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!
The elusive, edible gluten-free chicken nugget | Recovery Road 10.22.2012
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Mel 10.21.2012
Made these last night. WOW! Soooo juicy…AMAZING! Thank you!
Jeremy 10.19.2012
Just made this last night for a potluck party and it was a HIT. For the pickle juice, I used Famous Dave’s Spicy Pickle Chips. Gave it a little more dimension. Great find :)
Chinky 10.18.2012
Looks good. Will be trying this recipe out. Although, Chick Fil A uses Maple Syrup in thier chicken batter.
Lisa 10.10.2012
Thank you for a great recipe. whole family inhaled them! They were like crack, could not stop eating them. Think I will try baking next time, pan frying 2lbs took a lot of time away from the family and at the stove. Delicious.
Mindy at Grateful for Grace 10.08.2012
We just cut our MSG from our diet and that meant Chick-Fil-A had to go. That’s a very big bummer. To find this is a save, even with the powdered sugar (I had heard CFA uses powdered sugar).
THANKS!
Sonya 10.01.2012
I’m an employee at Chick-fil-A and can tell you first hand that there is absolutely NO pickle juice whatsoever injected into the chicken. The only way pickle juice gets on a sandwich is from the 2 pickles that come underneath the chicken breast.
Steph 12.06.2012
You are right. I also worked for Chick-Fil-A and they used to use a pickle marinade for some of the chicken but they changed the recipe a few years ago. I remember when they changed it because my location cooked up a bunch of chicken with the new recipe (chicken strips strips) and let the employees come in on Sunday to taste it.
Lori 09.25.2012
I worked at chick fil a many years ago, They do not use powder sugar nor do they use pickle juice. they only baterr with an egg and milk mixture and dip in flour with seasonings.
Jaime 09.25.2012
Have you had success freezing and reheating these? Thinking about making for a party.
Iowa Girl Eats 09.26.2012
I have never tried freezing them so unfortunately I don’t know for sure! If you try, let me know how it goes. I’d love to freeze some too!
JuJuBee 09.18.2012
These were SO good! thank you for the recipe!
JuJuBee 09.18.2012
I forgot to add that I made my own Honey Roasted dipping sauce. It tasted just like CFA’s!
1 Tablespoon mayo (the real kind, no Miracle Whip…yuck!)
1 Tablespoon yellow mustard
1 Tablespoon honey
2 Tablespoons bbq sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays)
Wisk together and enjoy! :)
Mary Lou 09.16.2012
You seem to have them all so how about CFA’s cole slaw? Can’t wait to try the chicken! Thanks?
Iowa Girl Eats 09.17.2012
Unfortunately I don’t!! Anyone have this recipe?
Katrina 09.09.2012
These were FANTASTIC! We don’t have Chick-Fil-As in Canada but I’m sure I’d love them too! Thanks for sharing :)
Audrey 09.08.2012
Pinned this awhile back and just now getting around to making them. chicken is in the marinade now, so excited!
Kayla 09.03.2012
These were good! My pieces were a bit bigger so not quite as crunchy, paired with CFA ranch really made it taste like the real deal. I need to remember to stock up next time.
Question, can I cook and freeze these? It would make an easy after school meal for my kids!!
Iowa Girl Eats 09.04.2012
Hmmm – I have never tried. If you do, let me know how it turns out! I’m curious to see how they reheat!
Beverly 09.01.2012
I tried this recipe tonight, it was delicious. I was skeptical about the pickle juice at first then my husband who is a pickle lover told me to do the recipe as it so I did. thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Susan B 08.30.2012
oops – correction. I went and looked again a their website. Chick-Fil-A doesn’t use Autolyzed Yeast Extract. All their chicken recipes have Monosodium Glutamate. Yep – MSG. Read: Excitoxin’s: the Taste that Kills (Russell Blaylock MD) So sad…but we have your yummy recipe.
Susan B 08.30.2012
Will have to try these. Real Chick-Fil-A uses autolyzed yeast extract (the same issues with toxicity as MSG). So we don’t eat there.. but these obviously are MSG free :- Wish Chick-Fil-A would use your recipe!!
brandy 08.29.2012
I am a CA transplant currently residing in Boulder, CO – and I’m dying to know: what is Monkey Style @ In-N-Out? We’re headed to CA tomorrow and In-n-Out is for sure part of the itinerary! I am familiar with “Animal Style”, but I like the sounds of this “monkey bizness” you speak of!
(Should I even call myself a Californian??? I feel so ashamed…)
Love your blog!
Abbie 08.26.2012
These sound awesome… I have a step grandmother from the Ukraine and until she was part of our family I had never heard of using anything but meat tenderizer for tenderizing meat(imagine that use) but over there they use more natural, more healthy ingredients. One of the things she taught me is that you can use vinegar as a meat tenderizer. It does the same thing as the store bought stuff but adds a little more flavor to the recipe. So the pickle juice would make total sense as to why the nuggets are so tender. Just thought I would share.
Kristin 08.22.2012
@ranunculus1927 —
1 part Honey mustard, 1 part ranch, 1 part BBQ=Chickfila sauce :)