For A Hassle-Free Taco Night, Use One Frozen Shortcut

If you're having a busy night, it can be a drag to decide what to make for dinner. Tacos seem like a good bet, but if you don't have any leftover proteins or rotisserie chicken lying around, you might feel like you're out of luck. But did you check the freezer? For your next Taco Tuesday venture, try a convenient and time-saving childhood classic: frozen chicken nuggets. Straight from the freezer, you can stick them in the air fryer or an oven for a crispy and nostalgic protein. Then chop them up and throw them in your shell or tortilla of choice.

Use whichever frozen chicken nuggets, tenders, strips, or popcorn chicken you have on hand. Or, if you're looking for suggestions, we've got you covered. We previously ranked grocery store chicken nuggets from worst to best and found Foster Farms and Tyson to be high on our list. And although not chicken, don't count out plant-based nuggets from Yummy and Impossible. These two brands were such high quality that we believed the nugs were real chicken, beating out the other brands for first and second spots.

For your tacos, you can use spicy breaded chicken nuggets if you're looking for extra heat. You can also make saucy nuggets at home and toss your chicken in whatever sauce you prefer. The possibilities are endless here — consider sauces such as buffalo, barbecue, sweet and sour, and honey mustard. Then you can select toppings according to whichever theme you choose, like a carrot and celery slaw with blue cheese dressing for a yummy hot wing-inspired taco. 

Feel free to keep the toppings low-lift and buy pre-made products at the grocery store for extra convenience. You can top your tacos with queso, shredded cheese, pickled jalapeños, and more. Adding extra veggies to your tacos doesn't have to be hard either, as you can always use pre-shredded iceberg lettuce, pico de gallo, or a bagged cabbage slaw. There are tons of ways to amp up frozen chicken nuggets to make crowd-pleasing homemade tacos.