Copycat Chick-fil-A Nuggets
Just like Chick-fil-A, but it tastes 10000x better! And the homemade honey mustard is out of this world!
I have always been somewhat of a late adopter in almost all aspects of life. I was one of the last people on earth to start wearing converse “chucks”. Or make the switch to skinny jeans. I was also very late on the iPhone adoption. And now I’m one of the last people to finally try Chick-fil-A.
The funny thing is, we didn’t even mean to go there. I was craving pancakes so we made our way to a popular waffle house just to find out that there was a 30-min wait on a Tuesday afternoon. So we drove back to our house and on the way home, we passed a Chick-Fil-A when Jason looked at me and said, “It’s time. We have to try this place at some point.”
So we pull up to the drive-thru and ordered 2 chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets and all of their dipping sauces. And boy, was I in for a treat. It was ah-mazing. All of it. The sandwich. The nuggets. Oh, the nuggets. We almost went back because there wasn’t enough nuggets to go around!
But as amazing as that was, I couldn’t help but recreate this at home. I was a bit skeptical because I was unsure if the homemade version could actually top the original but surely enough, it tasted a million times better. Not to mention the epic homemade honey mustard sauce. I’m not even a mustard fan but this – this I could slurp, drink, and gulp down in my sleep. And once you dip those crisp nuggets, you’ll never want to go to Chick-fil-A again!
Copycat Chick-fil-A Nuggets
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 cup dill pickle juice
- 1 ½ cups milk, divided
- 1 cup peanut oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the honey mustard
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- To make the honey mustard, whisk together mayonnaise, honey, mustards and lemon juice in a small bowl; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine chicken, pickle juice and 1/2 cup milk; marinate for at least 30 minutes. Drain well.
- Heat peanut oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
- In a large bowl, whisk together remaining 1 cup milk and egg. Stir in chicken and gently toss to combine; drain excess milk mixture.
- In a gallon size Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine chicken, flour and confectioners' sugar; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Working in batches, add chicken to the skillet and cook until evenly golden and crispy, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Serve immediately with honey mustard.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
I haven’t yet made this, but how crispy would the chicken be if I used rice flour? Or would the all purpose flour still be preferred?
Thank you.
Pam
Just made these with safflower seed oil and added super fine breadcrumbs to the flour mixture. They came ou great.
So easy …so tasty…can’t stop eating them as they come out.
I would like to bake these chicken nuggets —- At what temperature and for how long . Would I need to grease a cookie sheet.
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! Good luck! 🙂
Recipe was good but why didn’t my nuggets brown?
I had the same problem
Any suggestions to substitute confectioner sugar?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
I didn’t have any pickle juice so I used rice wine vinegar and dill. Still came out amazing. Very close to the real thing
So so good!! Thank you!!
My family loves this recipe! My kids have learned to cook and make the honey mustard sauce without assistance. I personally don’t like the chicken without the sauce! I highly recommend this recipe!
Tip*. I found that after putting the chicken into the bag for the coating, I took each batch out of the flour and into a mesh strainer and shook off the excess flour. This trick is helpful in keeping the oil clean from the flour burning.
What is the max I can marinate these for? Thank you in advance! I cant wait to try these!!
Angelina, I would not marinate these for longer than overnight.
Great recipes. Can yous find a similar but close recipie for chic fa la Ranch avocado lime salad dressing great.
Why peanut oil? Can another oil be used & still get same flavor?
Yes, you can certainly substitute another oil but I find that peanut oil is truly best.
Would this recipe work with my newest, favorite kitchen gadget? (Air Fryer)
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Is there a bakable (healthier version
You can certainly try to bake these but unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
you never said what to do with stpe #5
Step #5: In a gallon size Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine chicken, flour and confectioners’ sugar; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Yes, you can make these using “pickle juice” from home-canned pickles. Even “cleaner” with even less additives.
We used your recipe for the nuggets and Chick-fil-A sauce last night and loved it! Thank you so much for sharing.
Had these for supper last night and they were so good, had to fight hubby for the last few! I used Pillsbury gluten free flour blend instead of regular flour, vegetable oil and 2% milk and it worked great! I’m not a fan of honey mustard but made it for hubby, he liked it. I will try to find a recipe for Chick-fil-a sauce, I love that stuff!! I haven’t had a chicken nugget for so long due to wheat allergies so this was a great treat! I double dipped in the egg and flour to have extra crust but I think it was too much, won’t do that next time and will add some garlic powder and as Donna said above, threw in some pickles to fry also! Thank you so much Donna for the great idea, I have been wanting fried pickles forever but didn’t want to go to the mess and hassle for a few pickles so your idea is perfect!! Thank you Chungah for a great recipe! I took a picture to share but see that is not possible so will just say that they looked almost like the real thing, just a little lighter as gf flour doesn’t brown as well as wheat flour. This will become a regular along with so many other of your amazing recipes!
Out. Of. This. World. These are even better than chick fil a. I threw some of the pickles from the jar in with the chicken to marinade and all the way through and those came out awesome too. Best part… today is Sunday! I don’t think I can go back to chick fil a.
That is too funny. We seem to only crave our favorite restaurants on Sunday that are not open! Cooking home cheaper I know, but it’s Sunday and disc golf day! Lol
Do you have to use peanut oil ? If you use another oil will it drastically change the flavor ?
Yes, you can use another oil.