Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets & Sauce Recipe

By Jen Lunsford

on Sep 03, 2014, Updated Jan 30, 2024

31 Comments

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This Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets & Sauce Recipe is officially our kiddos favorite.  We enjoy making CopyCat Recipes at home to save $$’s. Chick-fil-A is always quite a budget buster for us when we take the family to eat a full meal. The hubby makes our CopyCat Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich Recipe and CopyCat Chick- Fil-A Chicken Salad Sandwich quite often and the kids love it. We enjoy a CopyCat Chick-fil-A Lemonade with homemade waffle fries to save $$’s. Last week we went to eat at Chick-fil-A (gasp.. the bill was crazy expensive) and the kiddos order themselves Chick-fil-A Nuggets with Chick-fil-A dipping sauce. I am telling you this trip was a small fortune.

Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets & Sauce Recipe. Save $$'s and make your favorites at home. This recipe was a HUGE hit with our family.

Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets & Sauce Recipe

Our entire family LOVES Chick-fil-A We make our trips into a special dinner due to the cost. Yesterday the kiddos asked if we could take a trip to Chick-fil-A again. My immediate response was “Um…No” lol.  The hubby decided to not allow them to be disappointed and make them a homemade Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets & Sauce. He was a lifesaver as I hate to disappoint my kiddos.

Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets & Sauce Recipe. Save $$'s and make your favorites at home. This recipe was a HUGE hit with our family.

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The ingredients to make your own Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets & Sauce Recipe are quite simple. The most important ingredient has got to be the pickle juice (hands down).  Allowing the chicken to soak up all that pickle flavor makes these nuggets perfect. Oh and Peanut Oil too… it’s a must.

Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets & Sauce Recipe. Save $$'s and make your favorites at home. This recipe was a HUGE hit with our family.

INGREDIENTS
Sauce:
1/2 cup Ken’s Steakhouse Honey Mustard Dressing
1 tsp Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce
1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Nuggets:
1 cup Dill Pickle Juice
1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 Egg
1 cup Milk
1 1/2 cup Flour
3 tbsp Powdered Sugar
2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp Paprika
Peanut Oil

Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets & Sauce Recipe. Save $$'s and make your favorites at home. This recipe was a HUGE hit with our family.

DIRECTIONS
Combine honey mustard and BBQ sauce. Set aside.
Cut chicken into roughly 1″ pieces and place in zippered bag with pickle juice to marinate in refigerator for at least 4 hours.
Mix together milk and egg in a large bowl.
Drain pickle juice from chicken and add chicken to egg mixture.
Toss to ensure all pieces are coated.
Drain excess egg mixture.
Heat oil on medium high to about 375.
In a zippered bag, add flour powdered sugar, paprika, salt and pepper. Shake well to mix.
Add chicken to zippered bag and shake to coat.
Cook chicken pieces in oil for until crispy and browned (about 3 to 4 minutes).
Drain on paper towels.

Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets & Sauce Recipe. Save $$'s and make your favorites at home. This recipe was a HUGE hit with our family.

Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets & Sauce Recipe. Save $$'s and make your favorites at home. This recipe was a HUGE hit with our family.

Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets & Sauce Recipe. Save $$'s and make your favorites at home. This recipe was a HUGE hit with our family.

Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets & Sauce Recipe. Save $$'s and make your favorites at home. This recipe was a HUGE hit with our family.

Looking for other CopyCat Recipes? If so be sure to check out all of the CopyCat Recipes I have shared here. Save money by making your favorite restaurant recipes at home.

5 from 1 vote

Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets & Sauce Recipe

By: Jen Lunsford
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Ingredients 

  • Sauce:
  • 1/2 cup Ken's Steakhouse Honey Mustard Dressing
  • 1 tsp Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce
  • 1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
  • Nuggets:
  • 1 cup Dill Pickle Juice
  • 1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 cup Milk
  • 1 1/2 cup Flour
  • 3 tbsp Powdered Sugar
  • 2 tsp Salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp Pepper
  • 1/2 tsp Paprika
  • Peanut Oil

Instructions 

  • Combine honey mustard and BBQ sauce. Set aside.
  • Cut chicken into roughly 1" pieces and place in zippered bag with pickle juice to marinate in refigerator for at least 4 hours.
  • Mix together milk and egg in a large bowl.
  • Drain pickle juice from chicken and add chicken to egg mixture.
  • Toss to ensure all pieces are coated.
  • Drain excess egg mixture.
  • Heat oil on medium high to about 375.
  • In a zippered bag, add flour powdered sugar, paprika, salt and pepper. Shake well to mix.
  • Add chicken to zippered bag and shake to coat.
  • Cook chicken pieces in oil for until crispy and browned (about 3 to 4 minutes).
  • Drain on paper towels.
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

About Jen Lunsford

A lover of food and frugal living. A wife to a wonderful hubby, momma to 5 fun kiddos. Welcome to my blog. You will find REAL TASTY RECIPES. Be sure to subscribe to my email list and follow me on social media, to never miss a recipe.

