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!
Lily 07.21.2012
Copy-Cat Chick-fil-a sauce recipe, starting from the largest amount used: mayonnaise, mustard, barbeque sauce a little bit of honey, and a touch of lemon juice. Just mix it all together. I didn’t use measurements, sorry.
Sarah 07.19.2012
OMG, this was soooo good, and really easy! I didn’t even have to buy any special ingredients! Thank you for sharing!
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Sallie 07.14.2012
Love Chic-Fil-A! Esp receipt day and they’re a great christian company as well!
Jodi 07.12.2012
I plan to make these tommorow for my husband, I was just wondering what you would recommend as a side??
Iowa Girl Eats 07.13.2012
I would probably do steamed broccoli and a side salad, and maybe some regular or sweet potato fries!
Sheila 07.10.2012
They use pickle juice in the grilled chicken and chicken strips marinade, not nuggets or regular chicken sandwiches. They use regular milk and egg wash for the nuggets and fried chicken breasts. The pickle juice wasn’t mixed with milk, it was mixed with a packaged powder marinade that you add water and pickle juice to.
Gabesmom 07.09.2012
I have heard of Chick-fil-a but they don’t have them around me so I have not tried them. I am interested to try your recipe to get a sense of what the fuss is about but I can’t use milk. Is it worth trying with a milk substitute or would that just ruin it. And if so which kind would you recommend?
TIffany 07.09.2012
Could you make a large batch of these and freeze them?
Iowa Girl Eats 07.13.2012
Hmmm, I actually have no idea, but I would *think* you could?? Let me know if you give it a try!
Erin 07.07.2012
As someone who worked at Chick-fil-a in high school, I can attest to this being totally dead on. You HAVE to use peanut oil to fry them though – that’s one of the secrets.
Stephanie Y. 07.07.2012
My husband loves the spicy chicken at chick-fil-a, what would you add for it to be similar to the spicy version?? Thanks!
Iowa Girl Eats 07.08.2012
Maybe some cayenne pepper in the mix!
Kelly 07.06.2012
Just made these tonight for the kids, 18, 15 and 13. Marinated the chicken in the fridge while we were at the lake for a couple of hours. Came home and fried them up. So yummy. Tasted so so so good with honey!!! The kids are all so full they are miserable. I will put this in my rotation and will be making these to freeze for the kids to heat up in the microwave for snacks as well. Don’t know if il ever buy frozen Tyson nuggets again!! Thanks for sharing!!
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[…] Here is the full recipe from the original blog:Â https://iowagirleats.com/2012/03/01/chick-fil-a-bites-with-honey-mustard-dipping-sauce/comment-page-1… […]
Dana Wilson 07.05.2012
Thank you so much for this post! Now all I need is to find the recipe for their BBQ sauce! This will be a regular reoccurance in our household! I had to blog about my experience on my website. I did link back to you for the recipe though…I need to give credit to those who deserve it.
Carol 07.04.2012
I am SOOOO excited about this! I had to stop eating at Chik-Fil-A because everything has MSG in it. You are the answer to my prayers!
Katie 07.03.2012
I just saw this as I was browsing Pinterest, and I cant wait to make these for my daughter! She LOVES chick-fil-a! We don’t go often as my other daughter is allergic to peanuts, and they fry everything in peanut oil. :( I will just use veg oil here at home. The reason I commented was to share my recipe for the “chick-fil-a sauce.” My little one insists I make it at home with any nugget I fix for her! I have no idea what they really use,, but what I whip together sure tastes like the same thing. She devours it! I mix mayo, mustard, and BBQ sauce (I use KC Masterpiece original) and stir til combined. Sorry I don’t have measurements as I always just eyeball it. With these two paired, we won’t have any reason to visit there again! Thanks for the recipe….
Dana Wilson 07.05.2012
oh Katie I need the measurements pahleaseeeeeeeeee lol I just posted I need to figure out the BBQ sauce recipe.
Ravi 07.03.2012
If this works………I love you! LOL! :)
Jessica 07.01.2012
My husband was skeptical the minute I cracked open the pickle jar, but my family LOVED this dish! My 11 year old made me promise to make it again, and my 20 month old double fisted chicken bites for the majority of dinner. Great recipe, thank you!
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Kay Cooper 06.30.2012
I want to try these ASAP. However, I only use organic coconut oil for frying–much better for you! You can google Benefits of Coconut Oil to find out why.
Rue 06.29.2012
Wow, these look so delish, I must try these and soon!