Let me start out by saying that I don’t eat fast food like, ever. Ok, there was that one incident involving McDonalds and a particularly happy happy hour a few weeks ago, but as a general rule of thumb no, never.
Greasy burgers and deep fat fried onion rings and fries are totally unhealthy, and I end up feeling like crap for about 2 days afterward indulging. It’s just not even close to worth it.
However.
There are exceptions, naturally! Three of them, in fact – In-N-Out Burger, Five Guys, and Chick-fil-A. Each are so delicious that it’s worth a little regret and a grumbly stomach for a few satisfying bites.
Among the three, Chick-fil-A stands out for specializing in succulent, crispy breaded chicken that is always tender, all-white meat, and so dang juicy – plus the seasonings they use are just right. Imagine how tickled I was after coming across a copycat recipe I could make at home and customize to use a fraction of the oil the real restaurant uses, but still have it taste exactly like the real thing?
Chick-fil-A Bites with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce are insane!
Start the Chick-fil-A Bites by cutting a couple large chicken breasts into bite sized pieces, seasoning the pieces with salt & pepper, and placing them in a marinade of milk, 1 egg, and pickle juice.
Yes, pickle juice! I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I once heard that the key to Chick-fil-A’s signature flavor that it’s injected with pickle juice. Ok?!
Let the chicken hang out and marinate in the mixture for 2-4 hours in the fridge.
When you’re ready to cook the chicken, combine flour, powdered sugar, salt & pepper in another ziplock back, and transfer the chicken pieces over using tongs. Shake the bag to coat the chicken pieces completely with the mix.
Next, heat 1/4 cup peanut oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven or large skillet. If you don’t have peanut oil, vegetable or canola oil will totally do.
Test the oil to see if it’s hot enough by dropping a bit of the flour mixture into the pot. If it sizzles, the oil is ready. It it pops and spatters, the oil is too hot. If it does nothing at all, it’s too cold.
Working in two batches in order to avoid crowding the pan, place the coated chicken pieces into the oil using tongs. Cook until one side is golden brown, then flip and cook until the other side is golden brown. It depends on how big you cut your chicken, but my 1″ chicken pieces took about 3 minutes on each side.
Remove the chicken to a paper-towel lined plate, and continue with the other half.
Serve ’em hot and fresh with a simple homemade honey mustard sauce that I kind of wanted to spoon drink – it was da bomb!
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Chick-fil-A Bites with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
Description
Chick-fil-A Bites with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce taste even better than the real thing, and are much healthier!
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces then seasoned with salt & pepper
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup dill pickle juice
- 1 egg
- 1-1/4 cups gluten-free or all-purpose flour (dish will not be GF if using all-purpose flour)
- 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup peanut oil, divided (or canola or vegetable oil)
- Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce:
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1-1/2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 Tablespoons honey
Directions
- Whisk together egg, milk and pickle juice, and pour into a large ziplock bag or bowl. Add chicken pieces and marinate in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours.
- Combine flour, powdered sugar, salt and pepper in a large ziplock bag. Shake to combine. Remove chicken from the marinade and add into the bag. Shake to coat the chicken completely.
- Heat half the oil in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat (6 or 7 out of 10.) Test the oil by dropping in a bit of the flour mixture. If it sizzles, the oil is ready, if it pops, lower the temperature a bit.
- Gently place chicken pieces into the oil with tongs. Do this in 2 batches, as you don’t want to overcrowd the pan. Cook the chicken for 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown on one side. Turn the chicken over and allow to cook for 3-4 more minutes. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate. Heat the remaining oil and continue with the other half of the chicken pieces.
- Stir together the honey mustard dipping sauce ingredients, and serve with the hot chicken bites.
Notes
Adapted from My Name is Snickerdoodle
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
I want to make Chick-fil-A Bites for dinner everysinglenight – they were such a hit! The honey mustard dipping sauce gave the bites a pretty good run for their money though. Sweet, just slightly tangy, and so creamy.
Dipped, dunked, and devoured!
37 Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 12.26.2014
[…] Who can say no to a handful of a Chick-Fil-A’s delicious chicken nuggets? No one, that’s who. And you’ll be able to eat them whenever you want once you learn their secret recipe! […]
Joanna 12.14.2014
Do you have the nutritional stats for this recipe?
