Copycat Chick-Fil-A Nuggets Recipe

Chick-fil-A might be controversial, but there's no denying that their chicken is crispy and delicious. It's hard to say no to something that tastes so good! The sweet-and-tangy vibe of their chicken sandwich is a favorite of many, but our go-to menu item is the Chick-fil-A suggets. They have all the crunch of a sandwich without any bun or pickles to mute the flavor of that perfectly seasoned chicken. You can tell they use real chicken in each bite — none of that processed or ground stuff some of their competitors use. Plus, they're handheld, bite-sized, and dunkable — there's nothing to hate about that!

It might sound difficult to replicate Chick-fil-A nuggets at home, but it's actually easier than you might think. You only need a handful of ingredients and a little bit of prep time to make these crispy-fried, golden-brown nuggets a reality. We'll even tell you how to make one of their famous sauces to dip 'em in! Will they taste as good as Chick-fil-A's? Better yet, will they satisfy your cravings on Sunday when you can't get the real deal even if you wanted to? Read on to find out.

There's a reason that Chick-fil-A chicken tastes so much better than their competitors: They're focused on sourcing really good chicken. They hold themselves to rigorous standards, only choosing chickens that are raised cage-free no fillers, steroids, or hormones. By the end of 2019, they also promise to source chickens that are free of antibiotics. 

It's not just about how the chicken was raised, either. Chick-fil-A makes a point to use whole chicken breasts instead of ones that have been ground or separated. That means that, when you bit into a Chick-fil-A chicken nugget, you'll be able to see real meat instead of ground product. According to Eat This, Not That!, they also choose smaller birds because they "like the texture that comes from the smaller bird." Smaller chickens tend to have more tender meat, which leads to a juicier, more flavorful chicken nugget.

After we brined the chicken in milk, egg, and pickle juice, we set about making the flour mixture used to dredge the chicken. We knew from Chick-fil-A's ingredients list that the mixture contained flour, salt, sugar, MSG, nonfat milk powder, baking powder, and paprika. From there, we had to decipher what made up the "spice" addition to the list. According to the FDA, "spice" can't be garlic or onion powder, so those ingredients were out. We tasted a few Chick-fil-A nuggets and noticed they had a hint of spicy flavor, so we added a touch of cayenne pepper and some black pepper to the mix. It was absolutely perfect, so we kept it simple and didn't experiment further.

We ran across an interesting tip from Serious Eats about the best way to make Chick-fil-A's signature crispy, craggly coating. If you add a few tablespoons of the milk wash to the flour, it creates wet pockets in the flour mixture. Those moist flour nuggets help the dredging mixture adhere to the chicken, and the textured coating seemed to crisp up better in the fryer. So, although it might seem like a weird step, don't skip it: Add a few tablespoons of wet ingredients to the dry flour mixture before breading the chicken. 

Before we got started frying our Chick-fil-A Nuggets, we debated what temperature to set the fryer oil. This is a tricky one because Chick-fil-A uses pressure fryers to cook their chicken nuggets. These gadgets start by cooking the fried food at 350 degrees Fahrenheit before sealing them with a special lid that allows pressure to build up inside the unit. Cooking under pressure increases the boiling point of water from 212 degrees to 250 degrees, changing the way the water evaporates from inside the chicken. 

Unfortunately, pressure fryers are mostly unavailable to the home cook, and it's impossible to cook chicken at pressure-frying temperatures without one. Cook's Country explains that frying food at low temperatures causes greasy fried chicken. On the other hand, cooking it too hot can create undercooked chicken — the coating will brown and crisp up before the insides have a chance to cook through. So, we tried cooking our nuggets at the pressure fryer's starting temperature (350 degrees). The outsides were perfectly crispy while the insides stayed juicy and moist.

When you've added about a third of the chicken, stop and let the nuggets fry up until they're golden brown and delicious. It's tempting to keep adding nuggets to the fryer— after all, that would make the frying part go faster, right? Yes, it would finish the task at hand, but it wouldn't make the nuggets taste exactly like Chick-fil-A's nuggets. When you overcrowd the cooking oil, you will unintentionally lower its temperature, which can cause your chicken to turn out greasy and soggy instead of crispy.

Instead, fry the chicken in batches, gently moving the nuggets around with a spider strainer or skimmer. You can use tongs in a pinch, but the spider makes it significantly easier to move the nuggets around without disturbing the breading too much. When the chicken is golden brown and delicious looking — after about 3 to 5 minutes — use the spider to scoop the nuggets out of the hot oil. Place them on a baking sheet lined with a cooling rack, or you can put them directly on a plate lined with paper towels to catch the excess grease. Since the chicken cooks so quickly, there's no need to hot hold the nuggets in a warm oven, but you certainly can if you like. Before adding more chicken to the frying oil, make sure it returns  to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

All in all, we really nailed this recipe. Our nuggets look like the crispy, craggly bites we've come to know and love at Chick-fil-A. They smell slightly spicy, and the sweetness from the powdered sugar and milk powder really comes through in the flavor. It's the perfect balance between sweet and savory, and we honestly couldn't stop dipping in for bite after bite.

Speaking of dipping, this honey mustard recipe is definitely going on some kind of frequent flyer program in our kitchens. It. Was. Phenomenal. We only use about half of it for our taste tests, so we used the leftovers on everything for the next few days: salad dressings, sandwiches, power bowls, and even as a topping for scrambled eggs. It's creamy, zesty, and tangy, and while it paired best with crispy-fried chicken nuggets, it tasted pretty fantastic on just about everything. We would totally make this entire recipe again, but we will certainly be making this honey mustard sauce on the regular.