Check the label: What’s really inside your go-to supermarket chicken nuggets, tenders and schnitzels

Chicken nuggets, tenders and schnitzels are absolute staples in Aussie households. They’re quick to cook, undeniably delicious and a guaranteed hit with the whole family. But there’s one critical detail most shoppers scroll right past on the label: how much actual chicken is inside.

Dietitian Susie Burrell told Today Extra many of the most popular brands have less than 40 per cent of chicken in them – a problem she sees across all supermarket crumbed chicken products.

“There are a really wide ranges of amounts of chicken, which is shocking to hear,” Burrell said.

“You would assume that if it’s a chicken-based tender or nugget it would be a high percentage of chicken, but that is not the case.

“You also can’t tell based on the price. Sometimes the supermarket brands you think might be lower because they’re cheaper, but that doesn’t correspond to how much chicken is in them.”

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Burrell advised customers to “get the reading glasses out and really look at the labels”.

To help shoppers make better choices, she compared popular supermarket nuggets, crumbed burgers, tenders and schnitzels to find which have the most chicken content in them.

Brands with lower percentages of chicken include Coles Simply Chicken Burgers, which cost $6 for a pack of four, and Steggles Tempura Dino Snacks, $5.50 for a 400g pack.

“Some supermarket brands can have as little as 30 per cent chicken,” Burrell said, adding that if you look at the ingredients of these products, you see a list “a mile long” – a sign of less chicken content and more processing than other options.

Burrell’s second-lowest tier of crumbed supermarket products containing 50-60 per cent chicken are Coles Buttermilk Chicken Tenders, $7.50 for a 400g pack, and Woolworths Chicken Breast Crumbed Tenders, $4.40 for a 400g pack.

“These are both homemade brands, which are cost-effective,” she pointed out.

“Let’s be honest, the cost of food is very expensive, so I don’t want people to feel guilty that you are buying pre-processed food like chicken because sometimes that’s the best thing for the budget, and kids will eat it.”

When it comes to Burrell’s second-highest tier of crumbed chicken products, that’s when larger pieces such as tenders and schnitzels come into the picture – including Coles Chicken Breast Schnitzel, $9 for a 600g pack, and Woolworths Breast Fillets with Cheese & Herb Crumb, $13 for 500g.

“You can see it is a much higher amount of chicken and a lighter crumb. It’s a bigger piece, it’s a bigger serve of protein,” she said.

“Anything over 70 per cent is really good.”

Burrell also mentioned a Woolworths Chicken Bites product with 77 per cent chicken, which could serve as a good alternative for families looking to swap out nuggets for a healthier choice.

“That’s as high as you’ll get, unless you are crumbing it yourself,” she added.

The top tier option for Burrell is making chicken nuggets, bites and schnitzel yourself. For this, she recommends using Panko breadcrumbs, pointing out many brands of commercial breadcrumbs also have a long list of ingredients and additives.

“Even better, if you’ve got leftover bread – wholemeal bread or multigrain bread – blitz it, and crumb with that, then you’re getting all the wholegrain goodness.”

The beauty of this is you can choose the size of the chicken you are serving, whether they be bites or strips or full schnitzels.

Burrell’s go-to recipe is to mix eggs, chives, parmesan cheese and plain flour, then dip each piece of chicken into the flour, then the egg mixture, and finally press them into the bread crumbs of your choice, and of course salt and pepper to taste.

“Stick them in the air fryer, and you’ll get them nice and crispy,” she added.