Copycat Chick-Fil-A Chicken Strips Recipe

So it's Sunday and you have a hankering for some of Chick-fil-A's famous chicken strips, eh? Then it looks like you're out of luck. Unless you're willing to put in about a half hour of work in the kitchen (which is less time than you would have spent finding your keys and wallet and driving across town to Chick-fil-A anyway, really) making these copycat chicken strips that are so good you might just stick with DIY strips in the future.

Now, to fair, chef and food writer Erin Johnson of Probably in the Kitchen says: "Chick-fil-A uses pressure fryers that give results that are impossible to replicate perfectly at home [but] these are as close in flavor and crispness as you can achieve using home equipment." But on the other hand, when you do cook your own chicken strips at home, you have latitude for customization. "If you prefer not to use peanut oil, feel free to substitute canola or vegetable oil," for example, Johnson says. And "if you want to pump up the flavor, add a ½ teaspoon of garlic and onion powder to the flour mixture or consider making them spicy by adding cayenne."

Sure, Chick-fil-A chicken is hard to beat, but this recipe makes a close enough match that you'll still be a winner, and in your own kitchen, no less.

Taking a look at the ingredient list for chicken strips on the Chick-fil-A website might just surprise you: there are nearly 30 ingredients listed including things like silicon dioxide and sodium diacetate. Our copycat recipe, meanwhile, has ten ingredients, and the hardest one to pronounce is paprika.

All in all, you'll need 1 pound of chicken breast tenders, 1 cup of dill pickle juice, a ½ cup of milk, an egg, 1 cup of flour, 1 and a ½ tablespoons of powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons of salt, a ½ teaspoon of ground pepper, 1 teaspoon of paprika, and about 1 cup of oil for frying, with peanut oil preferred.

"Leaving [averaged sized] tenders whole results in strips that are a little larger than the standard Chick-fil-A strip," says Johnson, so "consider cutting them in half to be similar in size to the originals." Marinate the trimmed chicken tenders in the dill pickle juice for at least 15 minutes, ideally using a plastic bag so all the chicken is submerged.

While the chicken is marinating, beat together the milk and egg in a shallow bowl. Then combine the flour, sugar, salt, pepper, and paprika and mix until they are all well blended.

Pour the oil into a heavy skillet or Dutch oven and start to heat it on medium high.

Now coat the chicken in the egg and milk mixture and then dredge each piece in the flour and spice blend. Then repeat that, pressing the chicken into the flour on the second battering. Note that Johnson says: "One of the best things about Chick-fil-A strips are the crispy bits of batter that attach to the chicken, and the best way to achieve this is to really press your chicken down into the flour on the second dredge."

When oil has reached 350º degrees, fry the strips in batches (the pieces should not be touching) for approximately five minutes per side until they are golden brown all over.

Rest the cooked strips on a wire rack (with something under it to catch drips) or a paper towel for a few minutes, and then serve with your favorite dipping sauce. (And remember that you can buy Chick-fil-A sauce.)

Johnson says: "These store well in the fridge if you can manage to save any leftovers and are great on salads or wraps."