After the ruckus I caused a few weeks ago by posting the ~100 ingredients in a Chick-fil-A sandwich on my Facebook Page and writing an article entitled “Chick-fil-A or Chemical-fil-A” about the harmful effects of those ingredients….I did some thinking about one particular comment I received regarding how someone didn’t want to give up Chick-fil-A because they had already given up so many other food vices in their life.
I wish all harmful food came with a warning sign like this
The infamous list of ingredients – a toxic waste dump of chemicals.
I wanted to expose Chick-fil-A because I find it atrocious that companies can legally feed you a combination of chemicals that are known to have disastrous effects on your health. I find it even more disturbing when very smart people are easily fooled into thinking something may be a healthier option because of misleading marketing.
Well I am here to tell you – You can have your Chick-fil-A and eat it too! Even on Sunday! All without any life threatening chemicals….
You don’t have to go in life without – I really think you can have it all – especially if you have the right tools and information to navigate through the food world. As a firm believer of this statement…..I found a way to make a Chick-fil-A sandwich with the least possible harm to your body.
This Chick-Fil-A sandwich won’t give you a sugar high. Or destroy your brain cells from MSG. Or give you toxin induced sluggishness after you eat it. Or more cravings for food even though you are full. Or cause you life long struggles with autoimmune disorders, diabetes, or heart disease.
IMO, this recipe isn’t the best thing you can put in your body, but it won’t slowly kill you overtime either.
So if you really are craving Chick-fil-A and don’t want to give it up – Make my “Open on Sunday Sandwich.” It takes a total of less than 30 mins to prepare. It takes more time to drive to Chick-fil-A than to make this sandwich.
And the best part – It tastes very close to the real thing. Pretty amazing, huh?
- 2 chicken breasts equaling about 1 pound
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 cup pickle juice
- 12 pickle slices
- 3 tbsp white or apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ tsp paprika
- 1 cup flour of your choice (I used spelt)
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
- ¼ tsp dry mustard
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 4 sprouted whole wheat hamburger buns or buns of your choice
- 1 tbsp butter
- Marinating:
- About 4 hours before or the day before – Cut chicken breasts in half making 4 similar size pieces
- With a meat tenderizer or small hammer pound the chicken to ½ inch thick
- Sprinkle salt, pepper and ½ tsp paprika to both sides of chicken
- Place chicken in 1 cup pickle juice and let marinate for at least 4 hours to one day prior to baking
- Baking:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees
- Place pickle slices in vinegar and let marinate while you prep the chicken
- In a bowl, combine and stir flours, sugar, baking soda, 1 tsp paprika, dry mustard and set aside
- In another bowl, whisk egg and almond milk together
- Remove chicken from marinade and dredge one piece of chicken at a time in egg bath, ensuring each side is wet and dredge in flour mixture coating each sidePlace each flour coated chicken piece on a wire rack with pan on bottom
- Spray each piece liberally with olive oil covering both sides
- Place tray of chicken in oven
- After 12 mins, turn each piece of chicken over mid way through baking
- After about 25 mins – 30 mins, chicken should be completely cooked and crispy
- Take out of the oven and let rest at least 5 mins
- While chicken is resting, butter buns and place in oven for 3-5 mins
- Take buns out of oven, place 3 pickles on bottom bun and chicken on top and ENJOY!
Start with 2 organic chicken breasts, wash with cold water and cut each one in half before pounding.
I place the chicken in a ziploc bag before pounding – This technique tenderizes the meat and allows for flavor to get in quicker
These pickles have no chemicals and are certified organic. One jar serves double duty – I used the pickle juice from this jar to marinate the chicken breasts and the pickle slices for the sandwiches.
Marinated chicken in pickle juice, ready to go in the fridge for several hours
My dredging station is ready to go! Time to dip the chicken in egg mixture then flour…..
I use a pan and wire rack like this for baking – This allows the air to circulate underneath, making the chicken crispy instead of soggy. When you fry food, it destroys the nutrients like an atom bomb, baking is a much better option.
