Chick-fil-A Nuggets are a perfect copycat with no pickle juice. Skip the drive thru and enjoy all-white meat chicken in a crispy breading.
These nuggets have become our non-burger favorite spot for a quick meal. It also helps that they make the best fast food Lemonade and Mac and Cheese of all time. For other copycat chicken recipes, don’t forget to try Chilis Chicken Crispers (Copycat) and KFC Original Chicken Recipe.
Sabrina’s Chick-fil-A Nuggets (Copycat) Recipe
Chick-fil-A Nuggets are a go-to when we are out and about, but I don’t always love the long wait in the drive thru or the price. Making them at home is just as delicious and you can eat them hot instead of them getting cold on the drive home. Don’t forget to make the sauce!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 pound chicken breasts , cut into 1-inch chunks
- 3/4 cup flour
- 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 3 inches peanut oil
Instructions
- In a food processor, add the breadcrumbs and process until very fine.
- In a large ziplock bag or a bowl combine the chicken pieces, the milk, and the eggs. (I usually just close the bag and squish it together)
- Put the chicken in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
- In a large dutch oven fill it 3 inches deep with peanut oil and heat to 365-375 degrees (medium high heat until a piece dropped in immediately bubbles up but doesn’t burn quickly).
- Put the breadcrumbs, flour, powdered sugar, kosher salt, white pepper, and chili powder in a bowl and whisk together.
- Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mixture and let dry for a few minutes.
- Fry in batches (avoid crowding them) until golden brown (2-3 minutes) and remove to a sheet pan.
- Don’t drain on paper towels, it’ll create steam and soften the nuggets.
Nutrition
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Table of Contents
About This Recipe
There is debate going between pickle juice and no pickle juice being used to soak the chicken. After speaking with someone who use to work there, I can confirm there is no pickle juice in this recipe. However there is still a sweetness to these nuggets. In recipe testing I did it both ways and the current recipe here is what you are looking for. Keep the pickle juice away.
Chef’s Note
So when we buy these chicken nuggets, I also drive through to get popcorn chicken to avoid hearing about the “I don’t like sweet nuggets” from the peanut gallery. Yes, Chick-fil-A chicken has a hint of sweetness (recreated here with powdered sugar). I like them, but given my options, I would probably choose a less-sweetened version.
What to Pair With
Want to enjoy a whole Chick-fil-A meal without the cost or long waits in the drive through? You can serve this chicken nuggets with these other Chick-fil-A copycat recipes: Chick-Fil-A Mac and Cheese (Copycat) is a family favorite. For a healthier dinner option, try the Chick-fil-A-Market-Salad Of course, don’t forget the delicious Chick-fil-A-Sauce!
Related Recipes
Try these other fast food copycat recipes:
Hello, I tried this recipe and it turned out delicious. My kids absolutely loved it! We live like an hour away from Chick-fil-A so this was a treat. I wonder if you’ve tried making a bunch and freezing them to reheat in the air fryer? I thought this would be a good after school snack.
I haven’t, but they can be reheated. Set your air fryer to 375 degrees and cook for 6-9 minutes. Flip after 4 minutes, and cook for the last 2-5 minutes until crisp. Let me know if you try this, and how it goes. Thank you for the 5 stars!
Just a quick question, we don’t own a food processor but can a mini chopper do the bread Crumbs okay?
Absolutely! Let us know how your nuggets turned out Michael!
Sabrina, do you have grill chick fil a nuggets recipe by chance? My next adventure
It’s on the list!
Any idea when you will have grilled version? Thanks
Hi Lexi, it’s on the list! And the list is long 🙂
Sabrina, these were amazing. I did have my marinated in pickle juice 1hr before I saw your recipe than took it out and washed them off, def had some light pickle flavor. We told our kids it was from chick fil-a itself needless to say they ate a whole lb and asked for it first thing in the AM. (Just have to make them when they are not home to keep up with this lie :)) Basically this recipe is great. Will make another batch today. We did deep fry them and also air fry them 400F 11min. Air fryer didn’t produce that golden look but still to me same taste.
Awesome recipe! Family loves it! Have made several times and never disappoints! Thank you
Super kid friendly and adults love it too!
I have made this recipe several times and the family loves it. Now they want me to make Chick fil a sandwiches. Can I follow this recipe for the sandwich patties or do I need to adjust? Thank you!
Glad you asked! Try my Chick-Fil-A inspired Crispy chicken Sandwich and don’t forget the lemonade!!
https://dinnerthendessert.com/chick-fil-a-inspired-crispy-chicken-sandwich-and-lemonade/?swcfpc=1
Very good recipe. It has good reviews, so I wasn’t apprehensive at all. I seasoned the wet mixture, similar to the dry mixture. That’s the only thing I did different. If you are a home cook and like knowing the ingredients in your food, you’ll like this recipe. I think it’s better than Chik Fila, cause it isn’t as salty.
What a great review! Thanks Jasmine!
I love your recipes. They are easy and delish. Thank you sooo much.
Hi Sabrina first of all I want to let you know that every of your recipes I try are delicious thank you so much! I m was wondering I can freeze them for later use? And if I can how is the best way to do it? Thank you for your time
I would get to the step of breading, then freeze in a single layer baking sheet. Once frozen you can fry from frozen at 350 degrees until cooked through.
Thank you Sabrina. I truly enjoy your site. This, like all your recipes are so good !
Good recipe. I would suggest making a double batch of the flour mixture as it gets goopy soon
OMG! This recipe is spot on. Thank you so much Sabrina. Keep the great recipes comin’.
Omg! Thank you so much for posting this! We’ve been on a quest to find a good dupe for Chik Fil A nuggets and had a hard time. We went thru 3 different ones. They were mostly tasty but definitely no where near Chik Fill A style. But this! Perfect! My 12 yr old is ecstatic! He LOVES the real ones and they hold a special place for us because at 8 yrs old he was diagnosed with leukemia. After 2 and a half years of intense chemo he is doing amazing. But at one point, he was so sick from the chemo, he wouldn’t eat. We tried everything. He got down to 39 lbs at 9 yrs old but then he tried Chik fil a nugget because there was a store inside the Wolfson’s Children’s Hospital. He loved them so much and it was thee only thing he would eat. He ate them every single day. I let him have as much as he wanted. But we had help from charities and such so I could get them like that but now, we can’t afford them. He hasn’t had them just since before the pandemic. But thanks to you, I can make them! We had them last night and they were fantastic! Thank you, again! Great job figuring it out!
This is fantastic! My new go to for any fried chicken. A home tweak is that we cut the chicken into tenders and instead of using 2 tablespoons of salt, we use 1of salt and 1 of MSG. Doesn’t taste like Chick-fil-A, tastes better :).
I’m wondering, can you use corn starch in place of the powdered sugar?
Powdered sugar makes the recipe/breading sweeter. I would replace part of the flour with cornstarch, but if you want to eliminate the ‘sweet’ taste you can get rid of it!
Powdered sugar and corn starch taste different. If you do this then the recipe will taste different.