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?
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Hi, stupid question….when you list mustard, is that a specific one? French’s type, gulden’s, or another? thanks!
You can use any type of classic yellow mustard of your choice.
Always loved chick fil-a and then found out why I felt bad after I ate there, LOTS of MSG in their chicken. Can’t eat there anymore, so this is great! I can make my own!
As a side I had cucumber salad with the onions and tomato’s cut up in apple cider, water and spices ! Amish macaroni salad too and it was good ! Made a dip sauce with what I had,mayo,ketchup,garlic powder, cumin,drip of lemon juice, worcestershire sauce and ground red pepper!! Try it !
My 5 and 2 year old boy are eating these as fast as I can fry and cool them. The oldest declared he’s never eating “nasty McDonald’s nuggets” again. This is a hit in our house
I’m so happy to hear that! Your 5 year old has good taste 🙂
im so glad I found your recipe! I was looking for something to make at the last minute and although I haven’t had CFA nuggets (they just came to our area and I’ve only gone once) I had everything needed so it was a go. They were so good! And I love the sauce.
I did want to share the two things I did slightly different. 1) I poured off some of the milk/pickle juice and added an egg to it for the wash. This saved me a bit of milk and also reinforced that hint of tartness. I also “double dipped” my nuggets… Putting them in the flour, the wash, then back in the flour. This gave them a super crunchy coating.
Thanks again!
This was great! Just what I needed as I am moving and trying to use up odds and ends in the fridge…like pickle juice, chicken breasts and confectioners sugar. I also happen to love Chik-fil-a! I used buttermilk in the pickle marinade (for about 1h15min) and fried in coconut oil as that’s what I had on hand. Added some paprika, S&P to flour mix but will add cayenne next time based off comments. Very easy and tastes spot on – thank you!
Do you think there is any problem if I use almond milk?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer this with certainty. Please use your best judgment.
These are awesome! I’ve made them twice already and will continue making these frequently! I did mine gluten-free and they turned out perfectly. I used Glutino GF all purpose flour. Thank you for all the fantastic recipes. I cook and pin your recipes more than anyone else on pinterest, and they always turn out great!
I’m planning on making this tonight, but I wanted to know how important is the peanut oil? Can I fry in vegetable oil or olive, maybe coconut?
I highly recommend using peanut oil – it has a high smoke point and neutral taste, and it is also low in saturated fat, making it healthier than frying with other types of oils. You can read more about it here and here.
Just made these for dinner and they are amazing! I mean yum. Crispy and juicy and yum. Variations I made: no Dijon in the sauce (didn’t have any) and still amazing. I only marinated for 30 mins. Will try to extend that next time. I added plenty of salt and pepper and needed to cook on each side for about 4-5 mins in the oil to get a good brown color. Will be making again for sure.
Yes they are extremely good…i used gluten free panko breadcrumbs from udis. The pickle juice sets the chicken off and the confectioners sugar is how they get it just slightly sweet… amazing recipe and now i have gf nuggets that are my all time favorite. Thank you!
what happens if i make these with vegetable oil instead??
Kim, here is a great article on deep-frying with peanut oil vs. other oils.
My kids and I made these the other night. I fried them in coconut oil to try and make it a bit healthier. We all devoured them. I would suggest doubling the sauce recipe per 2 chicken breast. The only thing missing from the real chick fil a recipe is all the msg. Thanks for sharing!
I am a HUGE Chick-Fil-A addict! I’ve had this recipe pinned for years and finally decided to give it a go last night… And OH MY GOSH!!! They were delicious!!! Could easily pass for the real deal! I posted a picture and everyone thought I had just put Chick-Fil-A on a plate! I’m obsessed with this recipe! Now I can have Chick-Fil-A on Sunday’s! 🙂
My kids loved the honey mustard dipping sauce. How long do you think it would keep in the fridge? Thanks for the great recipe.
The sauce should keep for at least a couple of days in the fridge.
I made these last night for my kids and they loved it! I I subbed the pickle juice for vinegar cuz i didn’t have any. I also added garlic powder to the flour mix. Will be making them again this weekend cuz the kids loved it so much! They said it had a hush puppy essence to it. Thanks for a great recipe!
When I put the milk into the chicken and pickle juice mixture, it curdled… Gross. Anyone else have this happen?!?!
That really shouldn’t be happening. Perhaps your milk spoiled?
I can’t wait to try these! We love Chick-fil-A, but we don’t have one close. I don’t suppose you have a copy cat for their Chick-fil-A sauce recipe?? It’s our favorite.
Unfortunately I do not have a copycat sauce recipe at this time.
In heaven! We are an extremely healthy family, I just attempted these without flour and egg, substituted confectionate sugar with regular sugar. I grilled them on the stove and tossed them in a salad for my husband and myself, for my son he had with veggies. These are pretty darn close thanks for the recipe, cannot wait to try with stevia!
Kid tested and approved at my house. Next time I’ll add a bit more season. Other than that these were great.