Applegate Chicken Nuggets: Nutrition & Labelgrade B- (74/100)
B- 74 / 100 — Cleanest ingredient list of the three chicken nugget brands we've graded — no soy protein extenders, expeller-pressed oils, lowest sodium. Protein density is mid-pack and fiber is essentially zero (typical for breaded chicken), capping the overall grade despite strong ingredient quality.
🛒 Buy on Amazon →The short answer
A 6-nugget (84 g) serving of Applegate Chicken Nuggets delivers 12 g of protein for 190 calories, and a full 16 oz bag holds roughly 60 g across about 5 servings (USDA FDC 1938447). It earns a B- (74/100) — the cleanest ingredient list of any chicken nugget we’ve graded, with the lowest sodium of the three, but it’s still a breaded nugget, and the breading is what holds the grade back. White meat chicken leads the label, with no soy protein extenders and expeller-pressed oils instead of generic refined ones.
Why the B-
| Dimension | Grade | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein density | B- | 71 / 100 | 14.3 g per 100 g — diluted by breading to less than half of plain chicken’s density |
| Ingredient quality | B+ | 80 / 100 | Shortest nugget label we’ve graded: no soy extenders, no phosphates, expeller-pressed oils |
| Saturated fat | A- | 89 / 100 | 1.5 g per serving — low, helped by lean white meat and the absence of beef tallow |
| Sugar | A+ | 96 / 100 | 1 g, from a trace of cane sugar in the sub-2% breading mix |
| Sodium | C- | 55 / 100 | 340 mg per serving — the best of the three brands, but breading-plus-salt still adds up |
| Fiber | F | 30 / 100 | 0 g — neither the meat nor the refined-flour breading contributes any |
The two grades doing the damage are protein density and fiber, and both trace to the same thing: the nugget is part meat, part breading. Strip the breading and you’d have plain chicken at 31 g of protein per 100 g; the wheat-and-rice coating roughly halves that to 14.3 g and brings the 14 g of carbs and the 340 mg of sodium. The ingredient-quality B+ is real and earned — it’s just not enough to outrun the structural cost of being breaded.
What the ingredient list actually buys you
Most of Applegate’s premium shows up in what’s missing rather than what’s added. Conventional nuggets routinely lean on soy protein concentrate to stretch the meat, sodium phosphates to hold water, and generic “vegetable oil.” Applegate’s label has none of those: the protein is white meat chicken, the breading is wheat flour, rice flour, corn and rice starch, and the only fats are expeller-pressed sunflower and canola oils — pressed mechanically rather than extracted with solvents. The brand also sources antibiotic-free chicken (per their packaging). For a shopper reading labels, this is a genuinely shorter, more recognizable list than the category norm — that’s the whole reason to pay up.
How it compares
| Product | Protein per serving | Protein density (per 100 g) | Sodium per serving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applegate Chicken Nuggets (this product) | 12 g | 14.3 g | 340 mg (lowest) |
| Tyson Chicken Nuggets (29 oz) | 14 g | 15.6 g (highest) | 470 mg |
| Great Value Chicken Nuggets (32 oz) | 9 g | 12.0 g | 430 mg |
| Plain cooked chicken breast (benchmark) | ~31 g per 100 g | 31.0 g | ~75 mg |
The trade-off across the three brands is clear: Tyson edges out the pack on protein density (15.6 g), Applegate wins ingredient simplicity and the lowest sodium by a wide margin (340 mg vs. 430–470 mg), and Great Value competes on shelf price. None of the three comes close to plain cooked chicken breast, which roughly doubles the protein density and carries about a fifth of the sodium. Applegate is the best-formulated nugget here, not a stand-in for the unbreaded bird.
