These Veggie Nuggets are made with cannellini beans and coated with breadcrumbs making them deliciously creamy on the inside with a crunchy exterior.
Most kids adore nuggets, and I put that down to the fact that they
- Love finger foods and
- They love to dip
These veggie nuggets are no different. My kids happily snack on these, (both hot or cold), and love it when they appear in their lunchboxes, along with a tasty dip.
Veggie Nuggets Ingredients and Cooking Tips
- Carrots and Zucchini (courgettes): Grate the carrots and zucchini (I used the food processor but you can also use a box grater) and then squeeze out the juice. I do this by placing the grated vegetables onto a clean tea towel and squeezing hard! If you skip this step your nuggets mixture will be too wet. NOTE: Save the juice and use it in smoothies or sauces. – don’t throw away all that goodness!
- Cannelini Beans: A lot of vegetable nugget recipes are made with mashed potato which is delicious but I wanted a recipe that could be made quickly, without having to pre-cook potatoes. Canned beans are a great substitute, just rinse and blend, no pre-cooking required.
- Grated Cheddar Cheese: I always use a mature cheddar. I find it produces the best flavour and you don’t have to add so much to get the desired flavour. If your child is dairy intolerant you can miss it out but you may need to add some nutritional yeast/extra herbs to make up for the lost flavour. Note: I have not tested a dairy-free alternative.
- Herbs: I've used both fresh and dried herbs for flavour. I often get questions asking what I mean by "mixed herbs", this is something that I pick up easily both in the UK and Australia but I can not recall if I bought it when I lived in the USA. It is just a blend of mixed dried herbs. Each brand differs but a typical mix includes basil. marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage & thyme.
- Breadcrumbs: I used dried breadcrumbs in the nugget mixture and panko to coat. You can use both dried or fresh. I usually pre-bake my panko breadcrumbs, before coating the nuggets, to make them beautiful and golden. This is not a required step but I find it easy just to toast them while I am forming the nuggets. You can read more about it here.
- Eggs: Eggs are used both in the mixture and to coat. I have not trialled the recipe with an egg replacement, sorry. If you have tried one, please leave a comment below as I would love to know what you used and how it turned out.
Making Veggie Nuggets - Cooking With Kids
I often talk about the benefits of cooking with kids. Not just to help them become better eaters, but also to help with their math, language and fine motor skills. This is a recipe that is great for having your mini chefs helping with. They will love helping with
- Grating
- Squeezing the liquid out of the veggies
- Cracking Eggs (always a favourite)
- Pressing the food processor buttons (another favourite)
- Forming nuggets (messy!)
- Coating (again, messy)
Storage Instructions
- Refrigerator: Store veggie nuggets for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
- Freezer: Place cooked nuggets on a baking tray and place in freezer until frozen. Transfer to a zip lock bag or freezable container and store for up to 3 months.
Can be eaten cold or reheated in oven until properly heated through and crispy.
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Bean and Veggie Nuggets
Nuggets made from cannellini beans, veggies, eggs and breadcrumbs. Perfect for little hands.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Serves:20
Hover over "serves" value to reveal recipe scaler
Ingredients
- 1 400g / 140z Canned Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (175g) Medium Zucchini (Courgette), grated
- 1 (100g) Medium Carrot, grated
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic, minced
- 70g (½ cup) Mature Cheddar, grated
- ¼ teaspoon Dried Mixed Herbs
- 1 tablespoon Fresh Parsley
- 40g (½ cup) Dried Breadcrumbs
- 1 Egg, beaten
- COATING
- 80g (1 cup) Panko Breadcrumbs
- 1 Egg, beaten
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220c / 425F / Gas 7. Lightly grease a baking sheet with oil or line with baking paper.
- Squeeze as much juice as you can from the carrots and zucchinis (i use a clean tea towel to do this)
- Put the cannellini beans into a food processor and process until smooth. Add the carrots, zucchini, garlic, cheese and herbs and continue to process until combined.
- Add the breadcrumbs and egg and pulse until combined.
- Place the mixture into the fridge for approx. 15 mins to firm up.
- Place the beaten egg in a bowl and the breadcrumbs on a flat plate.
