Creamy, tangy, and slightly sweet, this keto Chick-Fil-A sauce takes 4 ingredients and 2 minutes, at 0.5g net carbs per serving. I stir everything together in one small bowl and dinner gets a dipping sauce. What I like most is how close the sugar free honey and BBQ combo lands to the original.
Chick-fil-A sauce is my favorite fast food dipping sauce, and the part I wanted to bring home was that creamy, tangy, slightly sweet flavor. My version uses four ingredients: mayonnaise, sugar-free BBQ sauce, sugar-free honey and yellow mustard. Stir them together and the sauce is ready before the chicken is.
The BBQ sauce is the ingredient that moves this beyond honey mustard. Mayonnaise gives it body, the honey substitute brings sweetness, and mustard supplies the tang. The BBQ sauce adds that smoky flavor underneath. Because each brand balances smoke, vinegar and sweetness differently, it also has the biggest say in how your finished sauce tastes.
I showed this sauce alongside my crunchy keto chicken tenders in the original video. That is still the pairing that explains it best: crisp coating, juicy chicken and a cool, creamy dip. Spoon a little into a separate bowl for dipping so the rest of the batch stays clean.
The waffle fries in the photos were made from rutabaga. I mentioned in my original reply that they tasted good but were hard to cut. You do not need to tackle that project to enjoy the sauce; serve it with bacon wrapped chicken tenders, celery or another crunchy side.
The recipe makes five portions, with an estimated 0.5g net carbs per portion. Each portion is one fifth of the batch, rather than exactly one tablespoon. Use your condiment labels if you change brands, since a sugar-free label alone does not establish the finished carb count.
Adjusting the smoky, sweet and tangy balance
Make the base ratio first, then taste the finished sauce. If your BBQ sauce is already sweet, you may prefer less honey substitute next time. If you want more tang, stir in a little extra mustard. Add small amounts so one flavor does not take over.
A drop of liquid smoke is an optional addition from the original recipe. It is concentrated, so start small. You can also use a different sugar-free BBQ sauce or my homemade BBQ sauce to change the flavor.
The dip works right after mixing. If you have time, give it about an hour in the refrigerator, then stir before serving. That resting time is optional and is separate from the two minutes of preparation.
How to store this sauce
Refrigerate promptly in a clean, covered container at 40°F or below. Plan to use this small batch within four days, and sooner if an ingredient’s storage instructions require it. This is a cautious limit for a homemade mixed sauce, rather than a guarantee based on how long a bottle of mayonnaise lasts.
Use a clean spoon to take out each portion. Do not pour used dipping sauce back into the storage jar. Discard dip left out for more than two hours, or one hour above 90°F. Freezing can separate the mayonnaise and spoil the creamy texture, so this is a better sauce to mix fresh.
How to make keto chick-fil-a sauce
Measure the mayonnaise, sugar-free BBQ sauce, sugar-free honey and yellow mustard into a small bowl. Stir with a spoon or whisk until the color is even and no streaks of mayo remain. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for about an hour to let the flavors mingle.
Four ingredients, four jobs
Mayonnaise: the creamy base. Regular full-fat mayo is used here.
Sugar-free BBQ sauce: the smoky flavor. Choose one you like on its own, because its flavor comes through in the dip.
Sugar-free honey: I use honey-flavored allulose syrup. Regular honey changes the carbs, and dry sweetener does not behave like syrup.
Yellow mustard: the tangy finish. Dijon is an optional variation with a sharper flavor; start with less and adjust to taste.
Add mayonnaise, sugar-free BBQ sauce, sugar-free honey and yellow mustard to a small bowl.
2
Stir until smooth
Stir until the sauce is smooth and evenly combined. Serve with chicken strips, fries or celery, or cover and refrigerate until serving. Divide the batch into five portions for the stated nutrition estimate.
Nutrition
Per serving: 1/5 of the batch
Calories
76
Fat
8g
Protein
0g
Total carbs
0.5g
Net carbs
0.5g
Nutrition is an estimate calculated from the ingredients listed. Brands vary, so check labels if you track closely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Chick-Fil-A sauce?
I first had it at the restaurant years ago and it became my favorite dipping sauce. It was actually created by accident in the 1980s when an employee mixed BBQ sauce into their honey mustard. The combination just works. When I saw they started bottling it, I grabbed one, then realized it was loaded with sugar. That's when I started making my own version at home.
