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Chick-Fil-A Copycat Chicken Nuggets (Gluten Free, Grain Free)

Chick-Fil-A Copycat Chicken Nuggets (Gluten Free, Grain Free)

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Just in time for the Super Bowl, this Gluten Free Chick-Fil-A Chicken Nuggets recipe brought to you by The Domestic Man, is perfect for any Super Bowl get-togethers  you might have this weekend!

Even if you’re not a football fan, this is an awesome recipe to try out as it is a fantastic (and healthier) imitation of Chick-Fil-A’s chicken nuggets!  It is gluten-free, and almost completely paleo (you need about 2 tbsp of buttermilk and cream, but you end up dumping most of it out anyway).

Gluten Free Chick-Fil-A Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1/4 cup dill pickle juice
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp buttermilk or cream (I used organic heavy cream)
  • 1/4 cup tapioca or potato or arrowroot starch (I went with Bob’s Red Mill Potato Starch)
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 1 tsp each salt & black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 dash ground cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil or lard for frying

Instructions

1.  Cut the boneless skinless chicken breasts in to little chunks (about 1 inch).

A Healthy Super Bowl Snack: Gluten-Free Chick-Fil-A Nuggets
Cut Up Chicken Pieces

2.  Throw the chicken pieces in to a ziplog bag and add the 1/4 cup of pickle juice.  Marinate it in the fridge for an hour.  (I was pretty surprised by this step!  I’ve never marinated anything in pickle juice before, and turns out this really gave the nuggets a yummy taste!)
3.  After an hour, take out your marinated chicken and pour out any excess pickle juice from the bag.
4.  Beat the egg and the buttermilk/cream together and add it to the bag.  Let it sit for about 5 minutes.
5.  After 5 minutes, open the bag to let out excess liquids again.  (There might not be much of it at this point.)
6.  Grab your dry ingredients (potato starch, paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt, pepper) and stir them all together in a bowl.

A Healthy Super Bowl Snack: Gluten-Free Chick-Fil-A Nuggets
Dry Ingredients

7.  Heat up your cooking oil of choice at medium fire, and while you wait for that to heat up, go to the next step.
8.  Add the dry ingredient mixture to the bag, and start mixing it all together evenly.  I did this for a couple of minutes because I really wanted to make sure it was super consistent.  I basically massaged the chicken pieces from outside the bag.
9.  Start frying your chicken pieces!  Try not to crowd them in the skillet.  It takes a few minutes on both sides to cook thoroughly.  You’ll know when it’s ready when it’s a golden brown color on both sides.
10.  When the nuggets are ready, place it on a plate with a dry paper towels on it to help suck out some of that grease.

A Healthy Super Bowl Snack: Gluten-Free Chick-Fil-A Nuggets
De-greasifying the nuggets

Now pick a sauce (The Domestic Man has a Paleo Barbecue Sauce recipe for this), and it is time to show off your cooking skills to your Super Bowl party guests!  Or… eat it all yourself!  That’s what I’m doing with this batch anyway 😉

A Healthy Super Bowl Snack: Gluten-Free Chick-Fil-A Nuggets
Gluten Free Chick Fil A Nuggets
Chick-Fil-A Copycat Chicken Nuggets (Gluten Free, Grain Free)

Gluten-Free Chick-Fil-A Nuggets

Gluten-Free Chick-Fil-A Nuggets

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1/4 cup dill pickle juice
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp buttermilk or cream (I used organic heavy cream)
  • 1/4 cup tapioca or potato or arrowroot starch (I went with Bob’s Red Mill Potato Starch)
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 1 tsp each salt & black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 dash ground cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil or lard for frying

Instructions

Cut the boneless skinless chicken breasts in to little chunks (about 1 inch).

Throw the chicken pieces in to a ziplog bag and add the 1/4 cup of pickle juice. Marinate it in the fridge for an hour. (I was pretty surprised by this step! I’ve never marinated anything in pickle juice before, and turns out this really gave the nuggets a yummy taste!)

After an hour, take out your marinated chicken and pour out any excess pickle juice from the bag.

Beat the egg and the buttermilk/cream together and add it to the bag. Let it sit for about 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, open the bag to let out excess liquids again. (There might not be much of it at this point.)

Grab your dry ingredients (potato starch, paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt, pepper) and stir them all together in a bowl.

Heat up your cooking oil of choice at medium fire, and while you wait for that to heat up, go to the next step.

Add the dry ingredient mixture to the bag, and start mixing it all together evenly. I did this for a couple of minutes because I really wanted to make sure it was super consistent. I basically massaged the chicken pieces from outside the bag.

Start frying your chicken pieces! Try not to crowd them in the skillet. It takes a few minutes on both sides to cook thoroughly. You’ll know when it’s ready when it’s a golden brown color on both sides.

When the nuggets are ready, place it on a plate with a dry paper towels on it to help suck out some of that grease.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

5

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 677Total Fat: 34gSaturated Fat: 23gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 201mgSodium: 992mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 3gSugar: 4gProtein: 61g

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Looking for more paleo chicken recipes?  Here’s loads:

Paleo Chicken Recipes

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Laurie

Tuesday 8th of April 2014

Thank you for the recipe. I followed your recipe to a T. Unfortunately we found these to be far to strong in pickle taste. We sure love Chic fil A so I had high hopes for this but for us it did not work out. Thank you though!

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