Now you can get he crispy, delicious chicken nuggets you love from Chick-Fil-A without leaving the house. These copycat nuggets taste just like the real thing and are done in under 30 minutes!
This recipe is simple and one the kids will love!! Don’t be surprised when you see there is powdered sugar in the batter because I feel like it’s the secret ingredient. Here is what you’ll need to do to make these delicious nuggets. For more delicious finger foods the kids will love try Corn Dogs, Popcorn Chicken, and Mozzarella Bites.
Everyone’s Favorite Nuggets!
Who here loves Chik-fil-A? My entire family is obsessed, and I’d be lying if I said we didn’t go at least a few times each month. 😉 The hubby and I love their customer service and feel like they are the best fast-food chain around. The employees are always so nice, and the kiddos love playing in their clean playground areas. But most importantly, their food is top notch!!
My kids’ favorite menu item is their Chicken Nuggets, so when I saw a copycat recipe from My name is Snickerdoodle, I knew I had to give it a try. I only made a few changes, but I agree that they taste just like those from the restaurant!
They require just a handful of common ingredients that you most likely already have on hand, and they only take about 30 minutes from start to finish! That’s even less time than it would take to load up the family and drive to the nearest Chick-fil-A, so it’s definitely a win-win situation. Now, I just need to learn how to make their Chik-fil-A sauce because that stuff is so addicting. 😉
Ingredient Tips
To pickle, or not to pickle, that is the question! We like it both ways! However, there are some who swear by this step. Should you wish to try it for yourself simply cut your chicken into 1 inch cubes, place in a bag, add dill pickle juice, let it marinate for at least 20 minutes, then proceed with the rest of the recipe.
Oil: Another recipe choice is to decide what oil to fry these in. We used vegetable oil. You could use peanut oil like the restaurant does. You can also use coconut oil, though it may not be quite as browned and crispy. Each of them will add a different flavor so use the one you like best.
How to Make Copycat Chick Fil A Nuggets
CUT. Cut up chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces.
WHISK. Add milk and egg to a bowl and whisk together, then set aside.
COMBINE. Pour flour, powdered sugar, salt, and pepper in a gallon-sized ziploc bag.
COAT. Put chicken pieces in the egg mixture. Once they are well coated, transfer the chicken pieces to the ziploc bag and shake to evenly cover with seasonings.
COOK. Place chicken in pan with oil and cook on medium heat for 5-7 minutes on each side until golden brown.
DRAIN. Drain the pieces on a paper towel
SERVE. Serve warm with ketchup, homemade ranch, fry sauce or honey mustard. ENJOY!
Air fryer: If you don’t want to fry them in oil you can definitely use an airfryer. The taste and texture may vary because of the lack of oil. If you want to crisp them up more, you can stick them under the broiler in the oven .
Preheat the air fryer to 400°F and lightly spray the fryer basket. Place nuggets in a single layer, be sure they are not touching. Fry for 6-9 minutes, turning halfway.
Tips, Dips, & Making Ahead
How many nuggets should I plan for a crowd? This one is a little tricky to answer. If there are going to be other appetizers I would plan 4-5 nuggets per person. If it is going to be the main dish plan 6-8 per child and 10-12 per adult.
Dipping Sauces:
- BBQ Sauce
- Fry Sauce
- Ketchup
- Ranch
- Honey Mustard
Ahead of time: You can make them the day before, allow them to cool and store them in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat them in the oven at 300°F for 5-6 minutes or until hot. You can also make them ahead of time, allow them to cool and freeze them. You can either store them in individual portion containers of 8-10 nuggets or throw them all into a large bag. Just be sure the container(s) are air tight and freezer safe. Freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat in the microwave, toaster oven, air fryer, or oven. (store leftovers in the same manner)
This recipe pairs perfectly with:
- Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries
- Cheesy Zucchini Tots
- Best Homemade Lemonade
- Easy Fruit Salad
- Granola Yogurt Parfait
For more quick and easy chicken recipes, check out:
- Chicken Caesar Wraps
- Baked Chicken Fingers
- Crispy Baked Ranch Chicken
- Oven Baked Drumsticks
- Parmesan Chicken Bake
Copycat Chick Fil A Nuggets Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 eggs
- 1 cup flour
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- vegetable oil
Instructions
Begin by cutting up your chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. M
Place oil in a medium pan and turn to medium heat.
- From there add your milk and egg to a bowl and whisk together until combined. Set aside.
- Pour your flour, powdered sugar, salt and pepper into a gallon bag.
- Add several chicken pieces to your milk/egg mixture until well coated and then throw the pieces into your gallon bag and shake until each piece is evenly coated.
- Place chicken pieces in oil and cook for 5-7 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
- Drain pieces onto paper towel and serve warm.
Thank you Kristyn. Have a great Monday and the rest of the week.
I will definitely have to give this a try! We can’t ever got to Chick-fil-A because they use peanut oil, and my oldest daughter is allergic! My youngest daughter has been taken there by friends and says she doesn’t like the french fries because they “taste like potatoes.” But everybody here does love chicken nuggets, so I think these will be a winner!
Yum!! I made copycat chickfila nuggets for my family a while back and was surprised how much the powdered sugar really made it taste like chickfila! Your nuggets look so good, looks like they will be on my menu again soon!!
Chick-Fil-A is my favorite and there isn’t one within 100 miles of me! A good copycat recipe is just what I need! Thanks for sharing this!
