Copycat Chick Fil A Nuggets

Skip the drive-thru and make these delicious and easy homemade copycat Chick Fil A Nuggets instead! Tastes just like the original, with crisp chicken nuggets and a mouthwatering honey mustard sauce.

This is the only chicken nuggets recipe that you need. Home cooks, when you make crispy chicken nuggets at home, you can avoid the extra cost of delivery or drive-through. Not just that, but the Chick-Fil-A sauce recipe is super tasty too! 

One bite and you’ll swear you’re eating the real deal. This is the best way to cook boneless chicken breasts – even kids love them! 

Why You’ll Love Chick Fil A Nuggets

• It tastes just like the nuggets from your favorite fast-food restaurant.  
• Feeds your entire family
• Made with simple ingredients you can find at the grocery store.  
• Easy way to make homemade Chick-fil-A in bite-sized pieces

Ingredients

The full printable recipe card with measurements and instructions is found at the bottom of the post.

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These chicken nuggets have two parts – the simple nuggets and the copycat Chick-Fil-A sauce. Read through the ingredient list to know what to get from the store.  

The Nuggets

• Chicken Breast: Use boneless and skinless chicken filets. They are easier to cut into tiny bites. 
• Milk: Use your favorite type of milk, as long as it is unflavored. 
• Dill Pickle Juice: This secret ingredient makes them taste so good. 
• Ritz Crackers: This gives the nuggets a crispy coating. 
• Breadcrumbs: These add crispiness to the coating.
• Flour: Use your favorite type to make the flour mixture taste the best.
• Paprika: This gives the nuggets a slightly-smoky flavor. 
• Powdered Sugar: This is essential for making the nuggets sweet enough to tie all the flavors together. 
• Peanut Oil: You’ll fry the nuggets in the peanut oil. This frying oil performs the best in the deep fryer.       

How to Make Chick Fil A Nuggets

• Step One: Combine the milk and pickle juice in a large bowl.
• Step Two: Add your cut-up chicken pieces to the milk mixture and ensure they are covered.  
• Step Three: Move the bowl to the fridge to marinate for 1-3 hours.
• Step Four: To make the breading for the chicken nuggets, use a food processor to crush the crackers finely.
• Step Five: Mix the cracker crumbs with the breadcrumbs, flour, paprika, pepper, salt, and powdered sugar.
• Step Six: When ready to fry, add peanut oil to a deep frying pan, dutch oven, or deep fryer. You want enough oil to cover the nuggets. 
• Step Seven: Heat the oil to 350-360F.
• Step Eight: You can dredge your nuggets in the breading mixture individually. I prefer to place the breading mixture in a Ziploc bag, add the nuggets and shake them until coated.
• Step Nine: When the oil is hot enough, drop in the nuggets and let them fry in the hot oil until golden brown, 2-3 minutes. Do this in batches, and do not overcrowd the pan.
• Step Ten: Drain the nuggets of paper towels and repeat with other batches until they are all cooked. Serve with Chick-Fil-A Sauce. 

The Chick-Fil-A-Sauce: 

• Mayonnaise: This gives the sauce the tangy flavor it’s known for. 
• Yellow Mustard:  This adds the perfect amount of zest and flavor. 
• Barbecue Sauce: The BBQ sauce makes the dipping sauce slightly smoky. 
• Honey: Sweeten the sauce naturally with a bit of honey.

Chick-Fil-A Sauce Instructions 

• Step One: Mix all the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth.
• Step Two: Serve with nuggets. 

Equipment Needed

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• Sharp knife – Use this to cut the chicken breast. 
• Large mixing bowl – It must be big enough to hold all the nuggets.
• Food processor – This chops up the crackers into fine crumbs. 
• Deep frying pan – The frying pan or deep fryer must be big enough to cover the nuggets with oil.
• Thermometer – Use the thermometer to measure the temperature of the oil and the internal temperature of the skinless chicken breast meat nuggets.
• Slotted spoon – You’ll use this to place the nuggets in the fryer and get them out again. 
• Whisk – Use a whisk or wooden spoon to mix the sauce ingredients.

What to Serve with Chick Fil A Nuggets

This simple chicken nuggets recipe makes a quick lunch. Here are some of my favorite sides and main dishes that taste delicious with copycat Chick-Fil-A nuggets.   

• Waffle fries 
• Parmesan Roasted Carrots
• Chessy Garlic Biscuits
• Mac and Cheese Cups

Variations and Substitutions

• Use chicken tenderloins. Use them cut into nuggets or as chicken strips. 
• Make grilled nuggets. Skip the breading and either saute or grill the nuggets.     
• Make them in the air fryer. 

Storage Instructions 

These taste the best when hot and fresh out of the oven, but you can enjoy them the next day too. Store these nuggets in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Chick Fil A Nuggets Tips and Tricks

• Crush the crackers well – a food processor will give you the best results, but you can crush them in a bag. 
• Use dill pickle juice, not bread and butter pickles or any other variety; it has to be dill to get that Chick-Fil-A taste. 
• Make your powdered sugar by pulsing granulated white sugar in a food processor until it turns fluffy. 

Why Do You Use Powdered Sugar?

Chick-Fil-A lists sugar in their ingredients list. Use powdered sugar because it has a finer texture than granulated sugar and mixes with the rest of the coating ingredients better. 

Dipping Sauces

These flavorful chicken nuggets taste amazing by themselves, but you can’t deny how they taste with the delicious dipping sauce. Even if you aren’t a fan of Chick-Fil-A sauce, you can dip them in ketchup, BBQ sauce, or ranch dressing.  

How To Reheat 

I suggest reheating them in the oven or air fryer to keep them as crispy as possible. If you try to microwave them, the breading will soften too much. 

What Makes Chick-Fil-A Nuggets Different From Other Fast Food Nuggets? 

Out of all the different fast food places, there is something incredibly delicious about Chick-Fil-A. If you look at the ingredient information online, they list spices as just that – spices. So it’s tough to know which herbs they use, but most people agree they use some dill. They also list sugar as an ingredient in the breading. 

FAQ

Copycat Recipes    

Want more easy copycat recipes that you can make at home? Here are some of my favorites:

• Orange Julius Recipe
• Homemade Nutella
• Air Fryer Bang Bang Shrimp
• Shamrock Shake
• Copycat Texas Roadhouse Cinnamon Butter
• Copycat Texas Roadhouse Rolls
• Copycat Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich
• Copycat McDonald’s Sausage Egg McMuffins
• Copycat Arby’s Roast Beef Sandwich
• Big Mac Sauce

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