Paleo Copycat Chick fil A Nuggets (+ Healthy Special Sauce)

My love affair with cassava flour is no secret, and this copycat Chick fil a Nuggets recipe takes my adoration to a whole new level!

In a moment of weakness, I told my boys I would take them to Chick fil A. We were leaving the park and it was cold and we were hungry, and, well, I’m weak and outnumbered so I said yes.

A few minutes later when my GPS wouldn’t cooperate and I had no idea where to find a Chick fil A in the new town we recently moved to, I had to backtrack and tell them we weren’t getting fast food after all. And while I suffered through the inevitable whining, I was also relieved we had dodged a bullet.

Copycat Chick fil A Nuggets > Fast Food

It’s not like fast food is ever healthy. It’s not like we tolerate it that well. But dang, Chick fil A is tasty. I don’t have to tell you that’s because it’s loaded with msg, gluten, sugar, and all kinds of other yucky additives. Not to mention, it’s fried in peanut oil, which is super inflammatory and not at all the healthy oil it’s touted to be.

So I decided I would make us all happy and surprise them with copycat chick fil a nuggets. No junk food meltdowns or headaches later and still super {duper} delicious!

I love when I get to surprise my boys with food that they love. And they LOVED these nuggets.

Healthy ingredients for the win

Instead of gluten, I worked with a completely grain-free, paleo-friendly flour that behaves just like all purpose flour in this recipe. Get my favorite cassava flour here.

You’ll also find real, whole-food ingredients like organic spices (and a lil’ sugar; you can use maple sugar or organic cane sugar, or leave it out, but it gives the recipe that slight sweetness chick fil a nugs are known for).

In addition, I used organic, grassfed buttermilk, but if you’re dairy free, just sub your favorite dairy-free milk and add a tablespoon of lemon juice. Easy peasy.

Look for quality, pastured chicken breasts and egg for the best nutrition (I tend to more frequently buy whole chickens for complete nutrition, but sometimes boneless, skinless chicken breasts are needed!).

For the pickle juice marinade, I used some juice from a jar of Bubbies pickles, our family’s fave store-bought pickles. They’re made through traditional fermentation so they’ve got good bugs in ’em.

Finally, we use high-quality, heart healthy palm shortening to fry up our goodies in. You can also use expeller-pressed coconut oil or other fat that you love- just keep it nourishing! Don’t ruin these healthy nuggets with conventional shortening or vegetable oil, mmk?

Made to feed a crew

I made a huge platter of these bad boys thinking maybe, just maybe, there’d be leftovers for lunch the next day. Ha. Yeah right. They demolished them.

The recipe below is for 4-6 people. Our family of two grownups and four boys was very satisfied, but some of my kids eat more than I do. 😉

Either way, this recipes makes a lot of nuggets, so you can feed more than a few people. (Am I the only one with a semi-big family who constantly has to double and triple recipes?) And if you need a smaller batch, just adjust the number of servings below on the recipe card.

According to my ten-year-old: “If you eat like 20 of these nuggets, you’ll have a stomach ache, but if you stay at least around 15, you’re good.” Can’t argue with that wisdom.

Print Recipe

Copycat Chick Fil A Nuggets w Special Sauce

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time2 hours hrs

Course: Main Course

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Jaclyn

Ingredients

• 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 1/2 cups cassava flour
• 1 1/2 cups palm shortening or expeller pressed coconut oil
• 1 cup pickle juice
• 1/2 cup buttermilk or dairy-free milk of choice + 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp organic cane or maple sugar
• 1 Tbsp season salt
• 2 tsp pepper

Instructions

• Chop chicken breasts into 1 inch cubes, then put them, along with the pickle juice, in a sealed baggie to marinate for one hour.
• Meanwhile, make roasted sweet potatoes or french fries to go on the side.
• In a medium bowl, combine cassava flour, sugar, season salt, and pepper and whisk to combine.
• Put shortening in a 12-14" inch skillet and turn heat to medium.
• Combine buttermilk with egg in a small bowl and whisk.
• Drain pickle juice from bag of chicken and replace with buttermilk mixture. Seal and move the pieces of chicken around to ensure they all get coated in the mixture.
• Turn the heat down on the skillet to medium-low and drop a small bit of flour in it to be sure it sizzles.
• Grab a small handful of chicken pieces and place them in the bowl of flour, turning each one around to ensure it gets coated well. Place them, one by one, in the oil until the skillet is filled.
• Turn nuggets after 3-5 minutes, once flour has browned, and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes on the second side. Stir them gently around so as to not knock off the batter to ensure all sides are well cooked, then use a slotted spatula to move them to a paper towel-lined plate.
• Repeat with remaining nuggets until all are cooked.
• If you'd like to make a copycat Chick fil A special sauce to go with these nuggets, simply combine the following ingredients and stir until smooth:
• 6 tbsp mayo
• 2 tbsp mustard
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp BBQ sauce
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Enjoy! And be sure to share using one of our buttons because everyone needs these copycat chick fil a nuggets in their life!