Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets
These copycat Chick-Fil-A Chicken Nuggets are super flavorful and tasty chicken nuggets just like Chick-fil-A! A recipe the whole family loves!
CRISPY, TENDER AND HOMEMADE
I have a firm rule on here that I never say anything tastes exactly like a particular food from my favorite restaurants. But I do love to try to re-create some of my restaurant/fast food favorites at home. It’s a fun pastime for me that started many years ago. After a lot of trial and error, I can usually get flavors very close to my favorite meals, but never exactly the same taste (hopefully better!)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Definitely try to use buttermilk here. It really tenderizes the chicken. If you have time, marinate the chicken in the buttermilk, egg and pickle juice mixture for as long as possible.
You’ll want to use dill pickle juice with this. The bread and butter pickle juice is just a bit too sweet.
Want a recipe for this that doesn’t require frying in oil? Try making my Air Fryer Chick-Fil-A Chicken Nuggets recipe.
After you have fried the nuggets, allow them to cool. I prefer to flash freeze fried chicken nuggets so they don’t stick together. Place nuggets on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer for about an hour. Then put them in a freezer-safe bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
The best way is to do so with an air fryer. Reheat them at 400F degrees for about 10 minutes, shaking the basket once during cooking. You can reheat them in the microwave for about 2 minutes but the breading won’t be as crisp so it’s not recommended.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- buttermilk
- pickle juice
- large egg
- all-purpose flour
- powdered sugar
- corn starch
- salt and pepper
- vegetable or peanut oil
HOW TO MAKE CHICK-FIL-A CHICKEN NUGGETS:
My chicken breasts were on the large side so I only used 2 this time. Cube chicken breasts into bite size pieces (trimming away any excess skin that might be hanging on.) In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg and pickle juice.
Place cubed chicken into the bowl. If you have time, cover it and let it hang out in the refrigerator for a few hours. This helps to make the chicken a bit more moist and tender.
When ready to cook, start preheating oil in your fryer or deep pot to 375F degrees. In a gallon size Ziploc bag, combine flour, sugar, corn starch, salt & pepper. Give it a good shake to combine ingredients.
Add in cubed chicken, small batches at a time, to the flour mixture. Seal and shake until chicken is coated.
In small batches, place chicken into fryer and cook until golden brown (and internal temperature is 165F degrees.) About 4-6 minutes.
Remove and drain on paper towels
Continue with above steps until all your chicken is cooked. Served here with my favorite homemade Honey Mustard Sauce.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Originally published: March 2012
Updated photos & republished: February 2021
Chick-Fil-A Chicken Nuggets (+Video)
Ingredients
- 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup pickle juice
- 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- ½ tablespoon corn starch
- 2 ½ teaspoons table salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- vegetable or peanut oil
Instructions
- Cube 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts into bite size pieces, trimming away any excess skin.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup buttermilk, 1 large egg and 1/4 cup pickle juice.
- Place cubed chicken into milk/egg mixture. Cover it and let it hang out in the refrigerator for about an hour (overnight is even better if time allows.)
- When ready to cook, start preheating vegetable or peanut oil in your fryer or deep pot to 375F degrees.
- In a gallon size Ziploc bag, combine 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, 3 tablespoons powdered sugar, 1/2 tablespoon corn starch, 2 1/2 teaspoons table salt and 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper.
- Give it a good shake to combine ingredients.
- Add in cubed chicken, small batches at a time, to the flour mixture.
- Seal and shake until chicken is coated.
- In small batches, place chicken into fryer.
- Cook until golden brown. About 4-6 minutes. Internal temperature of chicken should be 165f degrees.
- Remove and drain on paper towels. Continue with above steps until all your chicken is cooked.
- Serve with waffle fries and Honey Mustard Sauce.
Video
Notes
- Definitely try to use buttermilk here. It really tenderizes the chicken. If you have time, marinate the chicken in the buttermilk, egg and pickle juice mixture for as long as possible. But you can use regular milk if that is all you have.
- You’ll want to use dill pickle juice with this. The bread and butter pickle juice is just a bit too sweet.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Awesome recipe!! Have made this multiple times now and love the marinade, leaving it overnight does help but an hour works perfectly fine! We found the best results with adding extra salt and pepper and a little 1-2 tsp of garlic powder to the dry mix gives it the best flavor for us, and double breading in the dry mixture (tossing once and covering, take it out and do another batch, and once the flour looks wet from sitting out, throw it back in to toss again)!! Truly one of my favorite recipes!!
Would these bake pretty well instead of being cooked in oil?
Hi Ryn! Good question! Unfortunately you never get the same exact flavor and texture like you would when you fry. You could absolutely bake these though!
Can you cook these in an air fryer?
I’m sure you could but I haven’t tested it out yet. If you give it a try, please let me know how it turns out!
My daughter loved this. She said it was better than chick fil A. I substituted half cup panko bread crumbs for flour. I also added onion powder, garlic powder and paprika to flour mixture.
Have made these twice and my family says they’re better than the real thing! Thanks….its a keeper!
Wow!! These were amazing!!! My family gobbled them up, even my little kiddos! I did exactly what the recipe said and it was awesome!
Can you cook these in the air fryer?
Hi! Yes you could. I haven’t personally tested it out though so you’ll have to guess on the time, etc.
I did, I don’t think the taste would be the same as cooking in oil but they were pretty good – the honey mustard sauce helped.
sorry missed the rating.
5 star
This rocks. I was a little skeptical. But.. family ate it up.
We add addition heat, but base is great.
Thanks so much.
