Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets (Chick-fil-A copycat recipe)
Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets – Chick fil-A copycat recipe – juicy chicken nuggets pickle-brined and breaded, air fried to golden and ready for dipping in that signature sauce.
Servings: 4
Calories:
Equipment
- Air fryer
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in 1 1/2" pieces
- 3/4 cup dill pickle juice brine from the jar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup buttermilk see body of post/How to Easily Make Buttermilk
- 1 large ziptop bag
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- cooking spray
Instructions
PREPPING THE CHICKEN:
- Cut chicken Into about 1 1/2″ pieces then transfer to a zip top bag.
- Pour pickle juice over the top. Seal and gently smoosh to move the pickle juice around the chicken. Refrigerate 20 minutes up to 1 hour.
BREADING THE CHICKEN:
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper then set up a dredging station:Bowl #1: whisk the egg and buttermilk together.Bowl #2: combine flour, garlic powder, paprika, salt, pepper, cornstarch and powdered sugar.
- Drain pickle juice from chicken and throw away.
- Dredge the chicken first in the flour shaking off any excess. Next dip in the egg letting it drip off, then back into the flour pressing to coat FLOUR -> EGG -> FLOUR
- Transfer breaded pieces to the baking sheet. NOTE: the breading will seem moist – that’s okay. It’ll be lightly crisp when you air fry!
AIR FRYING THE CHICKEN:
- Pre-heat air fryer to 360 degrees then spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray.
- Place the chicken pieces in the air fryer basket in a single layer (work in batches if necessary - chicken can be kept warm on a baking sheet in 200 degree oven). Season lightly with salt then spray the top of each nugget with cooking spray.
- Air fry 5 minutes then flip the nuggets over. Spray any exposed flour spots and continue cooking 5 minutes or to an internal temp of 165°.
- Increase the temp to 400° and cook 2 more minutes.
CHICK-FIL-A SIGNATURE SAUCE:
- Whisk 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon yellow (ballpark style) mustard, 1 tablesoon your favorite bbq sauce, 1 tablespoon honey and a small pinch salt.
Notes
If you tried this recipe, don’t forget to leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating!
- Use the pickle brine from any dill pickles in your fridge.