Ok, say it with me…“Two fried chicken patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun!” And there you have it! A Chicken Big Mac!! Hehe!

Why not, right?? We love fried chicken sandwiches, so I combined two of our (homemade copycat) fast food favorites into one amazing sandwich!! My hubby enjoyed my “Chicken Big Mac”, I opted for a “Chicken Little Mac”, (which is just a single), and you could certainly make “Chicken Mini Macs”, too!!

Two large chicken breasts cut into 4 pieces each, pounded very thin…

…then double-breaded and chilled… 

….and fried to a deep, rich, golden brown! 

Can you almost taste it?!!

This almost didn’t come about. I had heard somewhere that in other countries outside of the U.S.A., McDonald’s actually serves these. So after googling it, and seeing what they looked like…I almost shied away from it.

(There’s just something about the perfectly formed, round, “pieces parts patty” that made me shiver…) …just me??

(*Above photo of an actual McDonald’s Chicken Big Mac from Bing Images)

Then. I got to thinking. Homemade always looks and tastes better, so I gave it a shot! I made the homemade “special sauce” recipe (*that’s from the 1969 McDonald’s handbook in case stores ran out), and my own Chick-fil-A copycat for the fried chicken breast (my hubby’s favorite!), and a new star sandwich was born!

The only thing I screwed up was that I didn’t have any of my homemade Creamy French Salad Dressing on hand this time of year, so I subbed a dab of store-bought Catalina that I had on hand instead. I had bought that stuff about a year ago to copycat it (*see my Classic Catalina Salad Dressing – AWESOME!), and that manufactured stuff must’ve had a LOT of food coloring in it! So though the taste was still fantastic, and just as spot on, that dressing turned the “special sauce” into a lovely color of…FUCHSIA. So I highly recommend that you just make my homemade french dressing for this. (The color will then be the pale orange that we’re all familiar with, and the flavor of the sauce is perfect.)  Purchased French Dressing will also work ok…but…why? 😉 Homemade is so much better! (And you can use my extra salad dressing for salads for the rest of the week to lose these extra calories from this crazy-good sandwich!) Win-win!!

I also didn’t have sesame seeded buns, and just used regular. They also worked perfectly fine. So just use whatever you like. Even poppyseed or onion rolls would be wonderful if that’s what you’d prefer!

*And yes, you counted correctly! I actually had one large chicken breast, and one that was a lot smaller. So I got 4 pieces out of the big one, and 3 out of the smaller one. So if you just use 2 large ones, you’ll get 8 pieces easily. (*Go ahead and coat those two little tougher parts that you trim off from the breast, (*trimming off the connective tissue that makes it tough), and use those to test the oil to make sure it’s hot enough so that you don’t wreck your pretty pieces. And be sure to time them so that you have a very good idea of how long to cook the rest. They also make nice little nuggets to munch on while cooking the rest of the chicken!)

Those who do the work, get the perks! 😉

So, though I have no idea of what a “McDonald’s Chicken Big Mac” tastes like, as they don’t sell them here, I think I have come up with quite a fantastic, novel sandwich that will be enjoyed for years to come!  I so hope that you give these a try someday soon, too! If you enjoy a traditional Big Mac, and also happen to love a great fried chicken sandwich, you’ll fall in love with these as well! They’re easy to make, few ingredients, and very economical to boot! What’s not to love?

 Enjoy!!

–> My Homemade Creamy French Dressing works best in the “Special Sauce”.

–>Check out my Copycat Big Mac, too, if you’d rather go traditional and hankering for a great double cheeseburger!

Yield: Makes 4 Big Macs

Copycat Chicken Big Mac

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Ingredients

For Chicken Big Macs:

• 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced crossways into 4 pieces per breast and pounded to 1/4" thin (3 if they're medium-sized or smaller), *I ended up getting 7 nice pieces from one large and one medium-sized!
• 1 cup flour
• 1 Tbl. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 2 tsp. regular table salt
• 1 tsp. regular black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. each: onion powder, garlic powder, celery salt, ground rosemary powder, dried dill weed
• 1/4 tsp. each: dried basil, dried sage, dried thyme, celery seeds
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne
• 1 extra large egg beaten with 1/2 Tbl. milk

For Special Sauce:

• 1/4 cup Miracle Whip
• 1/4 cup Hellmann’s mayo
• 2 1/2 Tbl. Wishbone Deluxe French Salad Dressing (the orange stuff), or my homemade!
• 1/2 Tbl. Heinz Sweet Pickle Relish
• 1 Tbl. Vlasic or Heinz Dill Pickle Relish
• 1 tsp. each: sugar, minced dried onion, white vinegar, ketchup
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Rest of Ingredients:

• peanut or canola oil, enough until pan is ½" deep
• 4 hamburger buns plus 4 extra bottoms, lightly buttered (or sprayed with butter no-stick spray) and toasted on insides under broiler
• 1 1/2 cups chopped lettuce
• 1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion
• 4 slices American cheese (1 slice per sandwich)
• 12 dill pickle slices, or as you like

Instructions

For Special Sauce: Mix everything very well in a small container. (No streaks!) Microwave 25 seconds, and stir well again. Cover, and refrigerate at LEAST 1 hour before using (to allow all of the flavors to meld).

For Chicken: Place cut chicken breast pieces, one at a time, between 2 sheets plastic wrap. Before covering with second top sheet sprinkle chicken with a few drops of water evenly. This will help to pound them easily. Cover with top sheet of film and flatten with meat mallet until about 1/4" thick. Repeat with rest of pieces. (*Butterfly thick end pieces to flatten easier.)

In pie dish, beat egg, then beat in milk until well combined. In doubled brown paper lunch bags, add flour and seasonings, twist top closed and shake until well combined.

Drop each chicken piece, one at a time, into seasoned flour mixture, twist top closed, and shake coating well, shaking off excess flour. Then dip each piece of chicken into the egg mixture, coating both sides well and letting excess drip off, then coat again well in flour mixture. Place each as you go along onto a wire cooling rack placed over a baking sheet, sprinkle with a little more of the flour mixture, and let rest in fridge for at least a half an hour. One hour is best. *Chicken needs to rest before frying so you don't lose the breading. When ready to fry, remove before heating the oil. Let chicken come back to room temperature while oil is heating giving it at least 15 minutes.

In large deep frying pan, heat oil to about 350º F. Place chicken pieces into hot oil over Medium heat and fry until deep golden on both sides, turning a couple of times, about 8 - 10 minutes. (*I only fried three pieces at a time as to NOT overcrowd the pan. Highly recommended. Place cooked pieces onto cooling rack placed over a baking sheet. Let rest while toasting the buns.

Spread insides of sliced buns lightly with butter (or spray with butter-flavored no-stick spray) and place, buttered side up, onto baking sheet and broil, watching carefully, until lightly browned on top.

To Assemble:

Spread each lightly toasted bottom bun with a little sauce. Top with chopped lettuce, a slice of cheese, one fried chicken filet, finely chopped onion, the toasted middle bun with sauce spread on the bottom, spread top of middle bun with more sauce, top with more lettuce, 3 pickle slices, another piece of chicken, onions, and top toasted bun slathered with sauce! (Pop into microwave or low oven to rewarm if needed.) And there you have it! A Chicken Big Mac! Enjoy!