Thank you for this recipe! The nuggets are very tender and tasty, and the ease of putting the chicken in a plastic bag to shake coat makes this an easy prep unlike so many recipes. Leftover chicken heats well in the oven for a second delicious meal. The chicken has so much flavor with the crust and the marinated meat, using a sauce on them is not necessary.
We’ve never even tried a Chick Fil A anything, but these were very good. I decided on spur of the moment to try it so I didn’t have buttermilk so I used some half n’ half, milk and vinegar to make a pseudo buttermilk — they were delicious but next time I will buy buttermilk because I’m sure they will just be better. I also made the honey mustard and a sweet n sour sauce, very yummy! Thanks
Can these be made in an air fryer? If so, at what temperature and how long?
so amazing my family loved them!
Awesome. My kids absolutely love these. Can’t tell the difference. I prefer them with less sugar so usually make twi batches at a time. Never last more than 2 or 3 days.
Love hearing that! Thank you Seth!
Now that air frying is all the rage, how would I go about converting to an air fry recipe?
So, so good! My grandkids new favorite!
Is it ok to bake the chicken?
would you freeze these before or after cooking?
I love this chicken. These look crunchy and delicious!
How creative!. It is so delicious. Thank for sharing. I love chicken. I'm going to try it now
My girls love chick-fil-a and the little bites they sell in the morning are addictive so to be able to do them at home is an extra bonus. Thank you.
I can't wait to try these! I don't have an electric fryer and I don't have a cast iron skillet–any other suggestions? Nonstick skillet or bake in the oven? Thanks!
I used to work at Chic-fil-a and made the nuggets when I worked there. The only thing different in your process is that they use Butter Milk instead of regular milk to soak the chicken in before battering. So your note about buttermilk was spot-on. Well done!
I am very excited to try this recipe!! I worked at Chick-fil-a so I've breaded and pressure cooked my fair share of chicken. The only difference I see is that they soak the nuggets in a marinade before they freeze them for storage. When they thaw out the nuggets, directly before putting them in the pressure cooker they toss them in the milk wash and then the flour coat.
I encourage everyone to make these. Don’t be scared of frying – it adds so much flavor!
This is my second raving review today! We made these for dinner and they were delicious and looked just as pictured. The only change was I used a cast iron skillet with oil on med high heat. Yum!! Big thanks!
Woo hoo! So glad they turned out yummy! I sure do appreciate you taking the time to come back and leave a comment!!
I just made this for my VERY picky husband. He liked it and said I can make it again. That's saying something lol! He only eats about 10 things.
Now that is what we like to hear! 🙂 Thank you so much for letting me know how they turned out for ya!!
I have made these a couple differnt times for my family. My daughter (5) just eats them up as quick as i can pull them out of the oil! HUGE HIT!!!!! 🙂
To hear when the kiddos like something is always one of the biggest compliments. Because we all know, they don't hesitate to tell us the cold, hard truth. Ha!! Love reading that – thank you!
Thank you SO very much!! I am so happy this recipe turned out good for you. I really appreciate y'all taking the time to let me know how a recipe turned out. I hope you find many more recipes on here that you love!! ~Brandie
Made these tonight, everyone loved them! Another winner from your blog, thanks!
I just made these and they are AMAZING! Thank you for all of the wonderful recipes you share!!
These are amazing! Thank you for all of the wonderfull recipes you share!!
I just found your blog and enjoy it very much! I am a former south Virginia girl also and I gotta love someone who uses the term, "daggone"!
Angie
Delicious!! I will try it!!!
Thank you for posting this, I'm making these tonight and I can't wait! I love your recipes and have never had anything I didn't enjoy from your site.
I love recreating recipes at home too. It's always such a challenge and so gratifying when you come so close! And the powdered sugar! Who would have thought! You're so smart! Thanks for sharing at Church Supper. Have a blessed week and come back soon.
Oh My Word! These Look JUST like the chick fil a nuggets!! I can't wait to try these!!!
I've never had the Chick-fil-A nuggets, but I can tell that these nuggets are delicious! And your honey mustard sauce looks like a perfect dipping sauce for them! Great Job!
No doubt in my mind that these are far better than anything you can get at a fast food place. Good job!
Yours are better b/c there is no MSG! Sad but true, Chick-Fil-A adds MSG to there breaded chicken 🙁
And I'm so excited b/c your frying set up is sweet!
I definitely give these two thumbs up! Made it exactly to your recipe!
MMMM!
Holy cow these were good! Thank you for this recipe!
These look great Brandie! Have to give them a whirl!
Thanks for the lovely comments everyone!! I really hope you like this one if you give it a try!
Shana, I haven't actually tried freezing these to be honest but I think you could. The breading on these are similar to Chick-fil-A in that it is not a crispy batter so freezing them should be alright.
Joan, yes, that is an electric fryer that I have. But you could certainly use your large cast iron skillet for frying these! 🙂
My granddaughter loves nuggets and these would be so much better for her.
The nuggets looks really crispy and irresistible my boy will finish them in no time:-)
thanks for the simple recipe.
Yin
Thank you so much. This would be much better for my son than the store bought popcorn chicken he loves. Can you freeze these? I would like to make a bunch so I can pull out some as he wants it. That would be awesome.
Oh yes! my girls favorite meal – bookmarked!!
Mary x
These were awesome! And I have to agree – we decided to try a batch with pickle juice and without and no one could tell the difference. Delicious!
I have made these and actually soaked the chicken in pickle juice, Claussen Brand, for 30 minuets to up to over night, and it made a huge difference! Actually tasted like Chick Fil A!
Hi Bethany. How did you do it ? Did you soak it in pickle juice then later that day soaked it in buttermilk?