Healthy Chick-Fil-A Sauce
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Published Nov 01, 2019, Updated May 14, 2021
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A healthy Chick-Fil-A sauce that tastes like the real deal, but uses blended cashews instead of mayo. It’s the perfect sweet and savory sauce for dipping. Gluten-free, dairy-free and can easily be made vegan.
I’m pretty sure I’ve shared this before, but I didn’t grow up eating super healthy. I actually lost weight in college, which inspired my whole health and wellness journey and ultimately led to creating Eating Bird Food. But as a child I ate my mom’s cooking, which involved lots of Southern staples and packaged food.
Where My Love For Chick-Fil-A Sauce Began
I was also hooked on fast food and my favorite restaurant was Chick-Fil-A. My go-to order was a large pack of nuggets, waffle fries and of course, the Chick-Fil-A sauce. I loved the sweet and savory flavor and would basically drown my whole meal in the sauce.
The closest Chick-Fil-A to where I grew up (Orange, Virginia) was in Fredericksburg, VA and as it turns out that’s where Chick-Fil-A sauce was invented. Before it was packaged up and distributed throughout all the Chick-Fil-A locations, the Fredericksburg location was the only Chick-Fil-A where you could get the “special sauce” and it was in a pump container near the ketchup rather than in little packets.
Pregnancy Cravings = Chick-Fil-A
Honestly, before becoming pregnant this year I hadn’t eaten at a Chick-Fil-A since college, but throughout this pregnancy I’ve had some interesting cravings, one of those being Chick-Fil-A. With this I was reminded of how much I used to love Chick-Fil-A sauce and decided it was time to make a homemade, healthy Chick-Fil-A sauce with no mayo and no weird preservatives.
Making a Healthy Chick-Fil-A Recipe
To get started with making the copycat sauce recipe, I looked up the ingredients and got to work testing the recipe. It took quite a few attempts, but at this point I think I’ve created a sauce that tastes pretty darn similar to the real deal. I’ve had some friends/family do a side-by-side blind taste-test to confirm that it does indeed taste like the packaged sauce and several people have said they like it better because it doesn’t have the “artificial taste” you get from the packaged, preserved sauce. Woot woot!
Copycat Chick-Fil-A Sauce Ingredients
Now that I’ve nailed the homemade version and know how simple the recipe is, I may or may not be making this on the regular! Here are the ingredients we’re using:
- soaked cashews – instead of mayo, I decided to use soaked cashews as the base (which is what I did with my vegan ranch and vegan sour cream!).
- BBQ sauce – look for a low sugar version! My homemade BBQ sauce is amazing or I love Primal Kitchen’s low sugar BBQ.
- mustard – both dijon and yellow mustard.
- honey – the sauce has a slight sweetness to it so I used honey, but maple syrup is also delicious if you want to make this vegan.
- lemon juice
- salt and pepper
Healthy Chick-Fil-A Sauce Pairings
So far I’ve been using this sauce as a dip for homemade chicken nuggets (recipe coming soon) and frozen waffle fries, but it can be used as a dip, sauce or even a salad dressing!
- As a dip: Healthy Baked Chicken Nuggets, Baked Paleo Chicken Tenders or these Easy Crispy Baked Tofu
- As a sauce: Veggie Burger or Tempeh Tacos
- As a dressing: If you add a little water to the sauce, you can use it as a dressing for this Vegan Power Bowl, other grain bowls or this Chicken Avocado Club Salad.
If you try this healthy Chick-Fil-A sauce, please be sure to leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how it turned out. Your feedback is so helpful for the EBF team and other EBF readers.
Healthy Chick-Fil-A Sauce
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup raw cashews
- 2 Tablespoons barbecue sauce, homemade or store-bought
- 1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon honey*
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- pinch of black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons water
Instructions
- Add cashews to a bowl and cover with water. Let cashews soak for 30 minutes. Drain water.
- Add soaked cashews, BBQ sauce, dijon mustard, yellow mustard, honey, lemon juice, sea salt, pepper and water into a high-speed blender. Blend on high until creamy.
- If the sauce seems too thick you can add more water, 1 Tablespoon at a time until the mixture is smooth and the consistency you like for your dipping sauce. Store leftover sauce in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Notes
- Use maple syrup instead of honey for a vegan version.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This tastes delicious! So much like the real thing but I had trouble making it ahead of time and storing in fridge. It thickened up and then cooked when I heated it. How long do you think it can stay out? Thanks!