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Copycat Chick-Fil-A Polynesian Sauce is so good, not only is it great for the obvious (dipping nuggets, fries, and smothering your sandwich with), but it also makes a great salad dressing and marinade!
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Part BBQ sauce, part sweet ‘n sour sauce. It’s hard to put your finger on exactly why this stuff is so good, but I love it because it’s strong, tangy, and totally addictive. I can’t get enough of it!
You’ll love this recipe because:
- It’s clean - Simple ingredients. No preservatives here! You know exactly what is going into this sauce and of course you can customize it to fit your needs (we’ll talk more on that further down the post).
- It’s easy-to-make - although you can use a food processor, you can also just whisk the ingredients together in a bowl. No fancy ingredients or equipment needed!
- It’s versatile - it’s a dipping sauce, it’s a salad dressing (kind of like French Dressing), and it’s a marinade! It’s a 3-in-1 sauce! It makes meal prep a breeze!
Ingredients + substitutions
This sauce is ridiculously simple to make, I’m almost sure you have all of the ingredients on hand!
You’ll need:
- Ketchup - any brand works, just use whatever you have and like.
- Apple cider vinegar - I really like ACV (apple cider vinegar) for this recipe, but rice vinegar, or white vinegar will also work.
- Granulated sugar - granulated sugar will give this sauce the closest flavor to the Chick-fil-A version, but you can definitely use brown sugar, date sugar, or honey.
- Honey - a little honey adds flavor and some thickness to this sauce.
- Olive oil - adds to the texture, you can use any neutral-flavored oil. Or you can leave it out if you don’t want to add it.
- Spices - garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. You can swap the paprika for chili powder in a pinch!
The "real" CFA Polynesian Sauce has a pinch of beetroot powder in it (for color), you can add a pinch if it’s important to you that your sauce looks more like the original version.
Step-by-step (with photos)
STEP 1: Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl for 2-cup pyrex.
STEP 2: Whisk everything together until it’s combined.
STEP 3: Pour the sauce into a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring it to a simmer for 3 minutes. Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool to room temperature.
STEP 4: Store the sauce in a mason jar (or any airtight container) in the refrigerator for a week.
Variations
- Spicy Polynesian Sauce - add ½ tsp of cayenne to make it a little spicier. I’d start with ½ tsp and then taste and adjust!
- Pineapple Polynesian Sauce - add 2 tbsp of pineapple juice to the Polynesian sauce recipe to give it a sweeter, fruitier flavor.
- Make it totally refined sugar free - instead of using sugar (it’s up to you if you keep the honey or not, I would), add all of the ingredients to a blender, but swap the sugar for 5 whole, pitted dates. Blend until smooth. And really, no need to cook it if you go with this option, it’s ready to go!
Ways to use Polynesian Sauce
- Drizzle it over fried chicken - instead of hot honey chicken, try Polynesian sauce over your fried/or cornflake chicken!
- As a dipping sauce - this is the obvious one! This stuff is fantastic as a fry dip!
- As a marinade - yep, you can marinate your chicken in this stuff and then bake it. Polynesian Chicken is awesome served over a bed of white rice.
- On chicken sandwiches - definitely, and always on chicken sandwiches! This stuff adds so much flavor.
- Add it to baked beans or chili - add some flavor to your baked beans or chili by adding a few tablespoons for flavor.
- As a salad dressing - Polynesian Sauce, while it is a sweet and sour sauce, is very similar to classic French Dressing. I didn’t say it’s exactly the same! But it’s very similar. It tastes fantastic on a salad and as a dipping sauce for some crusty bread!
- Meal prep - I like to add this recipe to my weekly meal prep. Because it not only makes a great dipping sauce, but it’s also a fantastic marinade and sauce for chicken and pork chops as well as a salad dressing.
Make ahead
You can definitely make this Copycat Chick-fil-A Polynesian Sauce at home, simply make it, let it cool, and store it in an airtight container.
In an abundance of caution, I will say that you can make this one week in advance. However, as long as the ingredients you’re using aren’t about to expire, there’s no reason this shouldn’t last for at least three weeks in the refrigerator in a mason jar with a tight lid.
Storage
You can store the leftovers in a mason jar with the lid screwed on tightly. Or you can use an airtight container.
The leftovers will last for one week in the refrigerator.
More CFA Copycat Recipes:
Copycat Chick-fil-A Polynesian Sauce
Ingredients
- ¾ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp paprika
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl for 2-cup pyrex.
- Whisk everything together until it’s combined.
- Pour the sauce into a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring it to a simmer for 3 minutes. Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool to room temperature.
- Store the sauce in a mason jar (or any airtight container) in the refrigerator for a week.
Notes
Nutrition
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