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Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets

Chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-A fast food restaurant

Chick-fil-A Nuggets are made with seasoned and breaded boneless chicken breast meat that is pressure cooked in refined peanut oil. Chicken nuggets are also available in a lower-calorie grilled option.

One serving of 8 Chick-fil-A fried chicken nuggets contains:

  • 250 calories
  • 11 grams of fat
  • 11 grams of carbohydrates
  • 27 grams of protein

Review this guide for the nutritional information, ingredients, and allergens in chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-A.

Read through to the last section for a data table that compares the nutrition facts of chicken nuggets from various popular fast food restaurants.

Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets with summary of macronutrients.

Chicken Nuggets Nutritional Information

Chick-fil-A Nuggets and Grilled Nuggets are available in various order sizes: 8 pieces, 12 pieces, or 30 pieces. Select locations may offer a 5 piece option.

Nutrition facts in this report, unless otherwise stated, are based on a single order of 8 nuggets, excluding dipping sauce.

% Daily Value

Serving Size: 8 Nuggets

Use the %DV to determine if a food item contains a low (5% or less) or high (20% or more) level of specific nutrients.
Red indicates %DV is high

Serving of 8 Nuggets

FRIED

GRILLED

Saturated Fat

13%

3%

Cholesterol

Sodium

19%

%DV based on 2,000 calories

The percentage daily value illustrates how much a specific nutrient in one serving contributes to a daily diet of 2,000 calories.

Calories

Total calories varies by type of chicken and the number of nuggets in each serving.

Grilled chicken nuggets have approximately half the calories as the traditional Chick-fil-A fried option. Here is a table summarizing the total calories by type of chicken and order size.

Total Calories by Order Size

Order Size

Chick-fil-A Style

Grilled

1 Piece

32

16

5 Pieces

160

80

8 Pieces

250

130

12 Pieces

380

200

30 Pieces

950

510

ESTIMATED FITNESS TIME TO BURN 250 CALORIES

Approximately 8 fried nuggets or 16 grilled nuggets
  • Run 20 minutes
  • Walk 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Swim 35 minutes

Calories by macronutrient are significantly different when comparing the two types of fast food chicken nuggets.

Dietary fat and protein each contribute approximately 40% of calories when the chicken is breaded and fried.

By comparison, protein makes up over 75% of total calories in the grilled nuggets.

Review the table below to select the best menu option for your diet.

Chick-fil-A Nuggets

% Calories from Fat, Carbs and Protein

Fried

Grilled

Calories from fat

40%

20%

Calories from total carbs

17%

3%

Calories from protein

43%

77%

  • YOU SHOULD KNOW

A single Chick-fil-A nugget has 32 calories. A grilled nugget has 16 calories.

Chick-fil-A grilled chicken nuggets with summary of macronutrients.

Dietary Fat

A single serving of eight fried nuggets contains 11 grams of total fats, including 2.5 grams of saturated fat.

The 2.5 grams of saturated fat contributes approximately 20 calories per serving, 13% of the recommended daily limit (based on a 2,000 calorie diet).

For a meal with less saturated fat, choose the grilled chicken option. An 8-piece order of grilled nuggets has 3 grams total fat and less than one gram of saturated fat.

Amount of Fat and Daily Value

Total Fat

11g

3g

Daily Limit

78g

78g

Daily Value

14%

4%

Saturated Fat

2.5g

0.5g

Daily Limit

20g

20g

Daily Value

12.5%

3%

Daily Limit per U.S. FDA general nutrition guidance for adults. Daily Value based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Saturated Fat

Dietary Guidelines for Americans (published by the US Department of Health and Human Services) recommend limiting calories from saturated fat to less than 10% of total calories.

Note: Saturated Fat is found in baked goods, animal fats, and vegetable shortening, among other food items. The FDA recommends choosing foods lower in saturated fat.

SUMMARY OF DIETARY FAT

  • For a lower fat meal, order the grilled chicken nuggets
  • Grilled nuggets contain about 70% less total fat than the fried option
  • Zero trans fatty acids in either option

Sodium and Dietary Cholesterol

The amount of sodium in Chick-fil-A nuggets is high. There are 1,210 milligrams of sodium in an 8-piece order of fried chicken nuggets.

For a lower sodium meal, order the grilled chicken option, which has 64% less sodium.

In addition, the amount of dietary cholesterol is high. Eight pieces of either type of chicken has 85 milligrams of cholesterol, 28% of the recommended limit for an entire day.

Nutrition Facts

Amount per serving (% Daily Value)

Red indicates %DV is high.