- With wet hands, take 1 tablespoon of mixture and form a nugget (I made mine croquette shaped in picture but have also made them more rounded) Dip in the egg and roll in the breadcrumbs to coat. Repeat with the rest of the mixture.
- Place on baking sheet and bake for 20 mins.
Recipe Notes
- Carrots and Zucchini (courgettes): Grate the carrots and zucchini (I used the food processor but you can also use a box grater) and then squeeze out the juice. I do this by placing the grated vegetables onto a clean tea towel and squeezing hard! If you skip this step your nuggets mixture will be too wet. NOTE: Save the juice and use it in smoothies or sauces. – don’t throw away all that goodness!
- Cannelini Beans: A lot of vegetable nugget recipes are made with mashed potato which is delicious but I wanted a recipe that could be made quickly, without having to pre-cook potatoes. Canned beans are a great substitute, just rinse and blend, no pre-cooking required.
- Grated Cheddar Cheese: I always use a mature cheddar. I find it produces the best flavour and you don’t have to add so much to get the desired flavour. If your child is dairy intolerant you can miss it out but you may need to add some nutritional yeast/extra herbs to make up for the lost flavour. Note: I have not tested a dairy-free alternative.
- Herbs: I've used both fresh and dried herbs for flavour. I often get questions asking what I mean by "mixed herbs", this is something that I pick up easily both in the UK and Australia but I can not recall if I bought it when I lived in the USA. It is just a blend of mixed dried herbs. Each brand differs but a typical mix includes basil. marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage & thyme.
- Breadcrumbs: I used dried breadcrumbs in the nugget mixture and panko to coat. You can use both dried or fresh. I usually pre-bake my panko breadcrumbs, before coating the nuggets, to make them beautiful and golden. This is not a required step but I find it easy just to toast them while I am forming the nuggets. You can read more about it here.
- Eggs: Eggs are used both in the mixture and to coat. I have not trialled the recipe with an egg replacement, sorry. If you have tried one, please leave a comment below as I would love to know what you used and how it turned out.
Nutritional facts
Calories: 60kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 128mg | Potassium: 92mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 928IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 44mg | Iron: 1mg
Andrea says
Made this for my 10 month old and he loved it. I gave him à side of humus as a dip;)
Amy says
Great! Thanks Andrea 🙂
Kate says
We made this recipe even easier by using some previously frozen but already cooked, leftover broccoli and carrots as our veg! We used a can of Four Bean mix (kidney, butter, cannellini and chickpea) and bub is loving this so much!
Amy says
Thanks Kate, so happy you liked them and found a way to make it super easy 🙂
Lisa says
Want to make this soon! Do you think it will work without the panko crumbs on the outside?
Brooke says
Do these freeze ok? Looking for meals the baby and bigger kids can have on our busy nights after sports that I can pull out of the freezer. Thank you 🙂
Amy says
Hi Brooke, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Yes these freeze well 🙂
Chloe says
I have all ingredients apart from the breadcrumbs - does this recipe work without them?
Amy says
Hi Chloe, the breadcrumbs in the mixture is used to help bind and make the mixture easier to form into nuggets. You could try replacing it with some oat flour. The coating could probably be skipped but the nuggets won't have that same crispy exterior and may be harder to handle.
Lena says
Loved it! I just used the eggies I had at home and left away the breadcrumb coating at the end. Turned out really yummy and bubs loves it
Amy says
Fab, so glad your little one enjoyed them, Lena 🙂
Ania Levey says
Hi, could you recommend a tasty recipe for a dip to go with the nuggets? Thank you.
Amy says
Hi Ania, My kids love a honey mustard dip with these ( I just add a little dijon mustard, honey and mayo to greek yoghurt and mix), they also love a smoked paprika dip (add a little smoked paprika to greek yoghurt and mayo and mix). Alternatively, you can search dips in my search bar and it will give you all the dips I have on the blog. Enjoy!
Elli says
I want to try this recipe, but what are mixed herbs?? Sorry, I’m an inexperienced cook so I’m not familiar if this is sold as “mixed herbs” or if I have to mix herbs together. If so, what herbs to mix? Thanks in advance!
Amy says
Hi Elli, Mixed herbs is just a mix of dried herbs. Each brand will be different but you can also make your own (using your favourite herbs) Off hand I think my brand contains marjoram, basil, oregano and thyme 🙂