This Viral TikTok Hack Turns Chick-Fil-A Into A 'Nugget Salad'

Some TikTok trends come and go faster than the seasons. Remember when we were all trying to do the "Savage" dance challenge back in March? In TikTok time, that was several lifetimes ago. Viral fast food hacks are another story. One, in particular, found among the videos with the hashtag #chickfilahacks, has been floating around TikTok since January at least: the nugget salad.

The recipe for this Chick-fil-A hack is simple. You need to ask for an empty salad to-go container along with large waffle fries, 12 chicken nuggets, and your preferred salad dressings and/or dipping sauces. Don't worry about how unusual you think this order sounds. Chick-fil-A employees are all about customer service, and the most popular nugget salad TikToks have been viewed millions of times. The staff running Chick-fil-A's drive-thrus have no doubt heard it before.

The fries and the nuggets go in the empty salad container. Then add your sauces, close and shake, and there you have it – nugget salad.

The earliest video that we could find with this Chick-fil-A hack was posted all the way back on January 24 by @chickfilastaug, a TikTok account run by the Chick-fil-A in St. Augustine, Florida. So, it seems like this super-viral hack was invented by a Chick-fil-A owner. (And maybe they borrowed it from The Buffalo Spot, a chain of restaurants in the southwest U.S. that calls itself "home of the world famous Buffalo fries.")

The St. Augustine Chick-fil-A suggested buffalo and ranch sauces for your nugget salad. As this grew into a TikTok trend, users proposed different sauce options. One TikToker suggested adding Chick-fil-A sauce to the buffalo/ranch mix. Another TikTok user reminds us "the sauces are the most important part of this entire process," then lists their choices: avocado lime ranch dressing, sweet & spicy sriracha sauce, buffalo and ranch. @Moorethanahousewife went with the basic buffalo plus ranch but suggested cheese and bacon as add-ons. She said she's heard this nugget salad hack referred to as a "southern mess."

This same user has another Chick-fil-A hack she posted on TikTok a little earlier: three chicken strips, macaroni and cheese, and buffalo sauce. Rip up the strips to bite-size, and mix. Really, the possibilities are endless if you think about it. Almost 500,000 users liked a post by @yummysadie, who fried up Chick-fil-A nuggets in Polynesian and sriracha sauces and put them over ramen noodles – with a splash of soy sauce added at the end. At this rate, we have no reason to think TikTok's #chickfilahacks will end anytime soon.