Copycat Hardee’s Chicken Biscuit (Hand-Breaded Chicken Fillet Biscuit)

This copycat Hardee’s chicken biscuit is a buttermilk-brined, hand-breaded chicken fillet tucked into a warm, flaky biscuit — no egg, no cheese, nothing to hide the chicken. It’s the breakfast Hardee’s has sold in the South for decades, and it comes together at home with two recipes I already have on the site.

I use the fillet from my Copycat Hardee’s Hand-Breaded Chicken Sandwich and the biscuit from my Hardee’s Biscuit Recipe. Put them together and you get that craggy, golden crust against a soft, buttery biscuit, for about a third of the drive-thru price.

If you want it sweet, skip to the honey butter chicken biscuit variation below. It’s the version my kids ask for.

What Is a Hardee’s Chicken Biscuit?

Hardee’s Chicken Fillet Biscuit is exactly two things: a crispy, buttermilk-battered chicken breast fillet and one of the chain’s Made From Scratch biscuits. Hardee’s rolled it out nationwide in 2008 after years of selling it only in Southern stores, and it’s still on the breakfast menu, sometimes listed as the Hand-Breaded Chicken Biscuit.

What makes it different from a chicken sandwich is the biscuit. A brioche bun is soft and sweet; a Hardee’s biscuit is flaky, salty, and buttery, so it stands up to the crust on the chicken instead of getting lost under it. The fillet is also cut a little smaller than the sandwich fillet so it fits the biscuit.

Why This Copycat Works

• Same fillet as the sandwich. The buttermilk brine, 30-minute air-dry, and cornstarch-and-baking-powder breading from my Hand-Breaded Chicken Sandwich give you a light, craggy crust that stays put.
• A real Hardee’s-style biscuit. My Hardee’s Biscuit Recipe uses self-rising flour, buttermilk, oil, and a little yeast, which is what gives Hardee’s biscuits their soft pull-apart layers.
• Fried or air fried. The chicken works both ways, and the biscuits bake in the air fryer in about 10 minutes.
• Make-ahead friendly. Brine the chicken overnight and freeze extra biscuits, and a weekday chicken biscuit takes 15 minutes.

Hardee’s Chicken Biscuit Ingredients

This makes 4 chicken biscuits. The biscuit dough is a half batch of my Hardee’s biscuit recipe and makes about 12 biscuits; freeze the extras for next time.

For the biscuits

• Self-rising flour: the base of a soft, Southern-style biscuit; it already has the baking powder and salt in it.
• Baking soda and sugar: a little extra lift and a hint of sweetness.
• Vegetable oil: keeps the biscuits tender; Hardee’s biscuits aren’t a cold-butter, laminated biscuit.
• Buttermilk: tang and a tender crumb.
• Dry yeast and warm water: the secret to that pull-apart, slightly bready texture.

For the chicken brine

• Chicken breasts: two boneless, skinless breasts, halved horizontally into 4 thin fillets, then trimmed to fit the biscuits.
• Buttermilk, hot sauce, and egg: the brine that tenderizes the chicken and helps the breading stick.
• Kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder: seasons the chicken from the inside.

For the breading

• All-purpose flour and cornstarch: cornstarch keeps the crust light instead of thick and bready.
• Baking powder: makes the breading puff and go craggy.
• Kosher salt, black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder: mild seasoning so it tastes like breakfast chicken, not fried chicken dinner.

To finish

• Frying oil: vegetable or peanut oil, about 1 inch deep (or cooking spray for the air fryer).
• Melted butter: brushed on the biscuits right out of the air fryer.
• Honey butter (optional): softened butter, honey, and a pinch of salt for the sweet version.

How to Make a Copycat Hardee’s Chicken Biscuit

Step 1: Brine the chicken. Whisk the buttermilk, hot sauce, egg, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a bowl. Halve the chicken breasts horizontally, then trim each fillet to about 4 inches across so it fits a biscuit (save the trimmings for my Copycat Hardee’s Chicken Tenders). Submerge the chicken, cover, and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

Step 2: Air-dry. Lift the fillets out, let the excess drip off, and set them on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Refrigerate uncovered for 30 minutes. This is the step most copycats skip, and it’s why their breading falls off.

Step 3: Make the biscuit dough. Stir the yeast into the warm water and let it sit 5 minutes until foamy. Whisk the self-rising flour, baking soda, and sugar in a large bowl, then stir in the oil, buttermilk, and yeast mixture until just combined. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, pat it to 1 inch thick, and cut with a 3-inch cutter without twisting.

