If you’re familiar with Chick-fil-A you will know that fans of this fast food chain are passionate! So many people, my husband Jeff included, are completely fanatical about their chicken sandwiches! We love them so much that I make this copycat version whenever we get a craving.
I found that the key to getting an extra crispy and delicious coating on the chicken is double-dipping. That’s right, “double dipping” in this instance is allowed and encouraged! You’ll see what I mean when you read the recipe.
I hope you all enjoy this tasty fried sandwich as much as we did. And, the homemade Chick-fil-A sauce we smothered all over it is a must. That stuff is out of this world!
Here’s how to make your own AMAZING Chick-fil-A Sandwich, at home!
1. Marinate the chicken. Place chicken breast halves in pickle juice/water marinade, in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
2. Combine dry ingredients. Combine flour, powdered sugar, paprika, black pepper, chili powder, salt, and baking powder.
3. Make egg wash. In another bowl mix the milk, and egg.
4. Coat the chicken: Dip the marinated chicken into the egg mixture, and then coat in the flour breading mixture. Then repeat this step and dip that same chicken tender back into the egg mixture and then back into the flour again! Yep, this double dipping is how we’re making a super yummy, crispy sandwich.
5. Pan Fry. Place chicken in hot oil in a sauce pan and fry for 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove to paper towel to dry.
6. Assemble Sandwich. Toast the sandwich buns. Grab the Chick-fil-A sauce and smooth it on both sides of the buns. Top with lettuce, cheese, and crispy chicken! Enjoy!
Homemade Chick-fil-A Sauce:
All you need to make homemade Chick-fil-A sauce is:
- Mayonnaise
- Dijon mustard
- Yellow mustard
- Honey
- BBQ sauce
- Garlic powder
- Paprika
- Lemon juice
Make the Chick-fil-A sauce by combining all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well and set aside.
Air Fryer Chick-fil-A Sandwich:
Preheat fryer to 370ºF. Grease the inside basket/rack of the air fryer and place two coated chicken breasts in the air fryer. Lightly spray the top of the chicken. Cook the chicken for 11-13 minutes, flipping halfway through cook time. Assemble sandwich as instructed below.
Baked Chick-fil-A Sandwich:
Preheat oven to 450ºF. Place a wire cooling rack on top of a baking sheet. Place your coated chicken breasts on the wire rack and spray both sides lightly with olive oil. Bake the chicken for 12 minutes, flip and bake for another 15 minutes or until it’s cooked through.
For a Spicy Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich:
We love spicy chicken at our house! If you’d like to add a little heat to your chicken sandwich, add 1-2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper to the flour mixture when making the breading. I like to coat my kids sandwiches in the flour first, then add the cayenne for spice, and make mine and my husbands.
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Recipe
Chick-Fil-A Crispy Chicken Sandwich Copycat
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breast halves
- 1/2 cup pickle juice
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 large egg
- oil for frying
- 4 hamburger buns
- Pickle, lettuce, tomato and cheese slices , for topping
For the breading:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper *optional, for a spicy chicken sandwich
For the Chick-fil-A-sauce
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 3 teaspoons yellow mustard
- 2 teaspoon barbecue sauce (hickory tastes the best)
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken: combine the pickle juice and water in a ziplock bag. Add the chicken breast halves and marinate for 30 minutes.Â
- Make the sauce: Make the Chick-fil-A sauce by combining all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well and set aside.
- Next, in a large bowl mix the breading ingredients together: flour, powdered sugar, paprika, black pepper, chili powder, salt, and baking powder.
- In another bowl mix the milk, and egg.
- Add 2-3 cups of oil to a large saucepan and heat oil to about 350 degrees F.Â
- Coat the chicken: Dip the marinated chicken into the egg mixture, and then coat in the flour breading mixture. Now "double-dip" by repeating this step and dipping that same chicken tender back into the egg mixture and then back into the flour again!
- Pan fry: Place chicken in hot oil and fry for 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove to paper towel to dry.Â
- Assemble Sandwich: Toast the sandwich buns. Grab the Chick-fil-A sauce and smooth it on both sides of the buns. Top with lettuce, cheese, and crispy chicken! Enjoy!
