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Copycat Chick Fil A Grilled Nuggets Recipe

Chick Fil A Grilled Nuggets is the copycat recipe to make anytime you’re craving fast food. Pair this nuggets recipe with our Homemade Chick-Fil-A Sauce and you’ll have the perfect copycat Chick-fil-A meal at home.

chick-fil-a grilled nuggets on a plate with chickfila sauce

Chick-Fil-A is best known for its delicious fried chicken sandwiches, grilled chicken sandwiches and tasty sides.

And if you happen to be watching what you eat or happen to be on a low-carb health journey, Chick-fil-A has great menu options for that too. My favorite? Chick fil a Grilled nuggets paired with a side salad or fruit cup.

The issue is, I tend to crave these on Sunday when Chick-fil-A is closed which is why I decided to create this copycat chick fil a grilled nuggets recipe so I can enjoy it at home, whenever!

I am sure that this grilled chicken nuggets recipe is going to be a huge hit in your household! It uses simple ingredients and it is the real deal (tastes just like the real thing)!

copycat chick-fil-a grilled nuggets on a plate

Does Chick-fil-A soak their chicken in pickle juice?

I am sure you’re wondering if Chick-fil-A soaks their chicken in pickle juice and that answer is, it is complicated. Over the years, many former Chick-fil-A employees have confirmed that this is the secret behind the delicious tender chicken at Chick-fil-A. However, Chick-fil-A has yet to confirm this and others have denied this to be true. Overall, I’ve always personally thought there is a slight pickle juice taste to their chicken including their grilled nuggets so, I made this recipe to mimic that taste.

Want more Copycat Chick fil a recipes? Try our Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Minis, Copycat Chick-fil-A Peppermint Shake, Copycat Chick-fil-A Nuggets, and Chick-fil-A Frosted Lemonade.

copycat chick-fil-a grilled nuggets on a plate with waffle fries and chick fil a sauce

What You Need To Make Chick-Fil-A Grilled Nuggets

  • Boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
  • Dill pickle juice
  • Milk
  • Powdered Sugar (yes, really!)
  • Salt – Sea salt works great
  • Black Pepper
  • Garlic Powder or Garlic Salt
  • Paprika
  • Seasoned Salt
  • Stovetop Pan
  • Olive Oil or Sunflower Oil – Can also use soybean oil or peanut oil

You’ll also want your favorite dipping sauce such as bbq sauce, ranch sauce, Polynesian sauce, etc.

copycat chick-fil-a grilled nuggets on a plate

How to Make Chick-Fil-A Grilled Nuggets At Home

First, start by cutting up your boneless skinless chicken breasts. You want to make sure they are bite-sized. Also, this is a good time to remove any chicken fat and discard it.

Next, take your chicken and place it into a large baggie or bowl along with the pickle juice and milk. Allow to marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes although overnight is ideal.

raw chicken in a bowl marinating to make chick fil a grilled nuggets

Next, remove your chicken from the mixture and lay onto paper towels. Pat dry. Drain the excess milk and pickle juice.

raw chicken pieces on a paper towel

Next, heat your large skillet to medium-high and drizzle in a little oil.

Now, add your powdered sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and seasoned salt into a bowl with the chicken. Combine.

raw seasoned chicken pieces in a large bowl

Now, throw your chicken into the heated pan in a single layer and cook about 8-10 minutes while constantly tossing to cook evenly. Depending on your stove, you may need more time to cook to ensure it’s cooked thoroughly.

The chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 °F.

grilled nugget piece on a fork

Once cooked, remove from heat and serve up with some homemade honey mustard sauce. You can of course, use up all those extra sauce packets you have lying around!

copycat chick-fil-a grilled nuggets on a plate

That’s it! We hope you enjoy these and hope this recipe provides a quick fix to those Chick-Fil-A cravings on Sunday!

Store any leftovers in an airtight container and reheat in the microwave or air fryer. Enjoy!

copycat chick-fil-a grilled nuggets on a plate
Copycat Chick-Fil-A Grilled Nuggets

Copycat Chick-Fil-A Grilled Nuggets

Yield: 4 Servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Additional Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes

A Copycat recipe for Chick-Fil-A Grilled Nuggets so you can enjoy these on Sunday too!

Ingredients

  • 1 Pound Boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into small pieces
  • 1/2 Cup Dill Pickle Juice
  • 1/4 Cup Milk
  • 2 Teaspoons Powdered Sugar (yes, really!)
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder or Garlic Salt
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Paprika
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Seasoned Salt
  • A Drizzle of Olive Oil or Sunflower Oil

Instructions

  1. First, start by cutting up your boneless skinless chicken breasts. You want to make sure they are bite-sized. Also, this is a good time to remove any fat from the chicken and discard it.
  2. Next, take your chicken and place it into a large baggie or bowl along with the pickle juice and milk. Allow to marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes although overnight is ideal.
  3. Next, remove your chicken from the mixture and lay onto paper towels. Pat dry. Drain the excess milk and pickle juice.
  4. Next, heat your saucepan to medium-high and drizzle in some olive oil or sunflower oil.
  5. Now, add your powdered sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and seasoned salt into a bowl with the chicken. Combine.
  6. Now, throw your chicken into the heated pan and cook about 8-10 minutes while constantly tossing to cook evenly. Depending on your stove, you may need more time to cook to ensure it’s cooked throughly.
  7. Once cooked, remove from heat and serve up with some homemade honey mustard sauce. You can of course, use up all those extra sauce packets you have lying around!

Notes

You can also use this recipe to grill the nuggets too!

This recipe makes about 24 nuggets depending on how large you cut them, so we made the serving size to be about 6 nuggets a person.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 288Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 98mgSodium: 1957mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 0gSugar: 7gProtein: 36g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

Gloria

Sunday 28th of January 2024

Made these today on a charcoal grill and they were amazing. I used boneless, skinless thighs, marinated for 30 minutes, which I kept whole. I could not believe how juicy and tender they were. I will be going to make more this week.

Vanessa

Saturday 27th of January 2024

Tastes exactly like them!!

Krystle

Sunday 14th of January 2024

Loved the recipe with tweaks. I completely excluded the 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cut down the season salt. The pickle juice combined with the season salt I did use made it the perfect level of salt.

Debby

Friday 15th of December 2023

So delicious and easy! I use chicken tenderloins and cut each in half. We LOVE it!

Brittanie Pyper

Friday 15th of December 2023

Oh yay I am so glad you loved it!!

Melissa

Monday 24th of July 2023

So so good! I used boneless skinless thighs because that's what I had. Tastes just like Chick-Fil-A chicken. My daughter asked what kind of witchcraft did I do to make it taste just like it. She loved the pickle taste! Will definitely be making this again. Fantastic recipe! Thank you!!

Brittanie Pyper

Tuesday 25th of July 2023

Oh yay! Thank you so much for sharing. So glad you and your daughter loved the recipe!

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