Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Strips (Homemade Chicken Tenders)
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These Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Strips are crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and packed with the savory flavor people love from the restaurant version. The chicken is marinated for tenderness, coated in seasoned breading, and fried until golden brown for classic homemade chicken tenders with a crispy texture.
If you love easy comfort food recipes or restaurant copycat meals, these crispy chicken strips are perfect for weeknight dinners, game day snacks, or casual entertaining.
Serve them with easy party appetizers, dipping sauces, fries, or coleslaw for a meal that tastes just like your favorite fast food order at home.
Key Takeaways
- Copycat Chick-fil-a Chicken Strips are crispy and juicy, mimicking the restaurant’s famous flavor.
- Marinating the chicken in dill pickle juice and using confectioner’s sugar in the coating enhances taste and tenderness.
- Tips for success include letting the chicken rest after breading and frying in batches to avoid greasy strips.
- You can easily adapt this recipe for sandwiches or nuggets by adjusting the chicken size.
- Serve the chicken strips with fries, coleslaw, or various dipping sauces for a complete meal.
⭐What Makes Chick-fil-A Chicken Different?
The combination of seasoning, breading, and frying technique creates the signature crispy texture people associate with Chick-fil-A style chicken.
Chick-fil-A chicken is known for its tender texture, lightly seasoned breading, and juicy interior. Many copycat recipes use a marinade to help tenderize the chicken before frying.
Copycat Chick-fil-a Chicken Strips
Rarely do I cook something that both boys like, much less compliment. I think it’s a conspiracy, actually, but they never like the same foods…. until now! Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Strips had both of them raving. Another winner are these easy chicken tender recipe and homemade Southern chicken tenders.
🔥Tips for Crispy Copycat Chick-fil-a Chicken Strips
Don’t skip the marinade
Marinating helps tenderize the chicken and improves flavor.
Use peanut oil if preferred
Many people use peanut oil for a flavor similar to restaurant chicken.
Let the breaded chicken rest briefly
This helps the coating stick better before frying.
Fry in batches
Overcrowding lowers oil temperature and can make chicken greasy.
🍗What ingredients are in Copycat Chick-fil-a Chicken Strips?
- chicken tenders
- dill pickle juice (the liquid from dill pickles, no need to buy a jar of juice!)
- egg
- milk
- all-purpose flour
- confectioner’s sugar
- paprika
- salt
- pepper
- dried basil
- garlic powder*
- onion powder*
- celery powder*
- oil for cooking
Check out more copycat recipes here.
🧨Homemade Fried Chicken Tenders Tips
- There are a couple of secrets to these chicken strips. First, they are brined in dill pickle juice. I know, right, that’s totally the big secret!!
- The chicken coating also has a little confectioner’s sugar in it. That’s what gives it that back note of sweetness when you take a bite. It’s not a lot, but it definitely leaves a slightly sweet taste.
- For that super tender chicken that is such a Chick-fil-A characteristic, I pound the chicken with a flat mallet until it’s about 1/4 inch thick. It swells up when cooked and will be the thickness you want. I like to place the meat in a freezer bag, squeeze the air out, and flatten it. Use tongs to remove the chicken. This is the least messy method.
- You can use this same recipe for Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwiches and Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets. For the nuggets, use 1 pound of chicken breast and cut them into 2-inch chunks.
👉🏼 Chicken should reach 165°F before serving.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
Many copycat recipes use marinade and careful seasoning to create tender texture and savory flavor.
Yes. Slice chicken breasts into strips for similar results.
Yes. Freeze after cooking and reheat in the oven or air fryer.
Honey mustard, ranch, barbecue sauce, and spicy mayo all pair well.
👩🏼🍳Can You Make Chicken Strips in the Air Fryer?
Yes. Air fryers work well for homemade chicken strips and create a crispy texture with less oil.
Spray the breaded chicken lightly with oil and cook in batches for best airflow and browning. Here’s how to convert this recipe to an air fryer! I have more air fryer conversion tips in this post.
I was a little worried this recipe would let me down and not taste the same as the original. However, I thought it was spot-on, and even both boys agreed. That’s huge!
🥗What to Serve with Copycat Chick-fil-a Chicken Strips
Any combo of these side dishes go wonderfully with fried chicken.
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Copycat Chick-fil-a Chicken Strips
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Ingredients
- 1 -1.5 pounds chicken tenders
- 1 cup dill pickle juice the liquid off dill pickles
- 1 large eggs
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar (aka confectioners)
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder*
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder*
- 1/2 teaspoon celery powder*
- oil for cooking
Instructions
- Place the chicken tenders in a freezer zip-top bag, add pickle juice and refrigerate at least 4 hours.
- Remove from back and pat chicken dry with a paper towel.
- Add egg and milk to a small bowl and beat.
- Add flour, sugar, paprika, salt, pepper, basil, garlic powder, onion powder and celery powder to another bowl.
- Add oil to a large skillet or saute pan to 1/4 in deep. Heat to medium.
- Dredge chicken in egg mixture then in flour mixture.
- Add chicken to hot oil and cook 4 to 5 minutes per side until golden brown.
- Drain on paper towels and serve hot.
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This is a great recipe I tried it before and again today. It came out beautiful and so delicious. we’ll make it many times I give it five stars
All 4 kids in my home said 5☆s.
Easy to make!! I didn’t have celery spice & had to use canola oil but honestly the kids didn’t know the difference. I marinated in pickle juice 24hrs/overnight. Ty for the copycat!!
Yay!! so happy they liked them!
I used to have the original recipe. I know that it said to dredge the chicken in flour, and then dredge in an equal amount of potato starch (available on Amazon) before frying. This is a Japanese secret for making a crispy fry. All else in the recipe stays the same.
I used an electric skillet set at 400 degrees and cooked them at least seven minutes per side, but they didn’t come out very crispy. They tasted good though and were very tender and moist.
Absolutely spot on!!! Thank you for sharing. I did not have any powdered sugar in the house or celery powder and it still came out perfect. We had original Chick-fil-a sauce with them and we will definitely be making this again and again.
Could this be baked instead of fried?
I think an air fryer would be better to taste more like the original.
I just made these with my husband. I brined the chicken for about 18 hours. We fried them in organic sunflower oil. They came out fantastic! Thanks so much for this great recipe!
Could you cook these in an air fryer? If so, time and temp Thanks
it’s my understanding you can, but I don’t have an air fryer (on my list to get) so I’m not sure of the time and temp
This is perfection, Paula! Thank you so much for sharing your version of what I think tastes EXACTLY like Chick Fil A, yummo! I put my chicken in to marinate for 4 hours but never got back to take it out until 48 hrs later and I was worried it would be mushy, but it held up to the long marinade and came out delicious!
I’m happy you liked it and good to know it can marinate that long!
Let have a look on the recipe of honey paprika chicken tenders, try it and have fun.