The birth of the Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich
The original Chick-fil-A® Chicken Sandwich may sound simple – just a lightly breaded chicken breast with two pickle chips between a toasted, buttery bun – but every part of this fan favorite is truly an original at Chick-fil-A.
In the early 1960s, Truett Cathy was running a successful restaurant called The Dwarf Grill (now called The Dwarf House®) in the Atlanta suburb of Hapeville, Georgia, when he was approached with an offer.
A local poultry supplier had been tasked by an airline to provide a boneless, skinless chicken breast that would fit in the trays of in-flight meals. The supplier ended up with quite a few chicken breast pieces that didn’t meet the airline’s size requirements. He asked Truett if he could use them. Determined not to let the opportunity pass him by, Truett accepted the order.
What makes up the Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich
Handcrafted
From start to finish, each filet is hand cut, dipped into an egg and milk wash, hand breaded in our original seasoning and cooked in a pressure cooker that locks in the juicy flavor.
Toasted, buttery bun
All of our buttery buns are toasted upon ordering for that freshly prepared touch.
100% refined peanut oil
Part of the deliciousness of the Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich is how it’s cooked in fully refined, heat-processed peanut oil.
Capital “A”
The “A” in Chick-fil-A is capitalized on purpose. It symbolizes our commitment to crafting food with “Grade A” ingredients and serving our customers with a smile.
Two crucial pickles
To get the taste just right, cucumber slices are soaked for three days before ripening into two perfect dill pickles that go on each Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich.
Top secret recipe
The original recipe for the Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich is hidden in a safe at the Chick-fil-A corporate Support Center in Atlanta, Georgia. And we can’t reveal who holds the combination.
How we cook the Chicken Sandwich
Truett thought back to his mother’s method of cooking chicken, in which she would cover the pan with a heavy top to simulate a pressure cooker. When Truett tried this in his own restaurant, he found that the chicken cooked faster while remaining tender. So he purchased a commercial pressure cooker that could cook a juicy, tender boneless chicken breast from start to finish in just four minutes.
When Truett first started developing his chicken recipe, he experimented with many different seasonings, always searching for the perfect combination and asking his customers to offer feedback. He also used peanut oil, which he preferred because it didn’t overpower the taste of the chicken.
Customers’ love for the Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich
Once Truett had his perfectly seasoned chicken breast, he decided to serve it as a sandwich between two buttery buns and on top of two dill pickle chips. After countless experiments in The Dwarf Grill, Truett knew he had the perfect sandwich when he got his final round of feedback from customers: “We like it. Don’t change it again.”
Today, Truett’s recipe – still unchanged – is locked in a vault at the Chick-fil-A corporate Support Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