Let me know if you try it out – We LOVE this recipe!! 😀
Oh, I am so happy that you tried them and LOVED them! They are a family favorite. (Thanks for the link back!)
So you’re going to think I’m nuts, but I have such a sentimental attachment to Chik-Fil-A that it’s crazy. And we just have none around here! This recipe isn’t just something my mouth needs, it’s something my soul needs. Thanks so much for sharing!
Chik-fil-A is the best!! I hope you try the recipe and enjoy it. 🙂
These look delicious!! Totally trying it out tomorrow. My recipe for chick-fil-a sauce (still in progress, but I think it’s pretty good!):
1/2 cup mayo
1 Tb mustard (preferably brown)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 Tb vinegar
2 Tb honey
1 Tb BBQ sauce
Slightly adapted from the Table for Two blog 🙂
Oooooh – I will totally try this out. I LOVE Chik-fil-a sauce. Thanks for the recipe!!
Hi! Just honey mustard and a sweet BBQ sauce. See my post below on why this is the recipe. 🙂
According to chick fil a employee – the sauce is honey mustard, bbq, ranch mixed together… we make it ALL the time!!! Tastes pretty darn close!!!! Now we can make the nuggets to go with it! thanks!!! 🙂
The real Chic-fil-a sauce has dill pickle juice in it. Try it instead of the vinegar.
How much oil do you use ?
It depends on how many I’m making at the time, but it’s usually about 2/3 cup oil. 😉
Hi Kristyn….love your blog! I don’t have a blog but sure am getting the bug to want to start one!
What a great recipe and I am going to try that soon. We LOVE Chick-fil-A too and you are so right about their customer service! They are spot on! They sure train them well!
I LOVE their sauce too…if you are talking about their polynesian one. My daughter loves it with the waffle fries as well. I found a recipe online a while back for a copycat sauce and it is pretty close to the real deal. I wanted to share it with it you:
1 cup California French Dressing
3 tsp. apple cider vinegar
6 tbsp. honey
I almost always add more honey and tweak it til the taste is just right. I also sometimes leave out the apple cider vinegar, doesn’t seem to make a difference…to me anyway. I have a big family so I usually triple this recipe and make as much as I need for the dinner that night. If by chance any is left over, I refrigerate it.
I also was told by a friend that she heard there is a dressing that taste just like the sauce. It’s called Maretti’s Honey French Dressing and you find it in the refrigerator section at the store where they have the salad stuff, etc. I had a hard time finding that particular one, they had other flavors, but not this one. I only found the brand at Wal-Mart too. My local grocery store is HEB and they didn’t have that brand. But we make the recipe above and it suits us just fine!
Thanks for your blog and all your wonderful-ness you bring to it! 🙂
Thanks for the sweet words, Kim and for sharing the recipe – will totally give it a try!! 😀
Chick-Fil-A sauce: honey mustard and BBQ (Famous Dave’s Sweet n Sassy works well). That’s it. PLay around with the amounts of each until you find the right combination that you like. This sauce was created at the Chick-Fil-A restaurant in Spotsylvania Mall in VA. I had friends that worked there back in the 80’s and we’d make this sauce at home when we had sleepovers, parties, etc. Still make it today. It’s awesome!
http://inside.chick-fil-a.com/serendipitous-sauce-the-chick-fil-a-sauce-story/
People would really run off with the pump containers of the stuff!!
I LOVE Chik fil A sauce!!
One more thing…they use a pressure cooker for all their chicken!
I’ll have to mess around and figure it out. IT’s my favorite. 🙂
I will have to adapt this recipe for gluten free before I can try it but I can not wait! Thanks for all that you do to share your talents with the world.
These turned out great! Added a little butter to the oil for browning but that’s just a me thing. Tasted really good. Thanks Kristyn!
So glad to hear!! Thanks so much for letting me know!
Definetely still missing something. Didn’t have much of a flavor but thanks for recipe
Thanks for giving it a try! That’s why we love all the dipping sauces! 🙂
What kind of oil do you use?
Vegetable oil 🙂 Hope you enjoy!!
Where’s the pickle juice!
Made this the last two days for my girls and i ended up eating more than they did becaue they were so good. I did add about double the powdered sugar the second time around thOugh. That little touch of sweet is the trick. Im a chef dad to my girls now.
Haha!! I know what you mean! Thank you so much!
I maDe this tonight exactly aS the ReCipe states. I would defin use less pIckle juice to marinate. THe pickle taste was a bit overwhelming. OTher than that, it was really good. My Kids (18 & 15) loved it!
I am glad they did! Thank you for trying it!
Where’s the pickle juice?
No pickle juice in this 🙂
Delicious! we used coconut oil instead….we didn’t even need dipping sauce! Thank you!
Perfect! Thank you 🙂
You are missing the most important ingredient in the Chick-fil-A chicken…..it is marinated in pickle juice….that is what makes it taste so good
These were very good. Pretty similar to Chick Fil A and delicious. I’ve never fried anything before, but this was easy. I’ll definitely make it again.
I am glad you tried them! And, liked them 🙂 Thank you so much!
Oh, fun tip for you all making these: get a bag of frozen waffle fries and bake those as you cook the chicken. You’ll feel even more like you’re at Chick Fil A! haha 🙂
Yes, for sure!! Thanks!