Notes
Air Fryer Chick-Fil-A Sandwich:
Preheat fryer to 370ºF. Grease the inside basket/rack of the air fryer and place two coated chicken breasts in the air fryer. Lightly spray the top of the chicken. Cook the chicken for 11-13 minutes, flipping halfway through cook time. Assemble sandwich as instructed below.Baked Chick-Fil-A Sandwich:
Preheat oven to 450ºF. Place a wire cooling rack on top of a baking sheet. Place your coated chicken breasts on the wire rack and spray both sides lightly with olive oil. Bake the chicken for 12 minutes, flip and bake for another 15 minutes or until it's cooked through.For a Spicy Chick-Fil-A Chicken Sandwich:
We love spicy chicken at our house! If you'd like to add a little heat to your chicken sandwich, add 1-2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper to the flour mixture when making the breading. I like to coat my kids sandwiches in the flour first, then add the cayenne for spice, and make mine and my husbands.Nutrition
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Recipe adapted from here.
The material in this blog post references the trademarked brand “Chick-fil-A.” The use of this trademark is for informational and editorial purposes only and does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by Chick-fil-A, Inc.
I originally shared this recipe May 2013. Updated November 2019 with process photos and improved instructions.
I’m sorry but there is no way you followed the recipe the way you listed and got good results. Super soggy breading that slides right off cause chicken is so wet, breading burns while chicken is still completely raw in the center. Sauce is good but chicken is just wasted ingredients.
The recipe needs improvement: Maybe thoroughly PAT THE CHICKEN DRY AFTER MARINATING IN THE PICKLE JUICE because the ‘breading’ falls off if you don’t. ALSO it’s advised by health officials that chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees but what happens in this recipe is that the breading is burned before the chicken ever reaches that temperature so just forget that temperature I guess at your own decision…. I substituted regular flour with almond flour and used powdered non sugar sweetener. Sauce is pretty good. Thanks…
Started with consistent, tenderized cutlets. Soaked in the diluted brine for an hour. Dried them, then egg, flour, egg, flour. Fried up great, no bare spots. Tasted disgustingly sweet. Chicken was moist and tender but bland other than the sweetness.
Save your ingredients. The recipe needs more salt. The breading twice is not helpful as it makes the breading thicker but you will need to fry it lower for the chicken to cook through, otherwise your breading will burn. This lacked flavor.
I noticed you include a recipe for the Chick-fil-A Sauce which is delicious. I was curious if you happen to have a recipe for the Chick-fil-A Polynesian Sauce? My husband loves it and I would appreciate a recipe for it. It would be fun to follow your recipe for the Chick -fil-A sandwich with Polynesian Sauce in the side.
Hi there! Former Chick Fil A cook here. We don’t brine the chicken in pickle juice! We just use plain chicken breast that we filet out. We also use a milk wash instead of an egg wash, and we deep fry the chicken in PEANUT oil. No clue what spices are in the flour; it comes pre-packaged. We use wonder bread buns rolled with butter flavored oil and toast them. The pickles are bread and butter pickles and come in a 5 gallon bucket of brine.
Thanks for your input and we’d love for you to share your recipe! I’ve never worked at Chick-fil-A–this was just my attempt at making a copycat version that tasted as good.
After reading the reviews, I coated the chicken in the breading and let it sit for 10 minutes. I then dipped it in the milk and egg mixture and re-breaded before frying. Came out great! One teaspoon of cayenne was plenty.
Save your money, time, and effort and choose another recipe.
This was awful! I followed the directions and used my convection oven to bake (to save on fat calories). The breading came off AND the chicken never browned. It was a soggy mess on the plate. I’m deleting this recipe from my pins so I’m never going to try it again.
Couldn’t agree more. I’m a great cook.
This was horrible. I’m so mad at what a waste and mess the recipe made.
Wish I could leave a pic to show that I know what I’m doing and that this recipe is garbage.
Usually love recipes from this site. Had high hopes. 😞 Read through all comments first. Marinated chicken in pickle juice over night. Tenderized them first. Did flour egg flour. Omitted powdered sugar added more salt. I choose to air fry so followed those directions. Breading still fell off. Made sauce just omitted honey. Chicken Lacks flavor. Sauce was ok. I’d make sauce again for something different. I bet it would have been ok if I actually fried them in oil. Oh well. Wasn’t expecting ChicFilA bc of comments but was expecting a different good flavor moist chicken. Didn’t get that.