Recipe Swap: Copycat Chick-Fil-A Sandwiches

Any Chick-Fil-A fans in the house?  I for one am a huge fan of their chicken, especially the spicy versions!  I have seen many copycat recipes floating around the internet but have always been intimidated by them because 1) how close could they really taste? and 2) frying things and I...we don't get along.

Often times for recipe swaps I will find something to challenge me and so when I found this at Melissa's blog I was Born to Cook, I knew it was time to surrender and beat my fears.

Looking at the ingredient list there were some items that weren't surprising and then others that made me go "huh?".  Take the pickle juice marinade for example.  I don't even like pickles and well...that's an awful lot of juice!  The powdered sugar was another interesting one...I was skeptical.

So how did it turn out?  Surprisingly, it tasted eerily similar to the real Chick-Fil-A sandwiches!  It didn't taste too pickle-y.  Instead, it gave that great tang and saltiness that is characteristic of their chicken.  The sugar also added just enough sweetness to offset it.  Since I like the spicy sandwiches I added Tobasco to the pickle juice and cayenne to the spice blend.  I think I would actually add more in the future because it wasn't quite to the spiciness of the real version.  But overall, yep, it was good!

My only lament is I still can't fry things to save my life.  Mine ended up a little more toasty than I would have desired.  Still have to work on that one...

Thank you Melissa for the recipe and Sarah at Taste of Home Cooking for organizing the swap!

Copycat Chick-Fil-A Sandwiches

Ingredients

• 4 boneless chicken breasts 
• 1 cup pickle juice 
• 1-2 tsp Tobasco sauce (optional to create the spicy version)
• 3 eggs 
• 2/3 cup milk 
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar 
• 2 teaspoons paprika 
• 2 teaspoons salt 
• 1 teaspoon black pepper 
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder 
• 1 teaspoon dried basil 
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional to create the spicy version)
• vegetable oil for frying (peanut oil is supposedly better, but I didn’t have any) 
• 4 buns, buttered and toasted 
• pickle slices

Directions

1. Pound out chicken to 1/2 inch thickness. Marinate in pickle juice and Tobasco (if using) for 1 hour. 
2. Beat egg and milk together in a bowl. Combine flour, sugar and spices in another bowl. Dip chicken on both sides in egg first, then flour mixture. 
3. Heat oil in a deep skillet. Fry each piece for a few minutes on each side, or until golden and cooked through. Place on paper towel lined plate and blot top side. 
4. Serve on buns with pickles 

Source: Slightly modified from I Was Born to Cook