Whether you want to change things up for the kids or are looking for a quick appetizer chicken nuggets can be answer. I am sharing ideas for easy and delicious dipping sauce for making gourmet chicken nuggets that are sure to become your new favorite appetizer! These sauces are perfect for whipping up before watching a game or when you have people over unexpectedly. 

With the holidays coming closer this is the time of getting together with the familia and friends.  It’s a time of unexpected guests and pot luck dinners and a time where we are all busier than ever and always on happy to find an easy dinner option.  A few years ago I would spend half the day in the kitchen if I was expecting company or if I had to bring a dish to a pot luck but lately I just don’t have the time for that but I don’t want to run out and pick something up at the grocery store either.

But I recently discovered that chicken nuggets can be a great appetizer too! A couple of days later I get a call from the in-laws saying they want to drop by later tonight, as in “we’re already in the car and will be there in 15 minutes”. Boy I hate that but they always do it!  For some reason they always expect something amazing from me, might it be because I blog about food all the time?  Hey that doesn’t mean that I cook complicated, time consuming four course meals every day but it’s my in-laws so I’m freaking out.  I need to find something awesome to give them.  I look in the freezer and next to a couple of mysterious looking zip lock bags with who knows what in them I see the kid’s chicken nuggets.  I pop them in the oven and start working on some quick dipping sauces.

For the sauces I used things that I always have on hand and they are all ready in just a few minutes.  I make an orange lime chile ketchup, my creamy avocado sauce that everyone loves and I whip up a tamarind balsamic sauce and a delicious pineapple honey mustard sauce, the original recipe was with mango but I have no mangoes and pineapple sounds like a great substitute (if you have mango at home you should give it a try with mango and let me know how that turns out).

When I put the chicken nuggets on the table I know my mother in law is thinking “chicken nuggets? really?”. I swear I can read it on her face. I tell her about the dipping sauces and she smiles. Was that a real smile? Thinking I should have tried these before I served them to my mother in law I grab a spicy chicken nugget first and take a bite, and wow! These sauces are awesome!

Dipping Sauces

As always I love using Latino ingredients and including in my recipes those flavors that remind me of home and keep me feeling closer to Guatemala.  The Creamy Avocado Dipping Sauce combines yogurt, avocado and cilantro for a fresh and smooth taste. You can get the recipe HERE.  For the tamarind balsamic sauce I just mix together tamarind concentrate (you can buy this in Latino markets, it’s used for making a tamarind drink) and balsamic vinaigrette in equal parts.

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Orange Lime Chile Ketchup

This spicy ketchup is so easy to make and it will deliver a bright, fiery kick. If you want to turn down the heat just reduce the amount of chili powder.

Author Paula Bendfeldt-Diaz

Ingredients

• 1.5 cup ketchup
• 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of orange zest
• 1/4 teaspoon of lime zest

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients together

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Roasted Pineapple Honey Mustard

Roasted Pineapple Honey Mustard Sauce

Author Paula Bendfeldt-Diaz

Ingredients

• ½ cup Dijon mustard
• ½ cup light mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 of tablespoons agave syrup
• 4 slices of fresh pineapple

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in upper third.
2. Spray cookie sheet with no stick spray and place pineapple slices in oven until browned in the edges, about 15 minutes.
3. Remove from oven and let cool and cut into pieces.
4. Combine Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, vinegar, agave and pineapple in food processor and pulse for 5 to your desired chunkiness.
5. Serve or chill.

So the in-laws’ visit is a total success, well almost … she does mention the dishes in the sink. Darn I forgot to hide those in the washing machine! But she loved the chicken nuggets and the sauces where a total hit.  

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Paula Bendfeldt-Diaz

Paula moved from her native Guatemala to SW Florida with her husband and two children and together they are discovering what it means to live life between two languages.

Paula studied architecture and now makes a living as a freelance writer,traveler and amateur photographer.She started her writing & publishing career as the editor of Bebé y Mamá, the first parenting magazine in Guatemala.She is the founder of www.GrowingUpBilingual.com and www.365thingsswfl.com and writes articles in Spanish and English for both magazines and the web on travel,food and bicultural and bilingual parenting .

When she is not on a plane or road trip she likes to create recipes inspired in the flavors of her native Guatemala.

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