Skip the restaurant and make this craveable sauce at home.
You guys know that I try to avoid fast food most of the time. Home cooking is much healthier, and cheaper too. But every so often, I must confess, I get a craving for Chick-Fil-A.
It’s not about the chicken – I can cook perfectly good chicken at home, thank you very much. It’s the sauce. That special sauce you get only from Chick-Fil-A – like a cross between smoky barbecue sauce and a creamy honey-mustard, with just a hint of lemon.
Well, it’s just plain silly to go out for chicken when all you really want is the sauce. And ordering a tub of the sauce by itself would be even sillier. So I realized I’d just have to make my own.
And once I got to work, it turned out to be pretty easy. All the components – mustard, mayo, barbecue sauce, lemon, and honey – were right in my fridge and pantry. It was just a question of adjusting the amounts until I achieved that perfect blend of creamy and spicy, tangy and sweet.
So now, with my new recipe, you can have the craveable taste of Chick-Fil-A sauce in your own kitchen whenever you want. You’re welcome.
Copycat Chick Fil A Sauce
Ingredients:
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup mayonnaise
DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix together and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Enjoy with your favorite chicken tenders, nuggets and french fries!
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Copycat Chick Fil A Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1/4 cup barbecue sauce
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
Instructions
- Mix together and refrigerate for at least an hour.
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Nutrition Information:
Nutrition Disclaimer
Family Fresh Meals is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Jeanne says
I’m a Texan living in Singapore so only get Chick Fil-A when I’m on home leave. Was craving their sauce, and this nailed it. So good on any kind of chicken or potatoes. I love it best on waffle fries. Thank you for giving me a taste of home!
Corey says
This comment made me smile so hard! Thanks Jeanne! I am so happy you loved it.
Lori says
This comment made me smile also!
Corey says
🙂
Robin says
Delish!
Boje says
There are so many brands of barbecue sauce out there which brand would work best
William Bauer says
Since I found this sauce, I have found it is good on just about any savory meat and many vegetables. Cannot wait to try this recipe at home. I would have saved a lot of money making this at home and use the spent containers to serve. Thank-you.
Valerie says
What kind of bbq sauce do you use? There are so many kinds, haha.
Corey says
The handful of times I have made it, I just used the Kraft original bbq sauce. 🙂
Jennifer says
What else could I use other than honey because I am out right now?
Christiana Farnsworth says
I make this recipe regularly because my 12 year son loves chicken and this sauce! I have always used agave with this recipe. I just half the amount since agave is more sweet than honey. It always turns out great 😊
John Bertrand says
Maple syrup
Dean says
You could substitute honey mustard for the mustard and get a similar result!
Rose says
Thank you! I’ve been putting this store bought sauce on everything, so I wanted to try and make it at home. I was hoping to cut back on some sugar so I used one tablespoon of monk fruit sweetener in place of the honey. Also sugar free BBQ sauce. Very delicious…and spot on as far as tasting like Chick fil a.
Becky says
Thank you SO much for this recipe. Just wondering – what would you say the shelf life (refrigerated) is for this sauce?
Corey says
I usually only use it for 4/5 days max.
Angela says
Was wondering what kind of honey do you use? And lemon juice fresh or bottled? I absolutely love love love the chick fil a sauce so if I can make it at home it’ll be so much better.
Tracy Larkin says
This recipe is dead on!! My 13 year old son was in awe of me. I didn’t take the credit, but he was impressed. I had all of the ingredients in my kitchen. Could not have been easier. Thanks!
Stephanie Liles says
What bbq sauce did you use?
Kimberly Barton says
Turned out delicious
Diana says
Coming from Fredericksburg, VA where the Chick Fil A sauce was created by Hugh Fleming in 1983, this is very close. I might cut down a bit on the bbq sauce but it is very close. Hugh just past away October 15th at the age of 74. We all thank him for his recipe.
Angie says
Well thank you to Hugh! I LOVE his sauce!
SallyJo Altick says
How long will this keep for, in an air tight container, please?
Corey says
I would use the sauce within 3-5 days.
Daneka says
This was delicious! Very important to refrigerate before eating it. It does make a difference in the flavor.
Stephanie says
Amaz-sauce!!! I will never forget this recipe especially since we don’t have chick fil a in Turkey. I crave it all the time. Thanks so much for sharing! Always looking for recipes to feel like I’m home. ♥️
Lola says
This was very good. I did add some cayenne pepper. Thank you for the recipe
Olivia Smith says
wow! tastes very similar! it is really tangy and strong though, so i would recommend adding more mayo to bring down the flavor intensity.
Sheri says
This sauce is delicious! We are making everything homemade because of COVID-19 quarantine. My husband is very high risk so we don’t even get take out. This sauce really made our frozen chicken nuggets shine!
Miriam Chagas says
I loved this recipe. It tastes just like the original sauce and it’s so simple to make. I live in Brazil but there isn’t Chick Fil A here. So, I could only eat this in the US. Now I can make it at home. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Carrie says
I got sent home from college due to the coronavirus and was seriously missing chick-fil-a runs with my friends after classes so i tried to remake the sauce, and this recipe is so on point! thank you!
Andrea says
Absolutely PERFECT–tastes EXACTLY like the ‘real thing’–thank you for reverse engineering the original recipe 🙂
Brianna says
This tastes like honey mustard. If you read the ingredient on a chick-fil-a sauce you’ll see they don’t add honey. They add sugar. They also add distilled vinegar as cider vinegar. The BBQ sauce needs to be a bit more prominent.
