I made frozen chicken nuggets using 4 different cooking methods, and the air fryer and convection oven produced the tastiest results

In honor of Frozen Food Month, which is March each year, I decided to cook one of the most popular and nostalgic frozen foods: chicken nuggets! To find the best outcome, I tested out various cooking methods.

For my taste test, I picked up a $3.49 bag of Perdue's frozen chicken-breast nuggets. The white rib meat and breaded nuggets came fully cooked. They simply need to be heated up.

I wanted to find out which appliance offered the best texture, taste, and level of convenience. So I cooked them in a microwave, a toaster oven, a traditional convection oven, and my trusty air fryer.

Although I knew I wanted to heat up some nuggets in an air fryer, I was shocked that there were actually conversion instructions on the package dedicated to the trendy appliance.

From the package's proclaimed preferred method of using a conventional oven, I had high hopes for my own oven. I was also confident that the air fryer would make the chicken really crispy.

However, I was pretty sure the microwave would create a lackluster or even unpalatable nugget. And despite the package combining the instructions for ovens and toaster ovens, I couldn't believe that both methods would turn out the same.

With some standard frostbite on the chicken from my freezer, I followed all the instructions that suggested adding some additional time to the heating processes.

While the instructions recommend heating the chicken nuggets in the original tray, sans the plastic film, I wasn't going to make all the nuggets at once, so I opted for a microwave-safe paper plate instead.

The instructions said to heat them on high for one minute before rearranging them and cooking for another minute (and adding an additional one minute if frozen). I followed along, flipping the nuggets over after the first minute and checking them before adding a third minute.

When I opened the door, steam flooded out of the microwave. Just from the nuggets' appearance, I knew they weren't going to be crispy at all.

I created a tray out of aluminum foil to hold the chicken nuggets in my toaster oven.

Insider's James Brains previously spoke to cooks and authors Roxanne Wyss and Kathy Moore about toaster ovens, and they pointed out how quickly the appliances preheat.

"This means it is convenient to use for quick, everyday meals. It also means that it is a 'green choice' as there is no big oven to heat up," Wyss said.

As suggested, I set the toaster oven to the "bake" setting and to 425 degrees. My toaster oven doesn't require preheating, so I neglected those instructions in this case. It only required 10 minutes to cook.

I assumed this method would lead to a crispier finish than the microwave, and I expected it to be comparable to the air fryer because of the heat circulation in the compact appliance.

For the next method, while Perdue prefers a conventional oven the best, I have a convection oven instead. Chef and restaurateur Shawn Niles spoke to Insider's Molly Allen in November 2021 about the differences.

"A typical oven has two heating elements — one on the top and one on the bottom," said Niles. "A convection oven introduces a fan." The fan adds more air flow for an even cook, adding a crispiness and fluffiness, according to Niles.

I preheated my convection oven to 425 degrees, which it took approximately 10 minutes to reach. After adding some PAM cooking spray to a baking sheet, I stuck the nuggets in the oven.

Halfway through, I flipped them for "a crispier product," as per the instructions. I kept them in for a total of six minutes.

While I've cooked fresh ingredients and meals in the air fryer, I hadn't used it to heat up frozen foods before this attempt, so I was excited to test the chicken nuggets.

America's Test Kitchen's Dan Zuccarello clarified to Insider's Marisel Salazar in 2021 that an air fryer is a "mini-convection oven that cooks food by circulating hot air around it with a fan." He also thinks it's great for frozen foods, like chicken nuggets, and freezer meals.

As per the instructions, I preheated my PowerXL Vortex Air Fryer to 400 degrees, which only takes three minutes. I then sprayed PAM on the basket plate before adding the nuggets.

I set them to heat for six minutes. While it's typically suggested that you should shake small foods like french fries halfway through cooking, Perdue didn't suggest this for the nuggets.

From appearance and texture alone, the chicken nuggets looked pretty similar from every cooking method.

Microwave: The biggest difference was that these chicken nuggets looked as though they had shrunk. While they look dark photographed, they were pretty pale in person. They were also very limp and the breadcrumbs had a wet, mushy texture.

Toaster oven: This produced a nugget that felt a bit firmer. However, the breading was still not crisp. It also had a lighter color than the oven baked and air fried nuggets.

Convection oven: These nuggets had a more appealing, browned look to them. I'm not sure why I was surprised, but they puffed up to create a fluffier final product. They also had a crisp outer shell that I had been hoping for.

Air fryer: Much like the nuggets from the oven, these nuggets came out darker, fluffier, and crispier than the first two methods. But visually, they had the nicest look. They were browned and looked like they were broiled, with some flecks of darker breadcrumbs. They had the crispiest shell out of them all.

For each of the methods, I tried one nugget on their own before cutting open or dipping the other in ketchup.

Microwave: As soon as I bit into this nugget, I immediately thought of it as "hard mush." This seems impossible to achieve, but it was. The exterior was mushy and wet but the inside was very dense and dry. There was no crunch.

Before even analyzing the meat, I knew it was tough. When looking at it, I could see that it became very compact while cooking. With that, I felt like it lost most of its flavor and moisture. The meat also appeared to have a grayish color, which was a turn-off for me.

Toaster oven: This nugget had a bit more integrity when it came to puffing up and crisping. It also had more of a bite. It was much less firm and dense on the inside and had shredded chicken consistency, which was a plus for me.

The taste brought me back to my childhood, but it certainly wasn't a great chicken nugget, in my opinion. The breadcrumbs still felt mushy and undercooked.

Convection oven: These simply made me happy. The oven helped produce everything you want from a chicken nugget: a classic favor, juicy meat, and a crispy shell. The breading was very crunchy to bite through, and the meat was very moist and flavorful.

The oven definitely enhanced every aspect of the nugget, and they were exceedingly better than the microwave and toaster-oven versions. The final result was fluffy-yet-crunchy perfection, similar to McDonald's McNuggets.

Air fryer: This nugget looked the most appetizing, but it was comparable to the oven-baked nugget in nearly every way. While it seemed as though the crust slightly separated from the meat, creating some air pockets perhaps due to the intense heat circulation, it didn't compromise my eating experience.

Like the oven, this nugget felt fluffy and crispy and was just as delicious. They were a bit darker and a tinge crunchier than the oven nugget, but they were possibly slightly less juicy on the inside. For my first air-fried chicken nuggets, I was so impressed.

While the oven produced a tad juicier nugget, the air fryer created a slightly crispier one, which felt like an even trade off for me and made them equally delicious.

The air fryer needed 3 minutes to preheat and only 6 minutes to cook, and the result exceeded my expectations. While the oven required about 10 minutes to preheat and 10 minutes to cook, they were still so delicious.

The microwave and toaster oven were certainly more convenient in terms of short cook times and not requiring preheating or much attention during the heating process. However, I thought they created underwhelming outcomes.

If you want crispy, juicy, and nostalgic chicken nuggets, the extra cook time is definitely worth it. Go for the oven or air fryer!