If you have a craving for chicken nuggets, Chick-Fil-A would be the top choice. Their nuggets are always served crispy and golden brown, with a flavor that can’t compare to any other fast-food restaurant. It’s hard to beat Chick-Fil-A’s nuggets, but we might get close with this Copycat Air Fryer Chick-Fil-A Chicken Nuggets recipe. You can prepare these golden nuggets right from your own kitchen. Even on a Sunday (when the Chick-Fil-A-craving strikes the hardest)!
The secret to this recipe is soaking the chicken pieces in a bowl of dill pickle juice for about 30 minutes. Pickle juice adds delicious flavors to chicken (and steaks), so be sure not to skip this step. Meanwhile, you’ll prepare a bowl of dry ingredients and a bowl of liquid ingredients for the batter. Be sure to coat it with the dry mixture twice, and shake off any excess batter so there’s enough for all of the chicken.
The air fryer is the perfect tool to use for this recipe because it cooks the chicken pieces evenly and quickly, even if you’re using frozen chicken pieces. Lay each piece in a single layer, and cook at 370° for about 8 minutes or until they’re golden brown. This recipe doesn’t call for a lot of oil- just a spray of olive oil about halfway through cooking. Then serve your Copycat Air Fryer Chick-Fil-A Chicken Nuggets with your favorite Chick-Fil-A sauce.
Copycat Air Fryer Chick-Fil-A Chicken Nuggets
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup dill pickle juice
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tsp salt 1
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- spritz of olive oil
Instructions
- First, add the chicken pieces to a bowl with the pickle juice and marinate in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
- In another bowl, whisk the milk and egg together and set aside.
- In a third bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients, stir, and set aside.
- Preheat the air fryer to 370°. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator, and drain the pickle juice. Place each piece into the dry mixture, then into the liquid mixture, and back into the dry making, sure it is well-coated. Shake off any excess.
- Cook in a single layer of chicken for 8 minutes or until golden brown, flipping and spraying with olive oil at the halfway mark.
- Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.
Notes
- Using fresh chicken is best, but if you have frozen chicken, preheat the air fryer to 400° for about 5 minutes and then cool for about 10 minutes until it's cooked all the way through.
If you’d like to pair your nuggets with something healthy, check out our Chick-Fil-A Market Salad recipe.
