The chicken at Chick-fil-A may be good, but everybody knows the drinks are really where it's at. Any time the fast food chain launches a limited-time seasonal drink, fans line up to get it. Some of these drinks are permanent fixtures on the menu, others are fleeting moments, designed to make us rush to the chicken chain in joy and sigh in wistfulness when they go off the menu. If you can't get to one of the restaurants right now, we've got Chick-fil-A copycat recipes for these drinks that will keep you well-hydrated.
Chick-fil-A recipes aren't that hard to make at home, you just need to know a few secrets. Like that their crispy chicken breasts for the Chick-fil-A sandwich aren't actually brined in dill pickle juice; the pickle flavor comes from pickle slices on the sandwich. But the chain does use powdered sugar in the breading flour mixture for the chicken pieces.
For Chick-fil-A copycat drinks, we've got you covered with five of copycat recipes where you won't be able to tell the difference from the real thing.
Whether you're looking for a seasonal drink that's no longer in season or it just so happens to be Sunday, here are five Chick-fil-A copycat recipes to keep your taste buds happy when you can't get to Chick-fil-A.
1. Chick-fil-A Copycat Frosted Sunrise
In a perfect world, you could whip this sunny drink up for breakfast. It does have orange juice in it, after all. In fact, it only takes two ingredients to make the latest seasonal offering, which means this copycat Chick-fil-A Frosted Sunrise is of the best recipes to make no matter what time of the day it is.
2. Watermelon Mint Lemonade
This drink is summer in a glass, but you can enjoy it all year round with this simple Chick-fil-A copycat recipe. It's getting easier to find watermelon juice available in grocery stores, too, so if you don't have access to good watermelons, you can use that as well. Fresh mint leaves are key here, too. Make a big batch and pretend it's summer already.
3. Chick-fil-A Copycat Frosted Lemonade
The one that started it all. Chick-fil-A Frosted Lemonade was introduced in 2015; the drink was created by the restaurant's workers looking for a refreshing pick me up during breaks. They mixed the Chick-fil-A lemonade and the chain's signature Icedream, basically making a lemonade milkshake.
It was so popular that they kept it around and created spinoff versions of the drink in the following years. This Chick-fil-A copycat frosted lemonade recipe calls for fresh squeezed lemon juice, but you can also use frozen lemonade. Get the recipe here.
4. Frosted Coffee
Any recipe that starts off with "brew coffee twice as strong" is already a winner. Add some vanilla ice cream and your life is guaranteed to just get better from there. This drink was another limited time special in 2016, but when the chain saw their coffee sales increase between 40 and 50 percent, they decided to keep it on the menu permanently.
5. Peppermint Chocolate Chip Milkshake
More dessert than drink, technically, but with its perfect balance of refreshing and comforting, this holiday seasonal favorite deserves some love year-round. If you're a big fan of this treat, this Chick-fil-A copycat recipe doesn't take much prep time and it's extra cooling during a hot summer.
This article was originally published on March 8, 2018.