Dredge chicken in egg mixture first, then the flour
Place flour coated chicken on rack
So excited to see how this is going to turn out….
Spray each side of flour coated chicken with olive oil, coating each crevice
Place chicken in oven
Chicken cooling on rack
- If you really like white flour buns – pick ones with just the minimal ingredients, no harmful additives and organic if possible.
This is my favorite type of hamburger bun – it has no flour! The best part – They stay fresh in the freezer up to three months.
Moment of Truth….. This was my husband’s sandwich on plain flour bun made with organic flour. OMG – It tasted just like Chick-fil-A….. It really did. We were in huge disbelief. I jumped up for joy – screaming – “We can have chemical free Chick-fil-A on Sunday!!!”
We both hadn’t had Chick-fil-A in years… but who forgets the taste?! I used my favorite sprouted bread and it tasted just as good…
Watch me make this live on NBC’s Charlotte Today:
If you know a friend or family member who still frequents Chick-fil-A – please share this recipe with them, you could be a life saver!
XOXO,
Food Babe
Thanks for this recipe. I’d love to try it but am struggling with the pickle juice part. We eat about 1 jar of pickles every 6 months, so how do we get enough pickle juice to make this recipe more than once every 6 months upon completion of our jar since I’m certainly not saving juice used to marinate raw chicken? It looks like a great recipe but isn’t viable unless a family consumes extreme amounts of pickles??? Are there any everyday ingredient substitutes for the pickle juice?
I’m not a expert or anything, but my mom makes her own pickles and it’s just a brine with cucumbers put into it. So I would guess that you could get a recipe for the brine and make your own “pickle juice” without having to have pickles around.
It’s probably not too hard. I think there are even some packets of all the seasoning for the brine and all you have to do is add the vinegar.
All of the public school concession stands and even the Little League ones, etc in our area sell pickles. There is always about 1/2 of a gallon jar of pickle juice left when all the pickles are sold. I am sure anyone who is in charge of the concessions would give you the juice, probably even a cup or 2 at a time. I feel sure they pour it down the drain. If you have a favorite local restaurant where you know manager you might also check with them. There should be plenty of food vendors that throw out pickle juice on a regular basis. Just a thought.
Great idea Donna!
yes, but those pickles probably have food coloring and who knows what else, not to mention how unsanitary it probably is…i wouldn’t chance it…
I have never been to Chick-fil-A, but this is a wonderful recipe! Made it with our homemade dill pickles. Yum!
I love the healthy recipes I see on your page.
Delish! My 6 year old and 4 year old gobbled it up (except for the pickles). I will def make this again. Thank you for this great recipe!!
Yes! This looks good! Thanks Food Babe! I have to admit, I was recently missing CFA because I hadn’t eaten there for quite some time since I vowed to boycott over certain political issues. Then I read your article on the list of ingredients and the amount of preservatives. Not only did I lose my craving but I felt even better about my position. This chicken sandwich looks so delicious, I can’t wait to give a go!
If you ever figure out how to make the Polynesian Sauce from Chik-Fil-a, please let me know. That’s my favorite part…..
Wow! SO excited to try these! Thank you in advance–especially from my kids!
Can’t wait to try this recipe. I love Chik-fil-A, but recently was wondering just how many chemicals my favorite sandwich was hiding. Any chance you can make a recommendation on how to make a sandwich that tastes just like their Spicy Chicken? I might be able to convince my husband to give it up if I can make him a #7 at home
Thanks for the nice buns, and the great cleavage with a smile.
That was an unnecessary comment.
I think your clothes are getting in the way of all that. All the chemicals in your clothes are bad for you.
My suggestion: write up another nice recipe with more pictures – it’d be 100% organic
That was an unnecessary comment.
Thanks for this clean sandwich version- but was it necessary to name it Open on Sunday too. Seems childish. I am thankful they are a company that still values a day of rest.
Food opinions aside, be careful when using misleading article titles. To use the line “Chick-Fil-A – Now Open on Sunday!” is incredibly misleading. Newspaper journalists often will use ‘sensational’ headlines to attract attention, but most reputable papers will ensure that the headline is true to the body of the story. Dishonest headlines are more of a…Tabloid magazine strategy.