Serving: 8 Pieces

FRIED

GRILLED

Calories

250

130

Total Fat

11g (14%)

3g (4%)

Saturated Fat

2.5g (13%)

0.5g (3%)

Trans Fat

0g

0g

Cholesterol

85mg (28%)

85mg (28%)

Sodium

1,210mg (53%)

440mg (19%)

Carbohydrates

11g (4%)

1g (<1%)

Dietary Fiber

0g (0%)

0g (0%)

Total Sugars

1g

0g

Protein

27g

25g

%DV based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Calorie needs vary and your %DV may be higher or lower. Provided for informational purposes only. Consult with your physician for dietary or healthcare advice.

  • Zero trans fat
  • Grilled chicken is low in total fat and low in saturated fat
  • High in dietary cholesterol
  • High in sodium
  • Zero dietary fiber
Serving of Chick-fil-A nuggets with text listing ingredients.

fast food chicken sandwich nutrition review

Chicken Nuggets Ingredients and Allergens

  • Chick-fil-A nuggets contain MSG.
  • Fried nuggets are not 100% dairy-free. The ingredients include nonfat dry milk.

Fried Chicken Nuggets Ingredients

Here is the list of ingredients in Chick-fil-A Nuggets.

Ingredients in Chick-fil-A Nuggets

Fried Chicken Nuggets

Boneless, skinless chicken breast meat, enriched bleached flour, fully refined peanut oil (dimethylpolysiloxane added), sugar, salt, monosodium glutamate, pasteurized nonfat dry milk, leavening, spices, water, soybean oil, paprika, and pasteurized egg.

Grilled Chicken Nuggets

Boneless, skinless chicken breast meat containing up to 17% solution of water, seasoning, chicken flavor, modified corn starch, dried vinegar, apple cider vinegar, water, soybean oil, sugar, cane molasses, salt, spices, chicken fat, dehydrated onion, yeast extract, corn maltodextrin, lemon peel, dehydrated garlic, red bell pepper, paprika, parsley, xanthan gum, natural flavor (including smoke) and calcium disodium EDTA, and high oleic canola oil with dimethylpolysiloxane

  • Enriched Bleached Flour includes malted barley flour, niacin, iron thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, and folic acid.
  • Dimethylpolysiloxane is silicone-based polymer used to prevent foaming when frying the nuggets in hot oil.
  • Sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminum phosphate, and monocalcium phosphate are used for leavening.
  • Seasoning in the solution used for the grilled nuggets contains yeast extract, onion powder, sea salt, garlic powder, sugar, salt, corn maltodextrin, gum arabic, natural flavor, lemon juice concentrate, and vinegar solids
  • Grilled nuggets contains chicken flavor made with chicken breast meat, chicken stock, salt, maltodextrin

Allergens

Chick-fil-A Nuggets are made with egg, milk, and wheat.

Fast Food Chicken Nuggets

Nutritional Comparison of Chicken Nuggets

Here is a quick comparison of the nutrition facts for popular fast food chicken nuggets.

Click the top row to sort data by restaurant, menu item, calories, or nutrient. If viewing on a smaller screen, click the plus icon to display additional information.

RestaurantMenu ItemCaloriesFatCarbsProteinSodium
Burger KingChicken Nuggets (4pc)19012g11g9g490mg
Burger KingChicken Nuggets (8pc)39025g23g18g990mg
Chick-fil-AChicken Nuggets (8pc)25011g11g27g1210mg
McDonald'sChicken McNuggets (6pc)25015g15g14g500mg
Wendy'sSpicy Chicken Nuggets (4pc)19012g9g10g480mg
Wendy'sSpicy Chicken Nuggets (6pc)28018g13g15g720mg
Wendy'sSpicy Chicken Nuggets (10pc)47031g22g26g1190mg
Wendy'sCrispy Nuggets (10pc)45029g23g25g950mg
Shake ShackChicken Bites (6pc)30019g15g17g780mg
Shake ShackChicken Bites (10pc)51032g26g29g1,300mg

Ingredients, allergens, and nutrition facts are based on available information as of the date this article was published and/or updated. Restaurants and food manufacturers may change their recipes without notice. Check directly with the food provider for the most accurate and up-to-date information. NutritionandIngredients.com does not provide health or wellness advice or dietary recommendations. Our aim is to research commercially processed food and publish articles for informational purposes only. Unless otherwise stated, % Daily Value is based on 2,000 calories per day, but calorie needs vary by individual. Always consult your physician for any healthcare or dietary advice.

Nutrition facts and ingredients source: Chick-fil-A

  • Chicken nuggets and strips food image: Chick-fil-A. Original designs by Nutrition & Ingredients for the purposes of research and commentary related to fast food reviews.

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