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Now you can make Chick-Fil-A Chicken Tenders at home. This easy copycat recipe is a crowd pleaser and perfect for dipping into your favorite sauce.
Chick-Fil-A Chicken Tenders Recipe:
The Chicken Tenders at Chick-Fil-A is one my favorite items at get at this popular fast food restaurant. This copycat recipe gives the same flavorful and juicy chicken that we love.
We prepare the chicken by seasoning it with easy ingredients. The chicken is then dipped in flour and egg to give a breading coating to fry in a skillet.
Making this copycat recipe saves me time and money and my kids love that I can make their favorite chicken at home.
Ingredients:
- Boneless Chicken Chicken Tenders
- Dill Pickle Juice
- Egg
- Milk
- All Purpose Flour
- Powdered Sugar
- Paprika
- Cayenne Pepper
- Pepper
- Salt
- Peanut Oil or Canola Oil for Frying
How to Make Copycat Chick-Fil-A Chicken Strips:
- Marinate Chicken in Pickle Juice – Combine the chicken and pickle juice in a medium size bowl. Cover and refrigerate to marinate the chicken in the pickle juice for 30 minutes to 60 minutes (or overnight).
- Drain Pickle Juice – Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and drain off the pickle juice.
- Whisk Milk and Egg together – In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and egg. Then pour this mixture over the chicken.
- Add seasoning to zip lock bag – Then in a large ziplock bag, add the flour, sugar, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Seal the bag and shake to combine all the ingredients. For added flavor, you can add a teaspoon of onion powder or garlic powder.
- Add Chicken to Bag – Drain the excess milk mixture off the chicken and place the chicken in the ziplock bag with the flour mixture.
- Seal and Shake Bag – Seal the bag and then shake to thoroughly coat the chicken pieces in the flour mixture.
- Heat Oil – Then heat the peanut oil or canola oil in a large pan over medium heat or in a fryer.
- Cook Chicken – Working in batches, add the chicken to the hot oil and cook until the chicken is golden brown and crispy (approximately 3-5 minutes).
- Place Chicken on Plate – Once cooked, move the chicken to a plate lined with a paper towel to soak up the excess oil.
- Serve and Enjoy – Serve immediately while warm with your favorite dipping sauces!
How to Fry Chick-Fil-A Tenders:
Peanut oil or Canola oil is best for frying chicken tenders. You need a cast iron skillet or fryer.
Once you heat the oil to medium heat, the tenders go in and take just 3 to 5 minutes to cook.
Another way to cook these chicken tenders, is to air fryer them. It easy to do and less clean up.
What to Serve with Chicken Tenders:
How to know when Chicken Tenders are done:
When making these chick-n-strips it is important to use a meat thermometer. This ensures that your chicken is done. Insert the thermometer in the chicken and it should have a reading of 165 degrees when chicken is done.
Chicken Tender Tips:
- Pickle Juice – Don’t skip the step soaking the chicken in the pickle juice. It gives the sandwich a lot of flavor. It also helps to make the chicken very tender and moist.
- Fry Chicken – Once the chicken has been breaded, go ahead and fry it. If you wait, the chicken will be soggy and not the right texture.
- Serve Immediately – The chicken is best served right away while hot. It will taste the most authentic and be the most crispy.
What is the Best Chicken to Use:
We used chicken tenders for this recipe but you can also use chicken breasts and slice it into strips as well.
How to Store Leftovers:
Refrigerate the leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Print Recipe here for Chick-Fil-A Chicken Tenders:
Chick-Fil-A Chicken Tenders
Ingredients
- 2 lb Boneless Chicken Chicken Tenders
- 1 cup Dill Pickle Juice
- 1 large Egg
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 Tbsp Confectioner’s Sugar
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/4 cup Peanut Oil or Canola Oil for Frying
Instructions
- Combine the chicken and pickle juice in a medium size bowl. Cover and refrigerate to marinate the chicken in the pickle juice for 30-60 minutes (or overnight).
- Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and drain off the pickle juice.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and egg. Then pour this mixture over the chicken.
- Then in a large ziplock bag, add the flour, sugar, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Seal the bag and shake to combine all the ingredients.
- Drain the excess milk mixture off the chicken and place the chicken in the ziplock bag with the flour mixture. Seal the bag and then shake to thoroughly coat the chicken pieces in the flour mixture.
- Then heat the peanut oil or canola oil in a large pan over medium heat or in a fryer.
- Working in batches, add the chicken to the hot oil and cook until the chicken is golden brown and crispy (approximately 3-5 minutes). Once cooked, move the chicken to a plate lined with a paper towel to soak up the excess oil.
- Serve immediately while warm with your favorite dipping sauces!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Facts
More Copycat Chick-Fil-A Recipes:
- Chick-Fil-A Spicy Nuggets
- Copycat Chick-Fil-A Chicken Biscuit
- Chick-Fil-A Spicy Southwest Salad Recipe
Yes you can. I would bake them at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. You might want to broil them to your desired crispiness.
Can I bake them instead? I hate frying stuff on the stove. If I bake them, what would be the suggested temp and time for tenders?
I love the idea of cooking them in the air fryer.
This is an absolute hit!!! Easy to make, and I did mine in the air fryer. They still came out beautiful looking and oh so tasty! I highly recommend this recipe.
These are good chicken strips but I’m not getting that Chick Fil A Flavor ??
And it is a bit much cayenne, especially for kids.
But my kids will like them anyways because I have Chick Fil A sauce for them to dip it in ?
So Glad you love it!
I cook this every week is so good my grandchild loves it
These chicken tenders turned out amazing. I made everything according to the recipe. My kids loved them so much. Will be making this all the time.
I’ve never had Chik Fila, but I know that this is a great and easy recipe! My husband and I are eating it as I type! Dipping it in sweet and sour makes it even better. The flavors are great and I love the pickle juice idea!!
Tried the recipe, ended up using Bisquick in place of the All Purpose Flower (because we had run out of it), and I believe next time I try this I will leave out the Cayenne Pepper. It made it just a little too spicy. The Chick-fil-A tenders have a more “sweetness” flavor undertone, not so much of a spicy flavor. Otherwise it would be perfect! Definitely going to give it another try in the near future.
These are a family favorite! Kids and adults. Love how easy they are. Thank you. I’ve always wondered, are nutrition facts for one piece of chicken or the whole batch?
So yummy and doesn’t require advance prep – win win in my book!
This was very tasty. You definitely can taste the pickle juice.
Awesome recipe for copycat chic fillet chicken … now I don’t have to leave the house ! Lol
Found this recipe on Pinterest and tried it ONCE! It’s AMAZING! And I found it almost a month ago and my husband loves it so much I’ve made it AT LEAST 6x since then! Thank you so much!!
Great thank you for replying !
Yes you can. I would follow the cooking directions on our air fryer nugget recipe here https://www.eatingonadime.com/air-fryer-chicken-nuggets/
Can you cook these in an air fryer?