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.
- 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. Gluten-free Adaptations: use gluten-free BBQ sauce, all-purpose flour, and buns.Nutrition
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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 endorsement 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.
Great tasting chicken sandwich. My family really enjoyed them.
Thank God 😇❤️🐔🍔Chicken sandwich came out sooo Good ❤️❤️❤️ my family told me 9.5 out of 10 5 ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and juta add another ingredient extra it’s called Knorr Shelf-Stable Granulated Chicken Flavor just add a lil
Was excellent, I was really craving more of a sriracha chicken sandwich, so fallowed it exactly except put a ton of sriracha and a few drops of our favorite ghost pepper sauce to the sauce was PERFECT
THE BEST CHICKEN SANDWICH EVER!!!! My husband brags to everyone about this recipe.
I love this recipe. I’m gluten free and I switched the flour to gluten free flour (cup4cup) & now I can enjoy Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich again.
I just used this recipe last night and it was a hit!!! My 11 year old who has opinions about food…alot….loved it!!! He said no more buying Chick Fil-A, we are making our own 😁😋
Haha what a high compliment! We are so glad it was a hit! 🙂
I love this recipe and actually think it is better than the original. I deep fry it. My teenage grandkids like it best when I make it in nuggets and serve with pickle wedges. My friend them the nuggets as appetizers.
Very tasty, chicken was moist, coating crispy and flavorful! Will definitely be making again!
Tried this tonight. My husband really liked it as did I. I did not add the sugar. I don’t do a lot of fried food at home but this was very good. I split the breasts in half lengthwise so we had one each for super and will have the other with a medetterean orzo salad I made for lunch tomorrow. Thank you.
I cook and grill a lot, and have followed plenty of recipes with excellent results. I had all the ingredients at the house, read some reviews, and followed a few of the common sense instructions people mentioned. The air fryer was a disaster, and I use my air fryer all the time. I fried the other batch on the stove. It tasted nothing like Chick-fil-a. *I will say I followed a Chick-fil-a brine copy cat over pickle juice. That wasn’t the issue. The breading wasn’t anything special. I’ve followed other recipes for at home crispy chicken sandwiches I like a lot better.
Whew, I had hoped for more. Tastes like a powdered donut a lil bit (I’m glad I put less powdered sugar than the recipe called for). Pickle brine is a waste of time, chickening unseasoned even tho I put extra salt in the dry mixture.
The tastebuds were outside the kitchen when this recipe was created.
Helpful tips I found making the recipe:
1. REFRIGERATE the patties after coating them with the breading for 20-30 minutes!! It helps IMMENSELY with keeping the breading on.
2. Use less sugar- I’d reduce it to a tablespoon.
3. More salt. Probably about one whole teaspoon as opposed to half of a teaspoon.
Hope these help!
Recipe is shitty, breading won’t stay on and burns before the chicken is cooked through. Definitely skip, don’t waste your time and money.
I really wanted this work. It’s odd how the conf sugar over powered all the other ingredients. I am a power prepper so I laid out 16 breasts – half for chicken fingers, the other half for ChicFilA style sandwiches. I fried the fingers, fried half the sammie patties and then tried to oven bake the rest of the sammies. UGH Epic Fail on the oven bake method. I failed to read these comments before I got started. My bad. My consequenses.