Copycat Chick-fil-A Nuggets with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce are just as good as the real thing. Enjoy this delicious take-out-fake-out chicken dinner at home!
When you’re gluten free, most fast food restaurants are a hard no.
Except Chick-fil-A coming in clutch with waffle fries and grilled chicken nuggets!
When you’re craving crunch and a taste of traditional chicken nuggets though, you will not believe how delicious and simple copycat Chick-fil-A Nuggets with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce are. Skip the drive-thru for this homemade version you can make right at home!
Start by cutting a couple large chicken breasts into bite sized pieces then season with salt and pepper and place them inside a medium-sized bowl or gallon-size Ziplock bag.
To the bag add a marinade consisting of milk (any kind), an egg, and pickle juice.
Yes, pickle juice! I once heard that the key to Chick-fil-A’s signature chicken nugget flavor that it’s injected with pickle juice. Who’s to say if that’s true but either way, the addition of pickle juice to the marinade will impart juiciness and flavor to the chicken nuggets — and that’s definitely not a bad thing!
Let the chicken marinate in the mixture for 2-4 hours in the fridge.
When it’s time to cook the chicken, combine gluten free flour (or all-purpose flour if not gluten free) to another gallon-size Ziplock bag with powdered sugar, salt, and pepper then seal and shake to combine.
Transfer the chicken pieces into the mixture with tongs then seal and shake the bag again to evenly coat the chicken pieces.
Next heat peanut oil, which is what Chick-fil-A uses to fry all their foods, in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. If you don’t have peanut oil, vegetable or canola oil will work great.
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, 2-3 minutes, 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 take about 3 minutes on each side.
Remove the chicken to a paper-towel lined plate then continue with the other half.
Serve ’em hot and fresh with a simple homemade honey mustard sauce that’s spoon-drink-worthy. SO GOOD!
I know you can buy Chick-fil-A sauce at the grocery store these days, but my homemade, creamy honey mustard sauce is super simple, and a bit lighter. It’s the perfect pairing.
Dip, devour, and enjoy!
Chick-fil-A Nuggets with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
- 1lb chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 3/4 cup milk, any kind
- 1/4 cup dill pickle juice
- 1 egg
- 1-1/4 cups flour, gluten free or all-purpose (dish will not be GF if using AP flour)
- 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup peanut oil, divided, or canola or vegetable oil
For the Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce:
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1-1/2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 Tablespoons honey
Directions
For the Chicken Nuggets:
- In a medium-size mixing bowl or gallon-size Ziplock bag, add the egg, milk, and pickle juice then whisk or squish to combine. Add the chicken pieces then cover or seal and marinate in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours.
- In another gallon-size Ziplock bag, add the flour, powdered sugar, salt, and pepper then shake to combine. Remove the chicken from the marinade then add to the bag with the dry ingredients and shake to coat the chicken completely.
- Add the oil to a large, heavy-bottomed skillet or dutch oven then heat 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, if it does nothing, the oil is too cold.
- Carefully place half the chicken pieces into the oil with tongs. Cook the chicken for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown on one side. Turn the chicken over then cook for 2-3 more minutes. Remove the pieces to a paper-towel lined plate then cook the other half of the chicken.
For the Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce:
- Stir together the honey mustard dipping sauce ingredients then serve with the hot chicken bites. Can be made up to 5 days ahead of time.
Notes
- Estimated nutrition information includes all the cooking oil.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Trying these tonight for dinner. I am a teacher and am finally on summer vacation and this is one of the recipes I have been dying to try as my husband and I are big fans of Chick-Fil-A. Already made the honey mustard sauce-YUM! Chicken is marinading as we speak! Thanks for the recipe!!!
Great idea for adapting that dastardly fast food into something deliciously healthier – thanks!
CLAIR : Maybe you should provide us with the original recipe then :) just sayin’
Great comments im trying this recipe today!
I work for Chick-fil-A and we actually DON’T use pickle juice. We have two dill pickles on our sandwiches but neither pickles nor their juice ever come in contact with the nuggets as we’re preparing them. I’m curious to try this and see how they turn out. :)
I would love to make these…but I do not use peanut oil, canola oil, OR vegetable oil. Only coconut or olive. Would these work too?
Olive oil would burn, but I think coconut oil might work!
Using Olive oil to fry is very bad..at high temp it’ll break the fatty acids and its just plain bad for you. olive oil should be only used at a low/med heat. As for coconut oil, it has high resistance to high temp so it should be fine
You can use grape seed oil it has a high burn temp. If you use coconut oil you will need to use the refined oil as it has the higher burn temp, the unrefined has a medium burn temp.
what the heck does monkey style mean at in-n-out? hoping animal style… get the fries well done and animal style, you will forget about 5 guys fries… that said, this looks great & I’ll have to try it one Sunday when I have the unquenchable craving for Chick fil A bites
I can’t tell you how excited i am to make this for my family!! Thanks!
Found this through skinnyrunner.com and I can not wait to try the receipe. Also, as a native Iowan living on the east coast, it makes me so happy to see some Hy-Vee love :)
Made these tonight – they were great!
This looks like a great recipe, but you should note that Chick-fil-A gives money to anti-gay organizations. I’m not sure of your personal beliefs, but if you’re a fan of equality, it’s an important fact to know.
Keep making these!
We stopped eating at Chick-fil-a because we don’t support their bigotry but I’m glad to be able to make taste-alikes at home since their chicken is pretty delicious! Thanks for posting.
can’t wait to try these! Actually, I LOVE Chick-Fil-A and support them all I can because of standing up for their Bible based beliefs. We need more people like them.
<–christian lesbian who adores their waffles fries…i might not have a chick-fil-a reception at my wedding, but, you know, who would? God bless and keep on trucking <3 <3
Good. All the more reason to eat there.
How is that even relivent? This recipe doesn’t give them business at all, if anything it helps someone avoid eating there while still enjoying a higher quality nugget.
These look great! Any idea how much the calories are for these???
AHHHH made these twice already so good! Now i’m worried about what happens when i’m done with the pickle juice & not with the pickles!
I made these last week – and they do taste exactly like those famous nuggets! Good job!