Ingham’s Christmas Turkey Nuggets | Chewsday Review

Sleigh, what… Christmas tree shaped nuggets?! If your toddler loves nuggets, they might be excited to see these right in time for Christmas. But will they make Santa’s nice list? Read on for more.

Ingredients

Positives

These get a tick for convenience – like most crumbed products, they can be cooked from frozen and this particular variety takes only 16 minutes in the oven (less in an air fryer!)
Saturated fat content is 1.7g/100g which is well below my target of less than 3g per 100g (but true of most chicken nuggets). Varieties like the Steggles Tempura Chicken Dino Snacks and Coles and Woolies homebrand nuggets all contain even less saturated fat.
Although these nuggets contain added sugar, they are still within the guidelines at 3.7g/100g. It is possible to find brands without added sugar though, and for a savoury product it doesn’t seem necessary. Again, you’ll find the Steggles Tempura Chicken Dino Snacks and Coles homebrand nuggets don’t contain any added sugar.

Negatives

Sodium is just over our recommendations, sitting at 445mg of sodium per 100g meaning that 3-4 ‘Christmas trees’ would make up around 50% of a toddler’s recommended daily salt intake. Some lower salt options include Coles and Woolies home-brand nuggets and Steggles Tempura Chicken Dino Snacks.
Turkey and chicken make up a combined 48% of this product which is middle of the road compared to other nuggets. Some products are as low as 34% and the highest I’ve found is Woolworths Crumbed Chicken Breast Nuggets (59%). Ideally we’re aiming for at least 50% chicken in our chicken nuggets.
At $20 per kg, they are much more expensive than other nuggets. Ingham’s Original Chicken Breast Nuggets are $12.50 per kg, Steggles Chicken Dino Snacks are $13.50 per kg and Coles Tempura Chicken Nuggets are only $11 per kg.

Marketing

“No added hormones”. This is a statement I see on most ‘nuggety’ products and also adds an element of confusion for customers. Spoiler alert: all Australian chicken is free from hormones.
“100% Australian turkey and chicken”. This gives the illusion that nuggets are 100% turkey/chicken but we know they are not.
Very clever marketing – similar to the dinosaur shaped nuggets, Christmas tree shaped nuggets certainly have the novelty factor that so many toddlers love.

Alternatives

Overall, these nuggets have a premium price, high sodium and low turkey/chicken content. But, I might consider buying them for the novelty factor leading up to Christmas – we do love Christmas in this house!
There are other options on the market that are lower in salt and higher in chicken like Steggles Tempura Chicken Dino Snacks, Woolworths Chicken Breast Crumbed Nuggets, Coles Tempura Chicken Breast Nuggets and Inghams Free Range Chicken Breast Ciabatta Nuggets.
If your toddler loves nuggets, you’re not alone. They’re a fairly common safe food and can often be a stepping stone towards eating other types of chicken in the future.

The composition of food products changes regularly. The nutritional values of the products in this Chewsday Review were correct at the time of publishing.