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Copycat Chick-fil-A™ Nuggets

33 Ratings

8 Comments

Prep 30 min
Total 60 min
Servings 4

Drive-thru dupe! A tried-and-true homemade version of the popular nuggets. MORE + LESS -

Macheesmo

August 22, 2016

Ingredients

Nuggets:

1 1/2

pounds boneless skinless chicken, cut into 1-ounce chunks

1/2

cup dill pickle juice

large eggs

cup milk

cups all-purpose flour

teaspoons seasoned salt

teaspoons kosher salt

tablespoon black pepper

tablespoon paprika

quarts neutral oil, for frying

Honey Mustard Sauce:

1/2

cup Dijon mustard

1/4

cup honey

Steps

Hide Images

1

Cut chicken into 1-ounce chunks. You should get about 24 pieces. Add chicken to a bowl with pickle juice and let marinate for at least 20 minutes.
2

Preheat oil to 350°F in a deep fryer or heavy saucepan. In one bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. In a second bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together.
3

Drain chicken well and pat dry with a few paper towels. To coat nuggets, dredge each piece in the dry ingredients, then the egg mixture, then again back in dry ingredients so there is a nice crust on nuggets. Place nuggets on a baking rack and repeat until all pieces are breaded.
4

Fry nuggets in batches for 6-7 minutes until they are golden brown and cooked through. Test a larger piece by cutting it in half to make sure they are cooked through.
5

Remove nuggets from fry oil and drain on a few paper towels. Serve while warm with honey mustard sauce and waffle fries.

Expert Tips

If you want to make these nuggets in advance, reheat them in a 300°F oven on a baking sheet for 5-6 minutes.

Nutrition Information

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 Serving

Calories: 730
Calories from Fat: 230

% Daily Value

Total Fat: 26g; 39%
Saturated Fat 6g 29% Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol: 205mg; 68%
Sodium: 2980mg; 124%
Potassium: 630mg; 18%
Total Carbohydrate: 73g; 24%
Dietary Fiber 4g 16% Sugars 22g
Protein: 52g

% Daily Value*:

Vitamin A: 30%; 30%
Vitamin C: 0%; 0%
Calcium: 15%; 15%
Iron: 35%; 35%

Exchanges:

4 1/2 Starch; 0 Fruit; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 1/2 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 5 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 3 1/2 Fat;

Carbohydrate Choice

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

More About This Recipe

It’s dangerously easy, folks.

Almost every fast food place has some version of nuggets on their menu. Some are better than others. In my humble opinion, I think Chick-fil-A™ does a great job with theirs.

Of course, if it’s Sunday and you’re craving them, you are out of luck! Until now. Because now you can just make them at home. Don’t forget the waffle fries!

I don’t know this for a fact, but it seems like they must brine their nuggets or something. They are always nicely seasoned and really juicy.

This might sound crazy (okay… it definitely does), but pickle juice is the way to get that Chick-fil-A brined flavor! So for the first step of this recipe, cut your chicken into one-ounce chunks and then marinate it in pickle juice. Both dill and sweet pickle juice would work, but I prefer dill.

It doesn’t take long. A quick 20 minute marinade will do the trick here. (If you let the chicken sit too long in the pickle juice it will actually pickle, which you definitely don’t want.) Don’t let it sit overnight!

Meanwhile, get your dredging ingredients ready. I like a mix of seasoned salt, salt, pepper, and paprika in my flour mix.

You can also go ahead and mix up some honey mustard sauce because it’s known to be the best dipping sauce. That’s not my opinion. That’s an actual fact.

A fact based on my opinion, of course.

Anytime I’m frying something, I always recommend doing a test batch just to make sure you have the breading right and everything.

My test nugget came out very delicious. It was immediately consumed after this photo.

Now you can ramp up your nugget production. After your chicken is drained from the pickle juice, dry off the pieces with a few paper towels and dredge them in flour, then in the egg mixture, then once more in the flour to form a nice crust.

After they are coated, let them rest for a few minutes on a wire rack while you finish breading all the nuggets.

You know the next step: It’s fry time! Divide nuggets into batches and quickly fry for 6-7 minutes at 350°F. That’s all these guys need to become golden brown and delicious.

Briefly drain cooked nuggets on paper towels.

Finally, the best part: Serve with that delicious honey mustard and some crispy waffle fries.