes in the air fryer or oven.
- Freeze them. These chicken poppers can be frozen for 1-2 months! Defrost them in the fridge and reheat for a few minutes in the air fryer or oven. I highly recommend using a vacuum sealer to reduce any freezer burn.
Recipe FAQS
I love serving these with a dip like ranch, ketchup, or guacamole! As far as sides go, I usually eat them with broccoli, though a side salad or other roasted green veggie would be great as well.
Most butcher counters will have ground chicken. You can also sub ground turkey, or make your own ground chicken by setting chicken breast in the freezer for about 10-15 min and then blending it in a food processor.
Other Related Gluten-Free Chicken Nugget Recipes
If you tried these Sweet Potato Chicken Poppers or any other recipe on my blog please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
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Sweet Potato Chicken Poppers
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 20–25 poppers (4 servings) 1x
- Category: Main Dishes
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: global
Description
These sweet chicken poppers are the original sweet potato chicken nuggets that the internet fell in love with! They’re gluten, dairy, and egg-free and are so simple to make!
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 2 cups sweet potato, finely shredded
- 2 tbsp coconut oil, softened
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 2 sprigs green onion, finely chopped
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper (omit for AIP)
- Optional: 1 tsp paprika (omit for AIP)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper lightly greased with oil
- Combine all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and gently mix with your hands or with a silicone spatula to combine.
- Use a cookie scoop or your hand to scoop the mixture into small, round, poppers and evenly space them on the baking sheet. Slightly flatten them with your hand. They should be about one inch in diameter. You should have 20-25 poppers.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 28-30 minutes, flipping halfway through, until baked through to 165 F. If you want more of a crisp, place them under the broiler for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the oven.
- Allow to cool and serve with your favorite sauce! These are made for dipping, so pair them with guacamole, ketchup, mustard, etc!
Notes
You can easily shred the sweet potato using the shredder attachment on a food processor.
Storage instructions: Store these in the fridge in glass for 3-4 days. You can then reheat in the air fryer or oven for a few minutes. These chicken poppers can be frozen for 1-2 months! Defrost them in the fridge and reheat for a few minutes in the air fryer or oven. I highly recommend using a vacuum sealer to reduce any freezer burn.
I also have to shout out a similar recipe, chicken and zucchini poppers from One Lovely Life! These are another great option if you’re looking for something lower in starch.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 277
- Fat: 10.2g
- Carbohydrates: 18.8g
- Fiber: 3.8g
- Protein: 27.9g
Would almond flour be ok to use?
I haven’t tried that, but it may work. Let me know if you try!
I have found coconut flour messes up most of my recipes if I attempt to translate it directly from standard ones (with wheat flour). I think the rule of thumb is half coconut to flour? Is that correct. I’ve slept since then, so will have to check. That said, I have found almond flour more cooperative in recipes. FWIW… Just be careful you warn guests who might have tree nut allergies. If you’re serving to people other than immediate family and known friends, you run a risk when using nut flours.
i made these for dinner last night, and ohhhhh my! they are out of this world. i prepared them on sunday, kept them in the fridge overnight, and then popped them in the oven when i got home from work on monday. super easy and delicious! we ate them with a homemade paleo ranch dressing. thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Yay!! Thank you so much!!! I have yet to have them with a paleo ranch myself, but it sounds amazing! So glad you enjoyed them 🙂
hi again! i’m just checking back in with a question — has this recipe been modified in the past few months? i have made it a few times, and the ingredient amounts look different than what i remembered. also, when i made them last night, the taste was quite different (not bad — just different). of course, it could have been an error on my part, but i figured i’d ask! thanks for your time!
Omg… paleo ranch?! -Can I ask what recipe you use? 😮 😀 !!
Can’t wait to try these! How to you cut up the chicken?
to ground your own chicken, place a breast in the freezer for 30-45 minutes so it just gets firm, not solid. cut the breast into cubes and throw in a food processor. pulse until it looks like ground turkey you would find at the store.
I just made a batch of these but used ground organic turkey and added turmeric and herbs de provence to the spices. Delicious!! Thank you for this easy recipe that my children and I love!
Yum!! So glad you liked it 😀
I love the idea of using ground turkey. I have that! Thanks.
Is the chicken cooked or uncooked?
Uncooked
do you have a time conversion to do in the air fryer?