Anna says
Well of course they don’t use honey, it’s too expensive. Who wants sugar when you can make it healthier. That’s the whole point of home cooking, to make it healthier for you! Distilled vinegar=cheap as well. You only use distilled vinegar for pickling and cleaning. Use rice vinegar instead, but I like lemon juice in this. The recipe is very good!
Ann says
This was great! I’m never hoarding Chick Fil A sauce again!
PATRICK TRIGGS says
I made this many times, awesome! I just made it again with a popular hot honey and it’s even better.
Corey says
I will have to give the hot honey a try!
Lesan says
So good!!!! Thank you! My daughter is over the moon happy as we’ve not been out since the pandemic and things have gotten VERY experimental over here! Thank you for a hit!
Marie D. says
Great recipe – tastes just like the real sauce!
Molli ellis says
Omg I don’t have to drive to Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-A anymore just for the sauce thank you so much
Eugene J piccolomini says
I want to make the sauce BUT……. what flavor BBQ sauce do I use ? Hickory ? Brown sugar? Sweet? Spucy?
Corey says
I usually use a sweet or brown sugar type.
Kim says
How long is the sauce good for if I make a big batch?
Corey says
Refrigerated, I would use with in 3-5 days. You could try freezing it. I haven’t tried freezing it yet though, so if you do, could you let us know how it works out?
Toni says
You should NOT freeze mayo or (obviously) any mayo-based sauce.
LL Robinson says
It was fun to have a generous amount of this sauce. It was more than I really needed so I started using it as a salad dressing. It was great to have a homemade dressing.
? BTW, can you tell me how long this will last in the fridge?
Corey says
SO happy you like the sauce! I would use the sauce within 3-5 days.
Marisa says
How long can this Remain refrigerated before it’s no good?
Corey says
I would use the sauce within 3-4 days
Katie H says
Tasted identical to the real thing, the recipe was perfect! Thank you so much.
Ciera says
Loved this, taste just like the one from chick fila
Bobbi Taylor-Moore says
On the Chick fil a sauce do you use sweet BBQ sauce or unsweetened?
Corey says
I prefer a sweet one.
Jennifer Petty says
Thanks for the recipe! What brand Mayo do you recommend?
Corey says
I am a Duke’s fan myself 🙂
Scott R says
Wow. Just like the restaurant. The only thing that was off for me was the color, which I’m sure changes based on your brand of ingredients, and the consistency, which is probably because it’s not full of stabilizers to make it shelf safe forever. Either way, amazing copy cat recipe. I used Sweet Baby Ray’s bbq sauce and my local grocery brand mustard, honey, and mayo.
Corey says
So happy you loved it Scott!
Tiffany C. says
Tastes BETTER than chik-fil-a sauce if you ask me! And at least this way you can control your ingredients (homemade, fresh, organic, etc.). Loved it!
TT says
Just made this for the family and they loved it! We named it “Money Hustard Sauce!” 🤣
Corey says
Love the new name! haha
Rebekah Liberman says
So good, thank you!
Ellen says
I had Chick-fil-A for lunch, but only ate the fries and kept the sandwich. I brought the sandwich home and threw away the trash… including the Chick-fil-A sauce!!
Luckily, I was able to find this recipe. It was simple, came together quickly, and I think it tastes better than the actual Chick-fil-A sauce! This recipe is definitely a keeper!!
Thuy says
This is such a good dupe for the real sauce! I just made it and am so excited, lol. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Claudia says
Great! I added some smoked paprika and molasses.
Amelia Clark says
Not even kidding you, this tastes just like cfa sauce pretty much to a tee.
Jillian R. says
This recipe is sooooo delicious and spot on to the original! Love it!
Bob H. says
I used Sonny’s BBQ sauce in my prep and wow, super good. Thank you for solving my need for a great copy cat recipe!
Jan Krekorian says
Thank you for this copycat recipe. It is so needed when one makes the copycat chicken sandwich. Five simple ingredients, go figure! I did use fresh lemon juice, not bottled. I used a smoked bold bbq sauce as that is what I had on hand.
Ella Tucker says
Tastes just like the real thing! 🙂
Dee R says
This was a great recipe! I was worried about the color, but after putting in the fridge it was awesome. My family loved this with our chicken grilled nuggets. I decided to use more mayo. Can’t complain. Thank you
Kristin says
WOW! You NAILED it on this one! We used French’s mustard, local honey, Kewpie Mayo, and Sweet Baby Rays Honey BBQ. We did a side-by-side comparison and would have been hard pressed to taste the difference.
Joanne says
Our bottle of Chic Fil A sauce is almost empty. It is not easy to find in our grocery stores, so I googled recipes and found this. It is excellent! I tried to make a smaller amount & think I goofed on proportions. But we do not feel the need to buy the CFA brand ever again. Thank you so much!
Kassi says
This made an adequate dipping sauce, but it was definitely NOT anything like CFA. Perhaps ingredient brands matter due to a variety of flavors? My search continues…
Harriet Edwards says
I am out of lemon juice. Can I use cider vinegar as a substitute? Or should I just skip it?
Becky says
This is a keeper! My whole family loves it and it saves us from having to buy the premade sauce at the grocery now. I came across it because I was making a dish and at the last moment I said Chic-Fil-A sauce would be perfect with this. Thank you for the easy make at home version!
Miss Debbie says
Family LOVED this!!
Lori says
What barbecue sauce do you use?
Corey says
I usually use the original sweet baby rays.
Mike says
Hey Corey! Nice job on this one!! Try adding a little liquid smoke. I think you will be impressed 😉
Corey says
I do love liquid smoke! I will give it a try!