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Steggles Chicken Breast Nuggets Boosted with Veggies (2)

Steggles Chicken Breast Nuggets Boosted with Veggies | Chewsday Review

Today I’m back with another im-peck-able chicken nugget review. Are these nuggets with hidden veggies too good to be true? Read on to find out. You do nug-get my puns? Shame on you!

Ingredients

Chicken Breast (37%), Coating [Wheat Flour, Yeast, Salt, Sugar, Annatto (160b), Turmeric (100), Water, Thickeners (1422, 415), Vegetable Gum (412), Wheat Gluten, Wheat Starch, Vegetable Oil], Potato (11%), Water, Vegetable Oil, Cauliflower (3%), Wheat Starch, Soy Meal (Wheat), Soy Protein, Mineral Salts (451, 450, 508), Dehydrated Vegetables (Onion, Garlic), Hydrolysed Vegetable Protein (Soy), Anticaking Agent (341), Spice Extract (Celery).
There isn’t a lot of chicken in these chicken nuggets! In fact, the crumb coating, water, oil and flavouring (49%) make up more of the product than the chicken breast (37%).
With only 11% potato and 3% cauliflower, I would certainly need a magnifying glass to find these hidden veggies.
Allergens: wheat, soy
May contain: egg, milk, sesame

Positives

Negatives

The chicken content of these nuggets is low at 37%. Chicken content of nuggets on the market ranges from 34% to 66%, with products on the lower end being more likely to have starch or flour mixed into the meat. Steggles Chicken Dino Snacks have a much higher chicken content (60%), as do Ingham’s Airmazing Chicken Nuggets (51%).
You’re really paying for the almost non-existent veggies in this product. At $17.50/kg, these nuggets are more expensive than Steggles Tempura or Crumbed Nuggets ($12.50/kg), or Woolworths Chicken Breast Crumbed Nuggets ($11/kg), all of which contain more chicken.
These nuggets have 4.1g of sugar per 100g, or almost a teaspoon of sugar per serving of 5 nuggets. Most comes from the added sugar in the coating. This is more than most chicken nuggets and more than I’d expect for a savoury product.

Marketing

‘Chicken breast nuggets, boosted with hidden cauliflower and potato’. The tiny amount of veg in this product really doesn’t add anything from a nutritional perspective, and hiding vegetables doesn’t help little ones learn to like them in the long run.
‘¼ cup of veg per 10 nuggets’. This does roughly check out, but 10 nuggets would provide 744mg sodium, which is 93% of a toddler’s daily maximum limit.
‘Our chickens have no added hormones’. The Australian chicken meat industry has not used growth hormones for many years, so this is purely fear-based marketing.
‘Free from artificial colours or flavours, absolutely no added preservatives’. Although ‘naturally derived’, these nuggets do contain a number of additives. These are not of concern, and are necessary to help preserve the texture and taste of the nuggets.

Alternatives

Overall, I wouldn’t choose these chicken nuggets due to their low chicken content and premium price point.
Steggles Tempura Dino Snacks are lower in sodium and saturated fat, cheaper and contain a lot more chicken. Coles and Woolworths brand chicken nuggets are also reasonable options. I’d be much more inclined to choose one of these products and serve a small amount of vegetables on the side for exposure.
Don’t feel crumb-y if you have a chicken nugget lover at home. Nuggets are a common safe food for kids, and can be a step in gradually working towards crumbed or plain chicken.