What is keto honey and where do I find it?
I use honey-flavored allulose syrup. Allulose is a rare sugar that doesn't spike blood sugar the way regular sweeteners do. I buy mine on Amazon. You can also take plain allulose syrup and add a drop of honey flavoring yourself. I've done both and the pre-flavored version is just more convenient.
How many net carbs are in this sauce per serving?
My recipe comes to about 0.5g net carbs per serving, split into 5 servings. For comparison, I checked the bottled version's label and it has about 7g of carbs per serving, mostly from honey and sugar. That's a big difference if you're tracking macros.
Is this the same as honey mustard?
Not quite. I make honey mustard too and the difference is the BBQ sauce. That's the ingredient that gives this its signature flavor. Without it you just have sweet mustard mayo. I think of honey mustard as the simpler cousin. The BBQ sauce adds a smoky depth that makes this taste like the real thing.
Do I need lemon juice in this recipe?
I've seen other copycat versions that include lemon juice and I tried adding it once. It shifted the whole flavor profile toward something closer to a vinaigrette than a creamy dipping sauce. The yellow mustard already provides plenty of tang on its own. If you really want a brighter, more acidic edge, start with half a teaspoon and taste before adding more. But I skip it in my version for a reason.
Is this sauce dairy-free?
It already is. I use regular full-fat mayo, sugar-free BBQ sauce, sugar-free honey and mustard, and there's no dairy in any of those. As long as your mayo isn't made with butter or cream (most aren't), the whole recipe is dairy-free without any swaps. I get asked this a lot and it's one of the things I like about this sauce.
Can I use Greek yogurt instead of mayo?
I haven't tested this swap myself because I prefer the richness of mayo in this recipe. Other versions I've seen use full-fat Greek yogurt for a lighter, tangier result. If you try it, the sauce will be thinner and more tart. I'd start with full-fat Greek yogurt so the texture doesn't get too runny.
What sauces are keto-friendly?
Plenty of them, which is why I keep a rotating lineup in my fridge. The naturally keto sauces I lean on are mustard, mayo, hot sauce, ranch and pesto, and this copycat sits right at the front. The store-bought ones I skip are ketchup, teriyaki and sweet chili because they're built on sugar, though I make my own sugar-free teriyaki at home. I test every sauce I keep on hand so I know the net carbs actually stay where I need them.
Is Chick-Fil-A sauce keto?
The bottled version isn't. I flipped the bottle over the day it hit stores and the label reads honey, sugar and corn syrup, which puts the original around 7g of carbs per serving. My homemade copycat swaps in sugar-free BBQ sauce and honey-flavored allulose to bring it down to about 0.5g net carbs. So the restaurant sauce is off the table for me on keto, but this version gives you the same flavor without the sugar.
Is there a sugar-free version of Chick-fil-A sauce?
Not from the restaurant. When Chick-Fil-A bottled their sauce I read the label: honey, sugar and corn syrup, about 7g of carbs per serving. So I make my own sugar-free version with mayo, sugar-free BBQ sauce, honey-flavored allulose and yellow mustard. It comes to 0.5g net carbs per serving and takes 2 minutes to stir together.
Is anything at Chick-fil-A keto friendly?
The grilled chicken is what I order. Grilled nuggets or a grilled fillet without the bun keep the carbs low. The breading, the fries and the sauces are where the sugar hides. The signature sauce runs about 7g of carbs per serving, so I skip it there and dip in this 0.5g net carb version at home.
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Thanks Heidi! With four ingredients there’s nowhere for a bad BBQ sauce to hide, and I’ve noticed the sugar free ones swing from sharp vinegar to heavy smoke. Which one did you land on?
I do meal prep on Sundays and this is going on my list. I have mustard and mayo but I’ve never bought keto honey, does the brand matter, or will any sugar-free substitute work? I don’t want to grab the wrong one and have it taste off.
Eight months of plain chicken because nothing I tried nailed that sweet-tangy balance. Every keto sauce I made had sweetener sitting on top of it, not blended in. This recipe figured out the keto honey. It blends into the mayo and BBQ without leaving that chemical finish the other versions had. First dipping sauce I’ve made on keto that tastes like the real thing, not a substitute. Four stars. I bump the mustard up a little, but I’m not touching the rest of the ratio.
