Air Fryer Chick Fil A Nuggets

We created the perfect copycat Chick-Fil-A nuggets using the air fryer! They get perfectly crispy on the outside, flavorful and tender on the inside, and they’re perfect for dunking in some copycat Chick-Fil-A sauce!

My daughter would eat chicken nuggets and chicken sandwiches for every meal if we let her and Chick-Fil-A is obviously the place to go for some of the best nuggets and sandwiches you can find in a drive thru.

Of course, the lines are always out to the road and they’re closed on Sundays. What’s a person to do when a Chick-Fil-A nugget craving hits?

Make them at home in the air fryer!

Y’all aren’t going to believe how easy this recipe is and how delicious this chicken gets with just a few simple steps.

My daughters dreams of eating nuggets for every meal just might come true thanks to this one.

Oh, and you DEFINITELY need to serve these with our air fryer waffle fries and this Copycat Chick-Fil-A sauce! You get the whole experience – no drive thru necessary!

Ingredient Notes:

Chicken – We’re using 2 large chicken breasts here, which should be just under a pound.

Marinade– Pour the juice out of your favorite jar of dill pickles for this recipe. You’ll mix that with milk and eggs and let the chicken marinate for 30 minutes.

Breading– You’ll want plain or unseasoned bread crumbs and flour to form the crispy breading on your nuggets.

Seasonings– You’ll need powdered sugar (stick with me here), garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder. PlThe seasonings are all commonly found in your kitchen with flour, powdered sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder being needed.

How to make copycat Chick Fil A nuggets in the air fryer:

Marinate the Chicken– Cut the chicken into nuggets and place them in a bowl with the pickle juice, milk, and eggs. Pop this in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Bread the Chicken- Ad the flour, bread crumbs, powdered sugar, and spices to a large ziptop bag and smush things around to stir them together. Use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken from the marinade and place it directly into the bag of breading. Seal the bag and shake to coat the chicken thoroughly in the breading.

Air Fry- Spritz your air fryer basket with vegetable oil spray and place the chicken in a single layer in the basket. Spritz the chicken liberally with oil spray. Air Fryer for 10 minutes at 370 degrees F. Halfway through cooking, shake the basket and spritz again with oil for maximum crispiness!

Helpful Tip:

One of the benefits of using the air fryer is that you can use less oil when cooking. That’s true in this recipe, but do be generous with the oil spray or your breading will come out dry.

We sprayed the chicken with oil spray until the breading looked moist both before cooking and halfway through cooking. You may use less oil, but your nuggets won’t be as crispy or look quite the same.

You’re still using much less oil than if you deep fried, plus you get to avoid the hassle of heating up a hot pan full of oil and cleaning up afterwards.

Powdered Sugar:

Powdered sugar isn’t an ingredient you see often in chicken nuggets, but Chick Fil A nuggets do have a hint of sweetness in the breading! We recreated that by adding in a bit of powdered sugar here.

You can certainly leave it out if you’re trying to avoid sugar, but it does add to that Chick Fil A vibe.

FAQ:

More recipes you might like:

• Honey chipotle chicken strips
• Lemon pepper chicken wings
• Frozen fries in the air fryer
• Air fryer onion rings

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