Ingredients
Method
- To Boil Potatoes: Cover the potatoes by 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender and a fork can easily pierce them, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain and pass through a ricer. Add 2 tablespoons of butter, potato flakes, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper and set aside.
- To Caramelize Onions: Melt 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium high heat. Stir in the onions and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are deeply browned, about 40 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of water and scrape browned bits off the bottom of the pan (that’s where the flavor is!).
- To Roast Carrots: Preheat oven to 425 degrees, place a rimmed baking sheet in the oven. Toss the carrots in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Carefully add carrots to the hot pan in the oven. Toss the carrots every 15 minutes. After 30 minutes, add the garlic cloves and roast for an additional 15 minutes.
- In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the onion, carrot and garlic. Pulse until pureed, about 1 minute. Using a flexible rubber spatula, fold the carrot mixture into the potatoes until combined.
- Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, measure out 20 balls of the nugget mixture (18 gm each). Press each ball down with a teaspoon until it forms a nugget shape (about ½ inch thick). Freeze on a parchment lined cookie sheet. When frozen, coat the nuggets.
- To Coat the Nuggets: Process bread in food processor with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion power and oregano until the crumbs are an even fine texture (about 30 seconds). Place crumbs in a bowl. Spread wheat starch in a bowl. Beat 2 tablespoons of egg replacer with ½ cup water in a bowl. Dredge frozen nugget in starch, shaking off excess. Dip both sides of the nugget in the egg replacer mixture. Dip both sides of nugget in bread crumbs, pressing crumbs with fingers to form an even, cohesive coat.
- To Cook: Heat oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees. Fry desired amount of nuggets for 4 minutes until golden brown. Freeze the remaining nuggets for later use.*(see note below)
Notes
Note: I will typically flash-fry nuggets for later use to keep coating on (350 degrees for 30 seconds and then freeze). While not necessary for home use, if you are bringing the nuggets to a restaurant, it makes them more stable.
To make the nuggets lower in phe, replace the potato flakes with CFL baking mix and/or substitute some or all of the potatoes with yucca/cassava.
To make the nuggets higher in phe, use an egg in place of the egg replacer and regular breadcrumbs in place of CFL bread. Reader Q&A:
Q: Are potato flakes the same as instant potatoes? A: yes
Q: Can you fry these in an air fryer? A: I have not tried, but I have reheated them in the air fryer.
Q: Hi Brenda, Firstly thank you very much for sharing all your recipes on Cook for Love. My daughter has recently been diagnosed with a metabolic disorder and she has loved your meatball recipe. I’d like to make her veggie nuggets. Just wondering how much protein is in the potato flakes you use per 100g? I’m getting products in Australia so am having to substitute some items. Thank you again! Sarah A: 100 gm of potato flakes have 7.5 gm protein.
Q: Brenda--When you flash fry, I assume that you coat the nuggets first (rather than freeze first before coating), flash fry, and then freeze.
Thank--Dianne A: I find it hard to coat the nuggets if they are not frozen -- they get a bit too mushy. So freeze for a bit, coat, flash fry and then store in freezer until ready to use.
Q: If you freeze the nuggets after flash frying, could you re-heat them in a high temp oven? Or is it best to cook in oil after freezing? A: Yes, high oven works, as does air fryer.
Q: Can you use the Cambrooke Eggz in replace of the Ener-G egg replacer? A: No
Q: I don't have a ricer. Is there anything else I can use? A: A ricer just mashed potatoes and you get no lumps. A potato masher or fork will also work. -- Brenda
Q: Can i flash fry these in the airfryer? A: Yes, spritz with olive oil first
Q: I'm a beginner on cooking. Do I use the Phe mg/g: 1.55 to measure one nugget in grams to get an accurate serving size? thanks A: You can, but if you weigh out the nuggets beforehand as directed the phe amount is listed. Having th mg/gm is super helpful if a serving is not finished so the exact protein/phe can be calculated.,
Q: Hi Brenda, Many thanks for this lovely recipe. I was really excited about making it for my 16 mo son with a mild form of MSUD. Unfortunately I did not succeed in replicating it. Could you possibly advice what could have been the issue? So what I did differently is the coating. I used regular panko bread crumbs with the seasoning that you suggested, and I dipped the frozen nuggets in wheat flour first, then in almond milk and then in the bread crumbs. the crumbs were holding nicely. when i fried, all of the inside melted, i was only left with an oily crunchy coating, which was tasty hehe but the inside of the nugget was gone. any idea what could have happened and what i should do differently next time? thanks :) A: That totally sucks to do all that work and lose the nuggets in the end. I am guessing that because punk breadcrumbs are larger bits, there was space in between them and the filling oozed out. Go with a finer breadcrumb or even fresh ones. -- Brenda
To make the nuggets lower in phe, replace the potato flakes with CFL baking mix and/or substitute some or all of the potatoes with yucca/cassava.
To make the nuggets higher in phe, use an egg in place of the egg replacer and regular breadcrumbs in place of CFL bread. Reader Q&A:
Q: Are potato flakes the same as instant potatoes? A: yes
Q: Can you fry these in an air fryer? A: I have not tried, but I have reheated them in the air fryer.
Q: Hi Brenda, Firstly thank you very much for sharing all your recipes on Cook for Love. My daughter has recently been diagnosed with a metabolic disorder and she has loved your meatball recipe. I’d like to make her veggie nuggets. Just wondering how much protein is in the potato flakes you use per 100g? I’m getting products in Australia so am having to substitute some items. Thank you again! Sarah A: 100 gm of potato flakes have 7.5 gm protein.
Q: Brenda--When you flash fry, I assume that you coat the nuggets first (rather than freeze first before coating), flash fry, and then freeze.
Thank--Dianne A: I find it hard to coat the nuggets if they are not frozen -- they get a bit too mushy. So freeze for a bit, coat, flash fry and then store in freezer until ready to use.
Q: If you freeze the nuggets after flash frying, could you re-heat them in a high temp oven? Or is it best to cook in oil after freezing? A: Yes, high oven works, as does air fryer.
Q: Can you use the Cambrooke Eggz in replace of the Ener-G egg replacer? A: No
Q: I don't have a ricer. Is there anything else I can use? A: A ricer just mashed potatoes and you get no lumps. A potato masher or fork will also work. -- Brenda
Q: Can i flash fry these in the airfryer? A: Yes, spritz with olive oil first
Q: I'm a beginner on cooking. Do I use the Phe mg/g: 1.55 to measure one nugget in grams to get an accurate serving size? thanks A: You can, but if you weigh out the nuggets beforehand as directed the phe amount is listed. Having th mg/gm is super helpful if a serving is not finished so the exact protein/phe can be calculated.,
Q: Hi Brenda, Many thanks for this lovely recipe. I was really excited about making it for my 16 mo son with a mild form of MSUD. Unfortunately I did not succeed in replicating it. Could you possibly advice what could have been the issue? So what I did differently is the coating. I used regular panko bread crumbs with the seasoning that you suggested, and I dipped the frozen nuggets in wheat flour first, then in almond milk and then in the bread crumbs. the crumbs were holding nicely. when i fried, all of the inside melted, i was only left with an oily crunchy coating, which was tasty hehe but the inside of the nugget was gone. any idea what could have happened and what i should do differently next time? thanks :) A: That totally sucks to do all that work and lose the nuggets in the end. I am guessing that because punk breadcrumbs are larger bits, there was space in between them and the filling oozed out. Go with a finer breadcrumb or even fresh ones. -- Brenda