Be honest about what it is
This is a breaded, frozen convenience food — and the cleaner label doesn’t change that. About a third of each nugget by weight is coating, which is exactly why 12 g of protein arrives wrapped in 190 calories, 9 g of fat, and 14 g of carbs. To get the same 12 g of protein from plain cooked chicken breast you’d need only about 39 g (1.4 oz), saving roughly 130 calories, 8 g of fat, and 265 mg of sodium in the swap. The case for Applegate isn’t that it beats real chicken — it’s that when a breaded nugget is going on the plate anyway (kid dinners, a fast freezer-to-oven protein), this is the version with the fewest things on the label you’d rather not eat.
Ingredients
White meat chicken, wheat flour, water, rice flour. Contains less than 2% of the following: sea salt, corn starch, rice starch, cane sugar, leavening (cream of tartar, sodium bicarbonate), garlic powder, onion powder, yeast, expeller-pressed sunflower oil, expeller-pressed canola oil. Breading set in expeller-pressed canola oil. (Verbatim from the USDA Branded Foods entry, FDC 1938447.)
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Quick Facts
Per serving · 84 g (6 nuggets)
See how this fits your day — protein calculator · macro calculator
Full nutrition facts
| Nutrient | Per Serving (84 g (6 nuggets)) |
|---|---|
| Calories | 190 |
| Protein | 12g |
| Total Fat | 9g |
| Saturated Fat | 1.5g |
| Trans Fat | 0g |
| Total Carbohydrates | 14g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0g |
| Total Sugars | 1g |
| Sodium | 340mg |
| Cholesterol | 35.3mg |
| Calcium | 5.88mg |
| Iron | 1mg |
| Potassium | 181mg |
Scope: This page applies specifically to Applegate Chicken Nuggets (16 oz (454 g)) · UPC 025317055185. Other sizes, flavors, or formulations may differ.
How this fits each diet
Each score is computed from the same USDA nutrition + ingredient data, against the published rules of each diet. They tell you "does this food fit this diet" — not whether the diet is right for you.
contains animal-derived ingredients
contains meat, fish, or gelatin
contains a gluten-bearing ingredient
Frequently Asked Questions
How much protein is in a 16 oz bag of Applegate Chicken Nuggets?
About 60 grams of protein total — 12 grams per 6-nugget (84 g) serving, across roughly 5 servings per bag (USDA FDC 1938447).
How many calories and carbs are in one serving?
190 calories per 6 nuggets (84 g), including 14 g of carbohydrate from the wheat-and-rice-flour breading. The breading is why a chicken product carries any carbs at all — plain chicken breast has zero.
Are Applegate Chicken Nuggets healthier than Tyson or Great Value?
On ingredients, yes — Applegate's label is the shortest of the three, with no soy protein extenders or phosphate additives, expeller-pressed oils, and the lowest sodium (340 mg vs. Tyson's 470 mg and Great Value's 430 mg). But all three are breaded fried-style nuggets in the same calorie and protein-density neighborhood; Applegate is the cleaner version of the category, not a different food group.
Why does Applegate cost more than the other two brands?
Higher-cost components: expeller-pressed canola and sunflower oils instead of standard refined vegetable oil, rice flour and rice starch alongside the wheat, no cheap soy protein to extend the meat, and chicken raised without antibiotics (per Applegate's branding). You're paying for the inputs, not for more protein per gram.
Are these gluten-free?
No. Wheat flour is the second ingredient, and it's in the breading — so even though the chicken itself is gluten-free, the finished nugget is not.
Why only a B- if the ingredients are so clean?
Ingredient quality alone scores in the A- band, but two things cap the overall grade. The breading dilutes protein density to 14.3 g per 100 g (a third of plain chicken breast's 31 g), and it adds zero fiber. Those two structural facts of any breaded nugget pull a clean label down to B-.
Are Applegate Chicken Nuggets a good source of protein?
Yes — 12 g per serving is 24% of the FDA Daily Value (50 g), which qualifies as a 'good source' under FDA nutrient content claim rules. Just note that roughly a third of each nugget's weight is breading, not meat.