Chick-fil-A Crispy Chicken Sandwhich copycat (2024)

This Chick-fil-A crispy chicken sandwich with homemade Chick-fil-A sauce is the perfect copycat recipe of the classic sandwich we all love!

This is one of those recipes that cause my husband to sing my praises! It’s a true winner. Serve copycat Chick-fil-A with french fries, a Side salad, aFresh fruit bowl, or some homemade Potato Salad.

Chick-fil-A Crispy Chicken Sandwhich copycat (1)

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.

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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!

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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

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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.

Chick-fil-A Crispy Chicken Sandwhich copycat (5)

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Recipe

Chick-fil-A Crispy Chicken Sandwhich copycat (6)

4.77 from 1103 votes

Chick-Fil-A Crispy Chicken Sandwich Copycat

This Chick-Fil-A crispy chicken sandwich with homemade Chick-Fil-A sauce is the perfect copycat recipe of the classic sandwich we all love!

Print Pin Review

Author Lauren Allen

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 4 sandwiches

Calories 579

Cost 7

Prep 30 minutes mins

Cook 10 minutes mins

Total 40 minutes mins

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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:

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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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

Calories: 579kcalCarbohydrates: 62gProtein: 21gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 88mgSodium: 1286mgPotassium: 391mgFiber: 2gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 525IUVitamin C: 1.7mgCalcium: 147mgIron: 3.7mg

Did You Make This Recipe?

Tag @TastesBetterFromScratch on Instagram with #TastesBetterFromScratch!

Have you tried this recipe?!

RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.

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 endorsem*nt by Chick-fil-A, Inc.

I originally shared this recipe May 2013. Updated November 2019 with process photos and improved instructions.

This post contains affiliate links.

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Categories

  • Air Fryer
  • Budget Friendly Meals
  • Chicken
  • Copycat recipes
  • Main Dish
  • Sandwiches and Wraps

About The Author

Chick-fil-A Crispy Chicken Sandwhich copycat (11)

Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

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Chick-fil-A Crispy Chicken Sandwhich copycat (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret ingredient in Chick-fil-A chicken? ›

It's a chicken fillet dipped in an egg and milk wash, hand-breaded and cooked in a pressure cooker. It's served on a toasted, buttered bun with dill pickles, so what seasons it? Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy came up with the secret it in the 1960s, and more than 50 years later, the recipe remains unchanged!

What comes on a crispy chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A? ›

A boneless breast of chicken seasoned to perfection, freshly breaded, pressure cooked in 100% refined peanut oil and served on a toasted, buttered bun with dill pickle chips, green leaf lettuce, tomato and American cheese. Also available on a multigrain bun.

Does Chick-fil-A use pickle juice in their batter? ›

There are two crucial ingredients chick-fil-a uses that most recipes dont have- pickle juice and sugar. They also use MSG- but its also ok without it if you dont like it. Just cut up the breasts into chunks and follow recipe for nuggets.

What is the key ingredient in Chick-fil-A's famous chicken sandwich? ›

“The truth is that all of these sandwich ingredients (and yes, there are a lot) likely play into why it's been so popular for years, but there's one ingredient in particular” that “makes Chick-fil-A's classic chicken sandwiches so delicious.” “And that ingredient is monosodium glutamate, more commonly known as MSG.

What does Chick-fil-A marinate their chicken in? ›

But don't just take it from me — this is the (not-so-secret) secret that's fueled the love affair so many people have with Chick-fil-A. It's the pickle brine! Well before being fried to perfection, the chicken breasts are brined with pickle juice for super-juicy, tender meat. People go wild for this chicken.

How does Chick-fil-A make their chicken taste so good? ›

Ultimately, the Chick-fil-A menu team chose a seasoning with simple ingredients: a blend of sea salt, lemon, garlic and savoury herbs. Once the grilled chicken is cooked, it's placed on a toasted multigrain bun with green leaf lettuce and tomato for the Grilled Chicken Sandwich.

What kind of oil does Chick-fil-A use? ›

Ever since our founder Truett Cathy created the Chick-fil-A® Chicken Sandwich, we've been cooking our hand-breaded chicken exclusively in fully refined, heat-processed peanut oil.

Is Chick-fil-A chicken real or processed? ›

Because chicken is at the center of our menu, we serve only real breast meat with no fillers, artificial preservatives, or steroids. Like other chicken in the United States, ours contains no added hormones. We source our chicken from farms in the U.S. in accordance with our Animal Wellbeing Standards.

What kind of pickles does Chick-fil-A use? ›

But Why Are Its Pickles So Good? It turns out that the pickles Chick-fil-A gets from Bay Valley are a little different from standard pickles. The company selects cucumbers specifically for size and texture, of course, but what really makes the difference is the brine.

How does Chick-fil-A get their chicken so tender? ›

The Cooking Method

Instead of using his mom's pan and lid trick, Cathy bought a commercial pressure cooker to make the chicken. With this pressure cooker, he could have tender, juicy chicken that was fully cooked in just four minutes. Into the pressure cooker, he added the chicken and 100% refined peanut oil.

What is the Chick-fil-A breading made of? ›

INGREDIENTS: Chicken (containing up to 8-16% solution of: water, salt, sodium phosphates, cultured nonfat milk, cornstarch, salt, Vitamin A palmitate, Vitamin D3), enriched bleached flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), corn starch, dehydrated garlic, dehydrated onion, ...

What does pickle juice do to chicken? ›

While brining chicken doesn't make it safe to eat in the same way adding acid to fish to make a ceviche might, much of what happens to the protein on a microscopic level looks awfully familiar. Sodium chloride-rich pickle brine unravels the alpha helix of the chicken protein in a process called denaturing.

What kind of lettuce does Chick-fil-A use on their sandwiches? ›

A lemon-herb marinated boneless breast of chicken, grilled for a tender and juicy backyard-smoky taste, served on a toasted multigrain bun with green leaf lettuce and tomato.

What is the secret behind Chick-fil-A chicken? ›

It's hand crafted: Not only is the chicken sandwich made from 100 percent all-natural breast meat, with no fillers or additives, but it's also hand breaded from scratch daily inside the kitchen at each and every one of our restaurants.

Does Chick-fil-A put MSG in their sandwiches? ›

Here's the interesting thing: Chick-fil-A is also one of the only fast food chains to use MSG.

What are the ingredients in Chick-fil-A chicken? ›

Ingredients: 100% natural whole breast filet, seasoning (salt, monosodium glutamate, sugar, spices, paprika), seasoned coater (enriched bleached flour, [malted barley flour, niacin, iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid], sugar, salt, monosodium glutamate, nonfat milk, leavening [baking soda, sodium ...

What is Chick-fil-A meat made out of? ›

Chick-fil-A sources 100% real, whole, boneless breast of chicken that has never been ground or separated, and that contains no fillers or added steroids or hormones*.

How is Chick-fil-A chicken different? ›

Chick-fil-A changes its chicken

Chic-fil-A will transition from antibiotic-free chicken, which it has used since 2014, to a new standard: No Antibiotics Important To Human Medicine (NAIHM). The company explained the move (sort of) on its website in the FAQ section.

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