Mmm, Chick-fil-a. We ALL love it, right? The sweet tea, the chicken sandwiches, the waffle fries…but most importantly, the nuggets. Those sweet, tender little bites of fried chicken heaven.
And now, thanks to this recipe, I hold the power. I can have Chick-fil-a on a SUNDAY if I want. Victory is mine, Chick-fil-a!
Now before you get too excited, let me tell you- these are not totally identical to the Chick-fil-a nuggets. They ARE baked, after all, where Chick-fil-a’s are fried. But, the secret ingredient to making them as close to the real deal as possible? Powdered sugar. Yep, powdered sugar. And it works! So the next time you have a major hankering for those golden, sweet nuggets but don’t want all the fat and calories; just whip up a batch of these babies. Guaranteed to satisfy even the staunchest of Chick-fil-a nugget connoisseurs.
Baked Chick-fil-a Style Chicken Nuggets
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs (these are Japanese style breadcrumbs and can be found at any grocery store next to the regular breadcrumbs)
1/4 cup regular breadcrumbs
1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt (depending on your tastes)
1/2 pepper
1 teaspoon powdered sugar
olive oil
butter spray
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a sheet pan with olive oil. Combine the panko, regular breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and powdered sugar in a pie plate or large plate. Drizzle some olive oil (about 1/4 cup) in another plate.
Toss the chicken pieces in the olive oil, then dredge them in the breadcrumb mixture, making sure each piece is coated evenly. Place the nuggets on the oiled baking sheet and spray the tops with butter spray. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, until golden brown. Serves 2-4.
Recipe source: Sing For Your Supper original
Lovely! We just had our first Chik-fil-a in a LONG time while in Pennsylvania. YUM! Great recipe.
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Comment by Noelle (@singerinkitchen) — July 16, 2012 @ 11:32 AM
Oh how I LOVE Chick-Fil-A!!! And where I live in CA we don’t have one. I am counting the days until I move back to the East Coast so I can stop along the way and get my fill of that yummy honey-mustard goodness! Thanks for sharing!
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amy Reply:
July 16th, 2012 at 2:31 PM
Oh you poor girl! No Chick-fil-a?! How sad!
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susan Reply:
July 17th, 2012 at 11:13 AM
I’m not sure where you are in CA, but there are many new stores coning to that state, even within the next 12 months! Hang in there! You can go to http://www.chick-fil-a.com and look under locations and see if any are coming nearby you!
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MAri Reply:
October 27th, 2012 at 8:01 PM
I live in 29palms 1 hr away from palm springs and dont have one in CA but, when i go to upland i get my fix =) were mving to the Ecoast in 2 months! CAN NOT WAIT FOR C F
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bob Reply:
August 9th, 2020 at 2:48 PM
that’s sick
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Comment by Kate — July 16, 2012 @ 1:40 PM
Indeed, Chik-fil-A is hard to find in California. I only had it once before I found out about their heavy-handed funding of anti-gay lobbyists and therefore had to boycott them. Even delicious, greasy-fried goodness isn’t worth throwing my lot in with those kinds of people.
Trying this recipe today. Hope it’s a stick in their eye!
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JackieinID Reply:
July 17th, 2012 at 10:25 AM
Don’t know you, but I love you for this!
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Nadia Reply:
July 17th, 2012 at 7:13 PM
This is so very sad and disappointing. Love the chicken and will be trying these out.
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amy Reply:
July 17th, 2012 at 10:45 PM
I heard about that, too. What a shame. 🙁
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Liz Reply:
July 18th, 2012 at 7:49 AM
Thank you for speaking about this as well! I don’t eat meat in general, but used to still stop by Chick fil a for fries or soda. I had been hearing rumblings of the anti-gay lobbyists and then saw this story about bullying a small business and finally said NO MORE Chick fil a for this family!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_8UHX8FRGY&feature=share
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Comment by FluffyInDrag — July 17, 2012 @ 9:33 AM
Discovered your blog via Tastespotting. My little guy loves chicken nuggets (well, I do too), but I don’t let him eat them very much because of the whole fried thing. These look great! Will have to give them a try!
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amy Reply:
July 17th, 2012 at 10:41 PM
I hope he enjoys them!
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Comment by Lisa @ The Cooking Bride — July 17, 2012 @ 8:32 PM
I’m making these tonight for my family for the first time! Can’t wait!!
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Comment by Sami — July 18, 2012 @ 1:56 PM
Be still my heart! Chick Fil A at home AND Baked!! And I’m so intrigued by the use of the powdered sugar. Definitely going to try this!
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Comment by Stephanie @ Macaroni and Cheesecake — July 25, 2012 @ 4:32 PM
[…] a little bonus recipe within a recipe for you: Baked chicken nuggets from Sing for Your Supper. My sister-in-law sent me the link this week, and I made them tonight with a couple of […]
Pingback by Polka Dot Cottage: Watermelon Cucumber Slushies — July 27, 2012 @ 7:31 PM
These were divine!!! Love chick-fil-a and ALL they stand for!