These are SO great for an easy lunch! Thank you for sharing, I’m going to make a triple batch and freeze extras so that we always have some on hand 🙂
Yay! Thank you so much, Lorin!! <3
Did they defrost well? I am thinking of doing this. (:
Thanks for the great recipe! I will add some chili powder or something to spice them up next time. I am going to try to freeze some too and hopefully they will re-crisp well. 🙂
Thank you, Christa 😀
What dip would be best with these?
I do it with guac, but I’ve heard others doing it with a paleo ranch!
I also drizzled with Frank’s Red Hot. SUPER YUM!
Maybe this is a crazy question, but do you have any suggestions for making these vegetarian? I make this recipe all the time and I adore it, but I’m making food for some friends today and one of them is vegetarian so I’m hoping to accommodate them in some way
You can check out my recipe for sweet potato tater tots!
My kids loved ketchup 🙂
How many would be considered a serving?
That’s hard to say, but I’d say about 5-6 or so.
So this may seem like a silly question, is the sweet potato cooked or un cooked whenever you grate it and combine in the mixture!
Hey, AB! They’re uncooked 🙂
Sounds Delish!! I can’t do coconut flour though. Do you think cassava would work? Or Tiger Nut? Thanks!
Hey, Nicole! I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure, but I would assume it should work alright. Let me know if you try it.
I used Casava flour and it worked just fine!! And I used olive oil instead of coconut oil 🙂
Nicole, did you try another kind of flour? I’d love to be able to share this with my Coconut Free AIP Recipes FB group.
Just made these and did not have coconut flour on hand. Considered almond flour but at the last minute I opted for nutritional yeast. So delicious!! I also added chopped jalapeño for added kick!
I have gluten free potato starch based “panko style bread crumbs.” I use them for all my meatball recipes and they are fantastic. Worked great with this recipe too.
Hi there! Do you know if these would freeze well? Thanks!
I haven’t tried, but I assume they would! You may want to reheat in a pan with coconut oil to re-crisp them 🙂 Let me know if you try!!
was this tried? i was going to ask a similar question
These look wonderful, and I would like to try them. One question—can you make these with mashed sweet potato instead of grated? It takes SO long and is such hard work to do anything with uncooked sweet potato…I’m looking for a way to make these without putting in the work with the potatoes. Suggestions?
I haven’t tried these with cooked sweet potato but it would likely work. You can also use a food processor for easier shredding 🙂
I used a mini food processor attachment that comes with my hand blender. Cleans up in one minute and works like a charm! I do have to cut the pieces into about 1 inch pieces but still saves me the effort of hand grating (forget that!) or cleaning the entire food processor.
I just pulse it into smallish pieces and cooks up just like grating…
I make them and freeze them to keep them on hand! They freeze great and it is a life saver for busy days when you don’t have time to cook!
If anyone is still wondering, these freeze incredibly well. They are one of the staple foods I use for my twin toddlers with food allergies. I make huge batches (like 4lb chicken at a time), flash freeze on sheet pans, then put them all in a gallon ziploc once frozen. I just microwave a few at a time to serve. It’s their favorite food, hands down!
This looks great! How many sweet potatoes did you buy to make 2 cups of shredded potatoes?
1-2 medium ones should be enough 🙂
Does anyone know the nutritional breakdown of these?
I don’t, but there are a lot of calculators online that should be able to tell you 🙂
Does parchment paper make a difference? Mine did not come out the way it looks in pictures and aren’t quite crispy
Everyone will look a little different because both chicken and sweet potato definitely vary in moisture, etc. but, the parchment paper does help make them more crispy as opposed to baking directly on a baking sheet 🙂
Can this be shallow fried on stove top
I haven’t tried it but others have told me that they do and it works!
Yes! Parchment paper does make a difference! I never thought so but I have pics of baking the same cookies the same day. Some baked on parchment paper and some, for some reason not! The ones on parchment paper turned out better!!
We just made these and my boyfriend says they knock spots off KFC! They’re delicious.
Yay!!! That makes more so happy! Thank you, Diana 😀
Wow thank you, you read my mind! I was thinking about making some sort of AIP sweet potato popper for the conference championships but couldn’t find any recipes online and didn’t have time to experiment. This sounds perfect!
Awesome! I’m so happy they satisfy the craving, Nicole!! Hope you loved them 🙂