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5 from 1 vote

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31 Comments

  1. We haven’t tried the nuggets, but my husband loves chick fil a’s sauce and he tasted and it was much more like theirs with 1 tbsp of the bbq sauce instead of just 1 tsp. Just thought I’d put that on here in case anyone wants to tweak it :)

    Reply

  2. Do you have to fry? I have an air fryer can I use that instead? Also do you need the pickle juice? Can it be made without?

    Reply

  3. I found these nuggets to be remarkably similar to Chick-fil-a. I’ve made a ton of different homemade nugget recipes over the years for my three boys and I think that these were the best so far! I could very faintly taste the pickle juice, but honestly wouldn’t have know what it was if I hadn’t known it was in there. One tip i would give…I’ve found that the smaller you cut the nuggets, the more likely the pickier kids are to eat them. Also, I will say that while the sauce was good and we all ate and enjoyed, it wasn’t quite the same as the restaurants! Thanks for the recipe for the nuggets! Will make again!

    Reply

  6. I see this question has been asked numerous times, but never answered by the author, but when does the cider get added to the sauce???

    Reply

    1. She did answer, although not written the clearest. She did not specify in her directions but the dip has 3 ingredients – Mix them all together. Come on people, this isn’t Rocket Science!

      Reply

  9. If I am to reheat these, how long should I bake them for? I made a huge batch and my boyfriend and I couldn’t eat them all!

    Reply

  10. I made these tonight and my kids were so excited. CFA on a Sunday!… but the excitement ended there. I followed the recipe as written. It was ok, but that’s it. Just ok. Didn’t even give us a hint of CFA’s flavor. ::shrug:: You win some and you lose some. This just wasn’t for us.

    Reply

    1. Hi Valerie! I am sorry these were a disappointment for your family. We have made them quite a few times and they were a hit.

      Reply

    2. I noticed that she didn’t have the basil and celery salt and less paprika in this recipe than in her Copycat Chic-Fil-A sandwich. Maybe give that a try. It really makes a difference to have the correct spices.

      Reply

  11. Will these still taste the same if I don’t have peanut oil? I have sesame oil and regular vegetable oil. Help! :)

    Reply

  12. Yes, when does the apple cider get added? It is not mentioned later…I’m assuming it is added the same time you mix the bbq sauce and honey mustard?

    Reply

    1. The Apple Cider is for if you wanted to make the sauce that goes with the nuggets. It is not included in the ingredients to make the nuggets.

      Reply

  13. So out of sheer curiosity, what exactly is the purpose of the pickle juice? I was very surprised to read that the chicken needs to marinate in it for four hours. What does this do to the taste? (I have picky eaters who hate pickles) I’m not exactly a cooking/frying guru, so I’m sure this is a simple answer that I’m just oblivious to. :)

    Reply

    1. The pickle juice acts as a brine which makes the chicken more juicy than normal. There is only a very slight hint of pickle that most people would not even notice.

      Reply

    2. They actually came out rather pickle-y and I only marinaded them for 2 hours. Disappointing because I made a lot for the whole house and no one liked them.

      Reply

  15. These look so good, yum! Thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with Full Plate Thursday. Have a great week and come back soon!
    Miz Helen

    Reply

  16. Thanks for sharing your post at Motivation Monday last week! Your post is one of this week’s features!

    Reply

  17. My boys love Chick Fil A. I am going to try this recipe out for sure. Thanks for linking up at #ThrowbackThursdayLP. I cannot wait to see what you link up next week.

    Reply

  19. Thank you, these made a yummy supper. I think my frying skills could be better but I made lots of nuggets from 2 large chicken breasts. What a tasty treat at a fraction of the cost.

    Reply

  20. Just a quick but stupid question. “Drain pickle juice from chicken and add to egg mixture. ” I am to add the chicken to the egg mix, not the pickle juice to the egg mix?

    Reply

    1. Not a stupid question at all! It was not worded very well, so I am glad you spotted it. I have changed it to read “Drain pickle juice from chicken and add chicken to egg mixture.” Thanks again for helping me to clarify it.

      Reply