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Lisa Reply:
February 4th, 2014 at 7:04 PM
I’m with you Kristina!
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Comment by Kristina — August 14, 2012 @ 6:20 PM
Political reasons aside, I live in NYC and there is no Chick-Fil-A here. But I will be making these, oh yes I will.
Erin – ekcantcook.blogspot.com
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Comment by Erin — August 20, 2012 @ 12:14 PM
Just made this recipes for the second time & they are great! My kids love them, they are super easy easy to make & they are healthier than frozen nuggets! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
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amy Reply:
September 18th, 2012 at 9:03 PM
You’re welcome! So happy you enjoy them!
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Comment by Shanna Briggs — September 18, 2012 @ 7:30 PM
WOW! I didn’t think it could be done, but YOU DID IT! We aren’t eating there anymore and even if we were, how amazing is it to be able to just make these at home? I ended up putting them on a cooling rack I’d sprayed with Pam instead of putting them on more olive oil in the pan and they were still amazing. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
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amy Reply:
October 21st, 2012 at 9:12 PM
Yay! Happy to hear it!!
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Comment by Danielle — October 21, 2012 @ 8:54 PM
These were great! Thanks 🙂
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Comment by Pamela — December 16, 2012 @ 4:41 PM
Perfect recipe!! These will become a staple in our home…I’m sure 🙂
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Comment by Flight Simulator — January 15, 2013 @ 10:44 AM
I made these tonight – my 2 year old and 8 year old and 10 year all ate them up. So did I! Easy and tasty.
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Comment by Vicki — February 28, 2013 @ 9:46 PM
This sounds like a great recipe! Might I suggest replacing the olive oil with peanut oil as that is also what Chic-Fil-A uses. 🙂
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Comment by Utopiadream — March 24, 2013 @ 1:12 PM
i stumbled upon your site looking for a different chik-fil-a copycat recipe, and decided to try yours instead. These were awesome!!! The flavor did taste just like what we love from the restaurant, and we broiled them right at the end to help them get crispier- we probably just weren’t patient enough. I’m excited to check out your blog! Thanks for the great recipe:)
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amy Reply:
April 9th, 2013 at 8:26 PM
I’m so happy to hear that!! And thrilled to have you as a reader!
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Comment by Meg — April 9, 2013 @ 7:27 PM
I have a very picky two year old who will only eat chicken nuggets from chik fil a so I knew I had to try this recipe! She loved them! Thank you so much 🙂 and so easy to make!!
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Comment by Gina — April 11, 2013 @ 7:00 AM
[…] so I decided to find a new recipe for the chicken we were having for dinner. I found a version of Chick-a-filet nuggets on pinterest and then made a sauce to go with them. I made a regular version of the sauce and then […]
Pingback by Cooking | The Adventures of Jack & Leah — May 3, 2013 @ 4:45 PM
This was a great recipe! I made it for my family while my mom was gone and it was really easy to do after work and was so delicious! I will definitely be making this again and I know for a party it would be really easy and a perfect meal.
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Comment by Missy — June 14, 2013 @ 5:43 PM
Was getting tired of having the same old chicken recipe and figured I would go to the internet for a solution. Stumbled upon your recipe and was so happy!! Because I too stopped supporting Chik-fil-a once it came out they were supporting anti-gay rights groups and were actually funding them with money from the restaurants. So I also found a recipe for the Chik-fil-a sauce!! Cooking it all tonight and will try to cook them if successful for my nieces! Thanks! ^_^
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Comment by Veronica — June 26, 2013 @ 5:01 PM
found this pin on pinterest. just made these tonight. used egg white instead of oil before coating in breadcrumb and they were fantastic!
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Comment by Natalia — June 9, 2015 @ 7:01 PM
this would be nice to make but yummly does not let you copy directions
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Comment by frank — December 27, 2015 @ 10:35 AM
These nuggets are indeed delicious. I made one change in the recipe that I believe made them even better. After I cut the chicken breast in 1″ cubes I combined 1/2 c. milk and 1/2 c. dill pickle juice and marinated the chicken in this liquid for 8 hours in the refrigerator. After marinating I spread the nuggets on a platter lined with paper towels to dry some of the milk/juice off. Then I proceeded to coat them in oil as in your recipe. You might want to go light on any salt you add to the recipe because the pickle juice is already salty. I also made some homemade honey mustard dipping sauce for them. Something about the pickle juice makes the nuggets very juicy and extra tasty.
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Comment by Brian — January 5, 2016 @ 6:29 PM
How would you cook in an air fryer?
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Comment by Kristin H — October 14, 2023 @ 5:00 PM