Sourdough Chicken Minis (Better Than Chick-fil-A)
Dare I say these sourdough chicken minis are better than the ones served at Chick-fil-A?! The chicken is oven-fried or pan-fried, your choice, for a crunchy texture without the excess oil. These fried chicken bites are then placed on a sourdough mini roll brushed with honey butter. They’re sweet, savory, and the perfect bite to eat any time of the day!
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I absolutely love Chick-fil-A chicken minis! Sadly, we live about 30 minutes away from any of the restaurant locations, so we don’t get them often. Which is probably a good thing for our wallets, haha!
Any time we’re on a road trip, and it’s before 10:30 am, we stop at a Chick-fil-A to grab some of these delicious bites. It’s a LaFontaine road trip tradition that we’ve started and plan to do for the rest of our lives, as long as Chick-fil-A exists.
I developed this sourdough snack recipe to be a little more wholesome and a whole lot more tasty! The little chicken bites are placed on homemade sourdough honey butter rolls. You’ve got to try them sometime on their own.
Why You’ll Love Sourdough Chick-fil-A Chicken Minis
Easy Recipe: You can whip up these chicken minis any day of the week. No need to run to the restaurant; you’ve got everything you need already in your kitchen.
Perfect Party Food: If you’re serving brunch, hosting a football party, or even having a little coffee date with your friends, these sourdough chicken minis will be perfect. They go perfectly with coffee!
Wholesome Option: Not only are these minis made at home from scratch, but they’re oven- or pan-fried for a more wholesome approach. Not to mention the gut benefits from the sourdough rolls.
Key Ingredients
Chicken Bites
- chicken breast (boneless, skin-less)
- avocado oil (only if pan-frying)
Marinade
- buttermilk (or regular milk)
- salt
- hot sauce (Franks is my favorite)
Breading
- all-purpose flour
- ground black pepper
- chili powder (salt-free)
- tsp salt
Honey Butter Sourdough Rolls
- fed sourdough starter (fed 4-12 hours before using)
- all-purpose flour
- water
- salt
- melted butter (salted)
- raw honey
Kitchen Tools You Might Need
For the Chicken
For the Rolls
- mixing bowl
- unbleached parchment paper
- 9 inch round cake pan
- bench scraper (optional but I LOVE mine!)
How to Make Chicken Minis with Sourdough Rolls
Make Dough
In a mixing bowl, combine fed starter, water, honey, melted butter, and salt until combined.
Add in the flour and mix until combined. It will be shaggy, so use your hands to finish combining it into a dough ball until all the flour is incorporated. (If your dough isn’t coming together, add in 1-2 tablespoons of water to help).
Turn the dough out on the counter and knead for 3 minutes by hand or with a bread hook on an electric mixer. (If needed add a dusting of flour if the dough is sticky).
Place dough back in the bowl and cover loosely with a towel or lid.
Let the dough bulk ferment in a non-drafty place at room temperature for 12 hours. It should double in size and have visible bubbles in the dough.
Once bulk fermentation is completed, uncover the dough, punch it down to deflate gas bubbles, and turn it out on the counter (no flour is needed).
Shape Rolls
Line the bottom of a round cake pan with parchment paper.
Slice dough into 8 pieces
Roll each piece into a ball
Place one dough ball in the center of the pan then line the others around it so that they’re all touching. This should create a circle.
Cover the pan and let rolls rise for 3 hours on the counter at room temperature.
Prep Chicken
Cut chicken breast into 8 chunks.
In a bowl whisk together the marinade ingredients.
Place chicken chunks in marinade. Let sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour in the fridge.
Bake Rolls
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit then bake for 18-20 minutes (they should be golden brown)
In a small bowl combine the topping (honey and melted butter). When the rolls come out of the oven, brush the tops with honey butter.
Cook Chicken
In a frying pan, heat avocado oil over medium heat or preheat the oven to 425.
Mix together the breading ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
Get chicken out of the fridge and dredge each piece of chicken by letting excess marinade drip off, then dip it in the breading mix. Then repeat by dipping it back in the marinade and once again in the breading mix.
Place each breaded piece of chicken on a plate if pan-frying or on a parchment-lined sheet pan if oven-frying them.
Once you’ve breaded each piece of chicken, and the pan is hot or the oven is preheated, begin cooking.
FOR OVEN-FRIED: Bake chicken for 10 minutes then flip and bake another 10 minutes until chicken is fully cooked and crunchy.
FOR PAN-FRIED: Cook chicken for 5 minutes in the oiled pan over medium heat, then flip. Cook an additional 5 minutes or until fully cooked through. (Turn heat to low medium if the pan starts to smoke.)
Assemble Chicken Minis
When chicken is cooked and rolls are baked, cut each roll in half, 3/4 of the way through. Place a chicken piece in and repeat until all the chicken and rolls are used up! Enjoy!
How to Store Leftovers
You can store leftover chicken minis in the fridge or freezer. They’ll last about 2 days in the fridge due to the chicken or 1 month in the freezer. I love freezing mine in the freezer. It keeps the taste much fresher.
How to Freeze
You can make these minis ahead of time, but I recommend freezing the rolls after they’re baked and before they’re brushed with honey butter. As well as the chicken after it’s cooked.