Kristin 12.16.2014
Hi Joanna! I don’t calculate nutritional information for my recipes but recommend Livestrong’s recipe calculator if you need that information! >> http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/create/
15 of the Most Delicious Recipes Based Off Your Favorite Fast Food Dishes 12.04.2014
[…] Another classic American place people love — Chick-Fil-A and all of their mouthwatering dishes. Their bites and dipping sauce are a fan favorite and they’re not even that hard to make at home. Get the recipe, here. […]
Pete 10.30.2014
Made these last night outside on the burner of the propane grill (so as to not smell up the house) but I did strips instead of nuggets. The breading is SO wonderful! The powdered sugar in there really did the trick! I burned mine a bit since it was getting dark, but they were still great. My wife and I love Chick-Fil-A so we couldn’t pass this up. Next up is your baked potato chip chicken fingers. I think that will be a great use for all of those crumbs left over in the Kettle chip bags.
r ellison 10.21.2014
I can see a lot of skinny chicks gaining weight fromthis one lol !! looks good thanks
Kiss Me, I’m the Cook | Daily Dilemmas 08.09.2014
[…] Copy-cat Chickfila chicken So, like a lot of copy-cat recipes, this doesn’t taste exactly like real Chickfila chicken, but it’s still pretty darn good. They do require frying, so it’s not super healthy. It also takes a long time so make sure you’ve got some good music or someone to talk to. You can either use the sauce recipe she includes or really make it like Chickfila and use some Chickfila sauce. […]
Angela 08.08.2014
This recipe is SOOO amazing! I made these last night, I added more powdered sugar cuz i thought 2 tspns were not enough, lets just say it was a little too much. Follow recipe to the exact and you’ll be good! *I couldn’t stop eating them, ESPECIALLY with the honey mustard sauce! YUM! YUM! and YUM!
Kelly 07.29.2014
Just made these and they were delicious. I think next time I’d add a little paprika to the flour mixture, but otherwise they were quite tasty.
Judy 07.16.2014
I made these tonight for dinner … honestly, better than Chick-Fil-A!! Even my husband liked them … he hates CFA because of the excessive salt in their recipes … & he normally likes salty food. Thanks for sharing, from now on I’ll make them at home for a lot less salt … & a lot less money!!! Love it!!!!!!!
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[…] Chick-fil-a Nuggets with Honey Mustard Sauce […]
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[…] Homemade Chick Fil-A Bites […]
Laura 05.07.2014
I have been cooking chicken for YEARS and I never do a fried version……I am a nut about only grilled, or broiled chicken but I might just start relaxing on that. This chicken was delicious and my whole family was so happy I made this for dinner! I can certainly make this particular recipe every once in a while for a treat, cuz it really was a treat! :). Btw, it does taste a bit like the amazing chicfila chicken, but my family swears this was BETTER! Thanks!
cindy 04.30.2014
These sound awesome. Can I use hamburger dill juice instead of the kosher dill you have pictured? That’s all I have in the house.
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Copycat Chick-fil-A Nuggets and Chick-fil-A sauce | The Recipe Critic 02.26.2014
[…] Join the Recipe Critic for the latest and greatest!  Like us on Facebook or follow on Pinterest! My hubby took one bite of these and turned to me and said, Honey, THESE ARE CHICK-FIL-A!!  He also told me that they are an A+.  Our favorite fast food restaurant is Chick-fil-A.  High quality food and high quality service.  But when I found this recipe I thought that there is no way to get them to taste as good.  And the secret ingredient is…. pickle juice!?  What the heck?  Well whatever it was that made these taste identical was amazing.  The whole family gobbled them up!  Then they begged me to make another batch!  And then the Chick-fil-A sauce to dip them in!  Oh MY!!  You must make these now!  Rating: 5 stars  Difficulty of Recipe: 2 stars Things that I changed:  I kept everything the same. Things that I would do differently next time: Nothing Will I make these again?  Heck yes! Recipe From: Iowa Girl Eats […]
King Ranch Chicken Mac and Cheese | milesfood 02.24.2014
[…] with a honey mustard dipping sauce (the same spoon-drink-worthy sauce I served with my copycat Chick-fil-A nuggets!) but you could serve yours with anything you’ve got. BBQ sauce, ketchup – […]
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[…] January 26th: Copycat Chick-fil-a Bites with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce via Iowa Girl […]
Anna 01.16.2014
made these while I was in Ecuador craving chik-fil-a and was very pleased. I am making fried drumsticks tonight and was wondering how you thought they would work using the same marinading/breading ideas
Jon 12.30.2013
Its called “Animal Style”…not Monkey Style. Jeeesh!
Potato Chip Chicken Fingers | Iowa Girl Eats 12.05.2013
[…] with a honey mustard dipping sauce (the same spoon-drink-worthy sauce I served with my copycat Chick-fil-A nuggets!) but you could serve yours with anything you’ve got. BBQ sauce, ketchup – […]