Eight months of plain chicken is a long time, Jasmine. Allulose was the whole unlock for me too. It doesn’t crystallize back out the way erythritol does, it just melts into the mayo and stays there.
Mix shredded rotisserie chicken directly into a full batch and you’ve got a week of lunches, no extra dressing needed. The keto honey is what keeps it from tasting like plain mayo salad.
Making this for a big cookout Saturday, 25 people, so I’m multiplying by about six. Do I scale all four straight across, or does the mustard-to-honey ratio get tricky at that volume? Already promised everyone it’ll be better than the real thing.
Straight across on all four. I’ve made it in bigger batches and the mustard doesn’t get sharp the way some spices do at volume. They’ll believe you, Rebecca.
Two teaspoons works fine. The ratio I landed on mirrors the original pretty closely and the BBQ sauce leads there, not the mustard, but it’s easy to bump without breaking anything.
Chick-fil-A sauce was the one condiment I genuinely mourned when I cut out sugar. Made a batch Friday for a pool day cookout, and the keto honey with the yellow mustard gets that sweet-tangy balance exactly right. I grew up eating the original at least once a week and this is the first version I’ve tried that actually tastes like the memory. Keeping a jar in the fridge permanently now.
The honey-to-BBQ ratio is where this clicks or falls apart. I bumped the keto honey to a full tablespoon and pulled back a tiny bit on the mustard and it got way closer to what I remember from the restaurant. Also make it the night before if you can. The flavors come together and it gets noticeably thicker than fresh out of the bowl. Using Primal Kitchen mayo here (I think the fat content is why it sets up so nicely).
Tried a few copycat versions. Always too sweet or weirdly flat. The keto honey is what makes this one taste right. That little bit of sweetness with the mustard tang is exactly what I was trying to nail.
Swapped yellow mustard for Dijon because that’s what was in the fridge and it gave it this sharper, almost fancy kick I wasn’t expecting (four stars because I haven’t tried the original version yet so maybe I’m missing something).
I’ve never made a copycat sauce before and this felt almost too simple (four ingredients, really?). Stirred it together while my chicken was still in the oven and ended up tasting it before the food was even ready. It’s got that same creamy-sweet-tangy thing that makes the original so hard to walk away from. Does the brand of keto honey matter much, or will any sugar-free version get you there?
Honey-flavored allulose specifically. Other sugar-free versions (monk fruit, erythritol-based) can have that cooling aftertaste and it throws the whole sauce off. I buy mine on Amazon, and most allulose-based keto honeys are pretty interchangeable on brand.
Added a tiny splash of apple cider vinegar and freaking wow, the tang hits so much harder. If you’re using a sweeter BBQ sauce, pull back on the keto honey or the whole thing goes too sweet.
Chick-Fil-A sauce was genuinely the thing I missed most when I went keto. Not the chicken, not the waffle fries, the sauce. So when I made this with the keto honey and that little bit of yellow mustard and it hit that exact same sweet-tangy note I remembered, I sat there for a second just kind of processing it. Four ingredients and it’s that close. Double batch in the fridge now.
My 12-year-old has been refusing to eat chicken tenders at home for months because ‘they don’t taste like Chick-Fil-A.’ Made this on a cold Tuesday night and watched her dip her third strip before I even sat down. She looked up and said ‘that’s the sauce.’ Not ‘this is good.’ That’s the sauce. I could not believe it came together with just the mayo, keto honey, and one spoonful of yellow mustard. Double batch this weekend.
Keep the sauce covered in the refrigerator at 40°F or below and plan to use it within four days, sooner if any ingredient’s storage instructions require it. The shelf life of a commercial condiment does not establish the shelf life of the mixed dip. Use a clean spoon and keep used dipping portions separate.
Good to know it still fit your numbers. Regular honey adds about 17g of carbs per tablespoon, so it depends how you split the batch, but if it works for you it works.
I love this recipe. I use it for chicken tenders and even as a spread for a lettuce wrap hamburger. My family and friends love this recipe too. Thank you for all your great recipes.
I meant regular allulose syrup. I edited my comment to reflect that. It wouldn’t make sense to use regular honey and add honey flavoring to it, would it? But adding honey flavoring to allulose syrup would make sense. I think Sherry understood what I was trying to say.