Store them in separate freezer-safe glass containers for the best flavor. They can both be frozen for up to 1 month.
How to Reheat Leftovers
The best way to reheat leftover chicken minis is to place them in the oven at 350 degrees if they’re in the fridge or 375 if they’re in the freezer. Bake them until warm, about 10-20 minutes.
How to Make Ahead
To make these homemade chicken minis ahead, make the rolls up to 4 days ahead and store them at room temperature. Be sure to wait to brush on the honey butter until you’re ready to serve.
You can also make them and freeze the rolls for up to 1 month in the freezer; just wait to brush on the honey butter until you’re ready to serve them.
If you want to make the chicken ahead as well, you can. Cook them up, let them cool, then place the cooked chicken bites in the freezer for up to 1 month. Reheat them in the oven at 400 degrees until warm, 10-20 minutes on a sheet pan.
My Tips For Success
- Make sure your sourdough starter is active and bubbling. It should double in size after you feed it. This will create a light, fluffy roll texture.
- When your dough is bulk fermenting, it should be placed somewhere at room temperature where there’s no draft. This can be in a turned-off oven, microwave, pantry, or on the counter.
- You want your dough to double in size during the bulk ferment. If it doesn’t do this, your starter needs to be strengthened. Read my starter troubleshooting post for help.
- Make sure you’re using avocado oil for pan-frying the chicken, it has a high smoke point which means it’s safe at high temperatures.
Recipe FAQs
Of course! I haven’t tried this yet but you’re more than welcome to.
For sure! Just use your rolls instead of the sourdough ones in this recipe.
They are much healthier than the ones at the restaurant! You’ve got no additives or harmful oils, especially if you use avocado oil or bake them. You also get gut benefits from the fermented sourdough rolls.
More Sourdough Snacks To Make
- Sourdough Pretzel Bites (Better Than Auntie Anne’s)
- Easy Sourdough Pigs in a Blanket
- Sourdough Chocolate Chip Scones
- Sourdough Jalapeno Cheddar Scones
If you try this recipe and love it, come back and let us know what you think!
Sourdough Chicken Minis (Better Than Chick-Fil-A)
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast (or 2 small)
- 2 tsp avocado oil (only if pan-frying)
Chicken Marinade
- 1/4 cup buttermilk (or regular milk)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp hot sauce
Chicken Breading
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp chili powder (salt-free)
- 1/2 tsp salt
Sourdough Rolls
- 1/4 cup fed sourdough starter (fed 4-12 hours before using)
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp melted butter (salted)
- 3 tsp raw honey
Roll Topping
- 2 tsp honey
- 2 Tbsp melted butter (salted)
Instructions
Make Dough
- In a mixing bowl, combine fed starter, water, honey, melted butter, and salt until combined.
- Add in the flour and mix until combined. It will be shaggy, so use your hands to finish combining it into a dough ball until all the flour is incorporated. (If your dough isn’t coming together, add in 1-2 tablespoons of water to help).
- Turn the dough out on the counter and knead for 3 minutes by hand or with a bread hook on an electric mixer. (If needed add a dusting of flour if the dough is sticky).
- Place dough back in the bowl and cover loosely with a towel or lid.
- Let the dough bulk ferment in a non-drafty place at room temperature for 12 hours. It should double in size and have visible bubbles in the dough.
- Once bulk fermentation is completed, uncover the dough, punch it down to deflate gas bubbles, and turn it out on the counter (no flour is needed).
Shape Rolls
- Line the bottom of a round cake pan with parchment paper.
- Slice dough into 8 pieces
- Roll each piece into a ball
- Place one dough ball in the center of the pan then line the others around it so that they’re all touching. This should create a circle.
- Cover the pan and let rolls rise for 3 hours on the counter at room temperature.
Prep Chicken
- Cut chicken breast into 8 chunks.
- In a bowl whisk together the marinade ingredients.
- Place chicken chunks in marinade. Let sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour in the fridge.
Bake Rolls
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit then bake for 18-20 minutes (they should be golden brown)
- In a small bowl combine the topping (honey and melted butter). When the rolls come out of the oven, brush the tops with honey butter.
Cook Chicken
- In a frying pan, heat avocado oil over medium heat or preheat the oven to 425.
- Mix together the breading ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
- Get chicken out of the fridge and dredge each piece of chicken by letting excess marinade drip off, then dip it in the breading mix. Then repeat by dipping it back in the marinade and once again in the breading mix.
- Place each breaded piece of chicken on a plate if pan-frying or on a parchment-lined sheet pan if oven-frying them.
- Once you've breaded each piece of chicken, and the pan is hot or the oven is preheated, begin cooking.
- FOR OVEN-FRIED: Bake chicken for 10 minutes then flip and bake another 10 minutes until chicken is fully cooked and crunchy.
- FOR PAN-FRIED: Cook chicken for 5 minutes in the oiled pan over medium heat, then flip. Cook an additional 5 minutes or until fully cooked through. (Turn heat to low medium if the pan starts to smoke.)
Assemble Chicken Minis
- When chicken is cooked and rolls are baked, cut each roll in half, 3/4 of the way through. Place a chicken piece in and repeat until all the chicken and rolls are used up! Enjoy!
Notes