Copycat Chick-fil-A Dipping Sauce
Enjoy our copycat recipe for this iconic dipping sauce with a smokey BBQ twang. The perfect blend of sweetness in mayo, honey, mustard, and tangy barbecue sauce (with a few extra spices)...
How to Make Restaurant-Style Chicken and Waffle Fries Dipping Sauce
If you grew up eating chicken on Sunday, you might agree that chicken has always been the perfect match-up for Sunday dinner. So, you might also agree that this sauce recipe may be an excellent quick and easy culinary project to undertake when your favorite chicken palace is closed nationwide. At least, I think so.
This knock-off recipe is for the Chick-fil-A® restaurant chain’s sauce that fans nationwide go bonkers for. Sweet, tangy, creamy, and a little smoky, it’s just like the signature sauce that surprisingly complements the chicken chain’s fried chicken patties, strips, and nuggets. Mine is also delicious on waffle fries, double-fried potato chips, my classic oven-baked chicken, meatloaf sandwiches, and almost anything else you want to dip or slather.
Sure, I googled what’s in Chick-fil-A sauce, coming up with hundreds of copycat recipes. I even tried a few top hitters, thinking that while the combinations were good, they weren’t quite spot on. Fortunately, Chick-fil-A has been relatively open about the combination of ingredients that makes the sauce so unusually delicious. It’s all right on the sauce packet. Therefore, with some unplanned, couldn’t-sleep, early-morning time on my hands, I set out to reproduce it for myself (and you) in my kitchen.
After a bit of experimentation and sending my final sauce concoction to my taste testers (my grandchildren, kids, dear hubby, and me), I’m happy to share the results for this sauce that was created by accident in Fredericksburg, VA, in the early 1980s.
👩🍳 Adapted from the ingredient listing of the Chick-fil-A® signature sauce blend. 👩🍳
How to get this recipe:
You can access the How to Make Crave-worthy Chick-fil-A® Dipping Sauce at Home digital recipe card on GfreeDeliciously.com. Once there, you can easily pin, favorite, print, or save it and find the equipment, ingredients, and other resources used in making this recipe.
Keep scrolling 👇 for a quick look at my kitchen notes and everything else needed to ensure your best success!
Of course, if you’re a paid pass subscriber, you can also download the PDF-formatted, 3-ring binder-ready recipe sheet to save or print, which is ready for you at the end of this post.
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How this Copycat Chick-fil-A Sauce is Different from Other Knock-off Recipes and the Original
Honestly, there’s so much to love about this dipping sauce. While many copycat recipes across the World Wide Web didn’t quite check all my boxes in color and taste, this one passes with flying colors (and by colors, I mean the actual sauce color and for tastiness). My taste testers all agreed this homemade version is impossible to differentiate from the restaurant’s original in the dipping packets. However, Dear Hubby thought it was a little more garlicky – which he said he liked better than the original.
This recipe’s ingredients differ slightly from those listed on the retail squeeze bottles and packets. It primarily eliminates preservatives and is also void of soybean oil, distilled vinegar, and egg yolk, which I’ve replaced with mayonnaise in this easy-to-do common ingredients version.
What is Chick-fil-A Sauce Made With?
A fantastic mustard or mayonnaise replacement to liven up almost any entrée or to use in countless ways to take your meal to the next flavor level, the sauce is easy to replicate at home with a handful of common pantry ingredients.
Mayonnaise —
This jarred egg and oil base imparts a creamy richness that makes this lovely condiment possible. It’s an excellent shortcut to mixing a mayo base from scratch.
Honey —
The natural mild sweetness of honey kicks everything up a bit, adds some healthy benefits, balances and evens out the other ingredient flavors, and produces a more cohesive, thick texture.
Barbecue Sauce —
A classic tomato-based barbecue sauce gives it its signature flavor. Feel free to use your favorite brand. I used Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Chipotle BBQ Sauce because of its slightly spicy, sweet flavor, which my taste testers thought worked perfectly.
Yellow Mustard –
Adds a savory bite and the sauce’s signature golden color.
Apple Cider Vinegar —
This famous sauce’s addition of cider vinegar creates a harmonious evenness and depth of flavor. Because cider vinegar is derived from fermented apples, it adds a fruity complexity and rich dimension. Less sharp than white vinegar and white wine vinegar, ACV contributes aromatically and flavor-wise with a bit of tanginess and an added touch of sweetness.
Lemon Juice —
A splash of fresh lemon juice brightens the sauce and adds a bit of acidity to sharpen the flavors.
Hickory Liquid Smoke –
Adding a delicious, earthy flavor imparts a classic, slightly smoky taste for the right finishing touch to the wet ingredient mixture.
Seasonings and Spices –
While the sauce mixture base, with its notes of sweetness, smoky, and tomatoey flavor, doesn’t need many adornments, that said, I still felt that a few choice spices, along with garlic and onion powders, could utterly transform the sauce’s taste to over-the-top. The additions of smoked paprika, dried mustard, garlic powder, and onion powder bring out the sauce’s slightly smoky, peppery notes, adding a dimension you might not initially think you need. However, when added, it makes the sauce even better.
Xanthan Gum —
A small amount of xanthan gum is an excellent gluten-free thickening agent for all sorts of sauces. It helps to add a smooth texture to the sauce, keeps the ingredients from separating, and its neutral flavor doesn’t change the taste. The amount of xanthan gum needed will vary depending on the desired consistency, but a good rule of thumb is to use about 1/8 teaspoon per cup of sauce (or liquid) when blending.
Favorite Gadgets & Tools for making this recipe…
Copycat Chick-fil-A Dipping Sauce
Gluten-Free + Corn-Free, Grain-Free, Keto-Friendly, Low-Carb, Low-Fat, Nut-Free, Soy-Free
Enjoy our copycat recipe for this iconic dipping sauce with a smokey BBQ twang. The perfect blend of sweetness in mayo, honey, mustard, and tangy barbecue sauce (with a few extra spices) makes this restaurant-style chicken (and waffle fries) dipping sauce a new favorite—it’s gluten-free, too!
Equipment
small bowl
Utensils (Whisk, Measuring Cup and Spoons, Rubber Spatula)
Ingredients
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
4 1/2 tablespoons Honey
3 tablespoons Barbecue Sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Chipotle BBQ Sauce)
2 teaspoons prepared Yellow Mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 teaspoon Hickory Liquid Smoke
1/2 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
1/4 teaspoon dried Mustard
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/8 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
Instructions
Whisk together all the ingredients in a small bowl until they are well blended and smooth. Serve at room temperature or cover and refrigerate for about an hour to serve the sauce chilled.
Storage - Refrigerate sauce in an airtight container for up to one week. For the best taste, use within 3-5 days.
Enjoy the Recipe! Scroll to the end for the downloadable PDF, which you can print and save to your recipe binder.
Please let me know in the comments below if you have questions or want to tweak the recipe. I’d love to hear from you!
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💭 Before we go...
Thanks for checking out my DIY version of the iconic Chick-fil-A sauce—that amazing dipping sauce with an obsessive crave-worthy flavor. I invite you to recreate this signature sauce in your kitchen by following the simple recipe above. It’s got that perfect combo of sweet, tangy, creamy, with a hint of smokiness. Like the actual sauce, it’s an excellent match for chicken or anything else you feel like dunking in. And so good on waffle fries, chicken tenders, nuggets, sandwiches—you name it!
Enjoy it any day or maybe next Sunday when the restaurant is closed.
Download the PDF printable 3-ring binder formatted page below.
Print, then punch to fit in your 3-ring binder, and file the recipe by name, alphabetically in the tabbed section:
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