Chicken nuggets! Who doesn’t love them? Whether fried or baked, these bite sized chicken bits are a popular packed lunch option for both kids and adults alike. They’re easy to cook, but can be tricky to pack for lunch. Afterall, you don’t want to eat them cold or soggy.
Today, I’m sharing a guide for how to pack chicken nuggets and keep them warm (and crunchy) for lunch.
How To Pack Chicken Nuggets For Lunch
In order to pack chicken nuggets safely while keeping them warm and crispy, you’ll need to take the following steps.
Get the proper container
Containers matter! If you’re looking to keep chicken nuggets warm and crispy for lunch, one of the first steps you’ll need to take is making sure you have the proper container. For warm dishes, you’ll need a thermos. A thermos is a container specially designed to keep dishes cold or hot. Thermos come in a bottle or flask form and work great for on the go. You’ll want to be sure to pick one that’s well insulated. To activate them, you’ll first need to pour in boiling water, allow it to sit for a few minutes with the lid on, and then drain the water out before adding in your warm food. This will create heat from convection.
You’ll want to avoid packing your nuggets in things like a plastic bag since that is a sure-fire way to get soggy nuggets. If you don’t have a thermos, it’s better to use aluminum foil to wrap your food. This will help maintain moderate warmth and crunchiness to your food.
Put a paper towel at the bottom
If you’re wondering, how do you keep the chicken nuggets from getting soggy and a lunchbox, this is the next important lunch idea you need to make sure you take. Place a paper towel in the bottom of your container in order to help absorb the moisture and then place the nuggets on top of the paper towel to prevent it from getting soggy.
Another method I’ve seen done was to use a wet paper towel on both ends of the thermos to help prevent condensation from forming inside.
Keep them separate
Your chicken nuggets should be kept separate from other foods in your lunch box. Avoid packing chicken nuggets next to other foods. This will keep your nuggets from getting soggy. For this reason, a bento styled lunch box with a thermos is ideal. This will not only help your food stay warm, but it will also help your chicken nuggets stay crispy and crunchy.
Secure the lid
The last thing you want to do is do all of this prepwork and let all of that work go to waste by forgetting to do this last step: secure the lid. Ensure the lids are properly sealed to not allow the heat to leave the container and avoid heat loss.
How To Prepare Chicken Nuggets For Lunch Box
Step 1. Cook your nuggets
This may be an obvious tip, but I have to include it. The food you would like to pack in your lunch boxes needs to be cooked beforehand. You can cook it the night before and then heat it up for a few moments before placing it in the thermos lunch boxes. Or you may also cook it the same day. Some people even cook a large batch on Sunday and then reheat it the morning of. It’s completely up to you and your preference for leftovers.
The thermos will simply ensure your hot foods stay warm. So yes, you’ll need to cook or reheat your food the same day so that it’s steaming hot before adding it into the thermos for taste and food safety purposes.
Step 2. Preheat the thermos
While your food is preheating, you’ll also need to preheat your thermos by boiling water and pouring it in the thermos. You can do this by allowing it to sit with the lid on for a few minutes or carefully shaking it for about 30 seconds before pouring the boiling water out. If you’re going to shake it, just be sure the lid is properly sealed so you won’t splash yourself with boiling hot liquid.
Step 3. Eat food within a reasonable time frame
Kids love chicken nuggets for lunch. For food safety purposes (and to ensure your thermos doesn’t cool down), you’ll want to pack chicken nuggets for school lunches and then eat them within a reasonable time frame.
Now you know how to make a packed lunch for hot foods and how to keep your chicken nuggets warm and crunchy. Want to learn how to prepare non refrigerated lunch ideas? Check these out and follow me on Instagram.
