Chick-Fil-A Copycat Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients:
1 lb chicken breasts, cut into bite sized nuggets or strips
3/4 cup bread crumbs made from dry, toasted bread
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon seasoning salt {like Lawry’s}
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, whisked
vegetable oil, for frying
Directions:
In a large bowl, add chicken pieces and buttermilk. Allow chicken to sit in the buttermilk as long as you can —overnight if you’ve planned ahead, and at least one hour if you haven’t.
Place dried bread into a food processor and process until fine. Pulse in the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, sugar, seasoning salt, pepper and paprika.
In a large dutch oven {or deep fryer if you have one}, heat 2 inches of vegetable [or peanut] oil to 350 degrees over medium-high heat.
Transfer flour mixture to a bowl and begin setting up your dipping station. Whisk eggs in a separate bowl. Piece by piece, remove chicken from buttermilk and dredge in bread crumb/flour mixture, then egg wash, then back into bread crumb/flour mixture. Once all pieces have been coated, you can start putting them into the hot oil. Be careful not to add too many chicken pieces to the oil, so that all pieces will cook evenly. Cook for about 1 1/2 minutes, then flip chicken pieces over, if necessary, and cook for another 1 1/2- 2 minutes. Chicken is ready when the coating is medium golden brown. Transfer chicken pieces to a paper towel lined plate to absorb any excess oil. Repeat with remaining chicken.