If you want new readers to respect you…you can’t trick us into reading your column. No matter how amazing this recipe may be, I was instantly turned off to the idea when I realized that the joke was on me.
I agree 100% with the above comment. However, you are too kind in calling the headline “misleading”. As it reads, it can be taken as nothing more than an out-and-out lie.
So many people are guilty of just reading headline such as these and reacting without reading to content of the article.
I have boycotted Chik-fil-a (easy to do as I don’t patronize fast food places) and written letters about their homophobic policies. To read a headline clearly stating that they are now open on Sundays would incite me to write them yet again condemning their hypocrisy since their being closed on Sunday was part of their core corporate beliefs.
When journalistic integrity gets cast aside just to put up a catchy headline, it casts doubt about the honesty of any content that follows.
I’m wondering about the chemical reaction between the pickle juice (vinegar) with the plastic baggie that you show, e.g. that it could break down the chemicals in the plastic and impart it to the chicken. Would it be better to marinate in a glass container?
Vera, that is possible. Always better to choose glass over plastic if you can. Thanks!
I have a peanut allergy, is there something else I can use
for the almond milk?
You can use whatever milk or non-dairy milk alternative that you normally use.
YES!!!!! We stopped going to chick-fil-a about 2 years ago. This was perfect…kids loved it…and so did us adults
We made this tonight for the first time….amazing! Will be making it again for sure!
I am sure there are just as many bad ingredients in all fast food chicken sandwiches. Any particular reason for picking on Chic-Fil-A? Just wondering? Not turning all lib on us are you….Chic-Fil-A? Even on Sunday? Hope these are not meant as digs at Christian establishment like the majority of mass media!
A great Christian establishment that pumps more chemicals in the food than McDonalds. Another piece of trash poisoning our people. Ohh my brother testify!!!.
This is not misleading, it’s called marketing and it’s something marketers do ALL THE TIME. It’s legal (actual misleading marketing is not). Would you really read the headline to a blog post and run out to CFA on a Sunday thinking it was open without reading more? Furthermore, why are you reading this blog if you are disappointed that CFA is actually not open on Sundays after all?
Typical discussion on the Internet in 2013 – everyone blowing things out of proportion and getting bent out of shape over slight differences of opinions. It’s a chicken sandwich. It tastes like a CFA sandwich. You can make it on Sunday when CFA is closed (whatever the reason, who cares), and when you have the itch for a chicken sandwich. Enough.
Is there something else I could marinate in besides pickle juice. I do not like the taste of pickles at all. Thanks!
Hi Rachel, I’m not sure if there is a good substitution but it doesn’t really make the chicken taste like pickles, it just seems to give it a unique flavor and tenderizes it. I hope you will still try it!
I haven’t made this recipe yet but I did work at Chick-fil-A “way back when” and that really is what they put the chicken in overnight. I imagine that the flavor and texture do come from the pickle juice.
Thank you for taking the time to make this recipe. It has been years since I’ve been to a CFA as they aren’t in my area. I’m also gluten intolerant, as is several family members. Now I have a base to play around with to make a great chicken sandwich that we all can eat. It’ll go great with my GF sourdough buns.
Made this for dinner tonight. While it was tasty, it didn’t taste a thing like Chick-fil-A.
Just made this, but flipped the chicken and all the “fry” came off. Any suggestions for the next time? Also, I left the chx in pickle juice overnight and it partially cooked the chx. Is that ok?
All of my crispy fry fell off when I flipped the chx. any suggestions?
Great job, Food Babe! My whole family loved this chicken. Any tips for helping the breading to stick to the chicken better? I too lost some breading when flipping.
This recipe is awesome… Amazingly I wondered if this would work on grilled chicken also so I decided to try it. I marinated four chicken breasts in the pickle juice for at least 4 hours, then threw them on the grill outside. We then put them on the buttered buns with pickles and they were perfect. They tasted just like the Chick-Fil-A grilled Chicken sandwich… Thanks Food Babe. : )