Copycat Chick-Fil-A Chicken

Growing up in New York City, admittedly Chick-fil-A had to grow on me upon moving to the south. I did not get the hype about it until many years of living down here. Now that Chick-fil-A has expanded to many cities across the US, many of us have fallen in love with it. And there’s always one day of the week when we all want it the most: Sunday.

I have a solution to our conundrum, and that was to create my own version of the fast food great that I can enjoy any day of the week. I achieved this recipe by looking up the nutrition facts and identifying as many ingredients as I could. A lot went into the research stage (we ate A LOT of chicken sandwiches) but I was very happy with the results. This recipe is inspired by the original chicken sandwich but can easily be modified to be a deluxe or spicy. 

Yield: 2 servings

Prep time: 1 hr

Total time: 1 hr 15 mins

Ingredients

For the breading:
1 cup flour
1 tbsp seasoned salt
1 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp ground mustard
½ tsp MSG
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
½ tsp red chili powder (optional)

For the brine:
1 cup pickle juice
½ cup buttermilk

For the egg wash:
1 egg
½ tbsp pickle juice
½ tbsp buttermilk

Protein of choice: 1 chicken breast, sliced in half horizontally

2 hamburger buns
2 tbsp butter
Pickles
Frying oil (Peanut oil is preferred)

Directions

1. Brine the chicken: combine the pickle juice and buttermilk. Pour over the chicken and mix well. Allow to brine for at least 1 hour prior to cooking. I usually place my chicken in a large ziplock bag while brining, so the brine is distributed equally throughout the chicken.
2. Prepare the breading: mix together all the ingredients for the breading in a large ziplock bag. You may not use all this breading, so save the leftovers for another meal! Place some of the breading in a bowl large enough to fit your chicken. 
3. Prepare the egg wash: whisk together the egg wash ingredients in a bowl large enough to fit your chicken. 
4. Heat your frying oil to 350 degrees. Peanut oil is the oil type they use in Chik-fil-A, but you can also use canola or vegetable oil. 
5. Remove chicken from the brine and pat dry of excess liquids. To bread your chicken, first dip it in your egg wash, then coat fully in the breading.
6. Place your chicken in your fryer and let cook for 10 minutes.
7. While the chicken is frying, melt the butter over medium heat in a large frying pan. Open the hamburger buns and place them face down in the melted butter. Allow the bread to toast for about 3 minutes in the melted butter.
8. When chicken is done frying, remove from the oil and set it on a wire rack or paper towel lined plate. 
9. To assemble the sandwiches: place two (or more) pickles on the bottom bun, then place the fried chicken. Finish by topping with the top bun. Serve immediately.

Recipe Tips

• Add the red chili powder if you want spicy chicken.
• You can use this recipe with chicken tenders, as well. 
• The breading makes a sizeable amount. I was able to cook 2 chicken breasts and a pound of chicken tenders with the breading I made. Just remember to separate the flour you’re using from the flour you’re saving. You risk salmonella poisoning by reusing batter that raw chicken was inside. 
• Omit the MSG if you cannot find it.