Step 4: Air fry the biscuits. Preheat the air fryer to 350°F. Spray the basket, add the biscuits in a single layer with space between them, and air fry 8 to 10 minutes until golden. Brush with melted butter and keep warm. (Oven: 425°F on a parchment-lined sheet for 12 to 14 minutes.)

Step 5: Bread the chicken. Whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and seasonings in a shallow dish. Press each fillet straight from the rack into the breading, turning to coat and pressing so the craggy bits stick. Rest 1 minute on the rack.

Step 6: Cook the chicken.

• Fry: Heat 1 inch of oil to 350°F in a heavy skillet. Fry 2 fillets at a time, 3 to 4 minutes per side, until deep golden and 165°F inside. Drain on a wire rack, never paper towels.
• Air fry: Spray both sides of the breaded fillets generously with oil. Air fry at 380°F for 8 minutes, flip, spray any dry spots, and cook 5 to 7 more minutes to 165°F.

Step 7: Build the chicken biscuit. Split a warm biscuit, set a hot fillet on the bottom half, and close it up. That’s the whole thing — Hardee’s doesn’t add egg, cheese, or sauce to the original. Serve right away with Hardee’s Honey Mustard on the side.

Hardee’s Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit (Variation)

Hardee’s has run a honey butter chicken biscuit as a limited-time item, and it’s easy to add to this recipe. Mash 4 tablespoons of softened butter with 1½ tablespoons of honey and a pinch of salt. Spread it on both cut sides of the warm biscuit before adding the chicken, and drizzle a little extra honey over the fillet if you like it sweeter.

For a cinnamon version like the steakhouse spread, use my Copycat Texas Roadhouse Butter instead. A pinch of cayenne in the honey butter turns it into a hot honey chicken biscuit.

More ways to change it up

• Chicken, egg, and cheese biscuit: add a folded fried egg and a slice of American cheese on top of the chicken.
• Chicken bacon Swiss biscuit: two strips of crispy bacon and a slice of Swiss, melted on the chicken during the last minute of cooking.
• Cajun chicken biscuit: stir 1 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning into the breading.
• Nashville hot: brush the cooked fillet with the Nashville hot glaze from my Hardee’s Chicken Tenders.
• Chicken biscuit and gravy: open-face with a ladle of Hardee’s Gravy over the top.
• Shortcut version: in a hurry, use canned biscuits and frozen breaded tenderloins the way I do in my Air Fryer Chicken Biscuit Sandwiches.

Calories in a Hardee’s Chicken Biscuit

A Hardee’s Chicken Fillet Biscuit runs about 550 to 660 calories depending on the year and the nutrition database you check, with roughly 26 to 34 g fat, 47 to 50 g carbs, 20 to 24 g protein, and 1,330 to 1,680 mg sodium (FatSecret, Eat This Much, Fitbit). Hardee’s doesn’t publish a single figure on its site, so treat these as a range.

Version	Calories (approx.)	Sodium (approx.)
Hardee’s Chicken Fillet Biscuit (restaurant)	550–660	1,330–1,680 mg
This copycat, deep fried	~520	~900 mg
This copycat, air fried	~430	~900 mg
Honey butter version, air fried	~540	~950 mg

The homemade numbers are estimates from my chicken sandwich and biscuit recipe cards; your exact count depends on fillet size and how much oil the breading picks up. Air frying saves close to 100 calories per biscuit, and skipping the brine’s salt in the breading cuts sodium further.

Hardee’s Chicken Biscuit Price vs. Homemade

Hardee’s launched the Chicken Fillet Biscuit nationwide at $2.99 in 2008 (QSRweb). Today it’s listed around $4.19 on its own at many locations, with combos running higher, and prices vary by store (Allmenus). Check your local menu for the current price.

At home, a batch of four costs roughly $6 to $7 with store-brand flour, buttermilk, and chicken, or about $1.60 per chicken biscuit, and the recipe leaves you with 8 extra biscuits for the freezer. Those are approximate grocery figures and will swing with chicken prices where you live.

Pro Tips for the Best Chicken Biscuit

• Cut the fillets to the biscuit, not the other way around. A 4-inch fillet on a 3-inch biscuit is exactly how Hardee’s serves it; the chicken should hang over a little.
• Don’t skip the 30-minute air-dry. It’s the difference between breading that shatters and breading that slides off.
• Keep the biscuits warm, not hot. Pull them when they’re pale gold; they’ll finish as they sit, and a slightly underbaked biscuit stays soft under the chicken.
• Use a thermometer for the oil. 350°F every time. Hotter burns the crust before the chicken cooks; cooler makes it greasy.
• Split the biscuit with a fork. Pulling it apart gives you the rough surface that grips the chicken; a knife gives you a slick face that lets it slide.
• Eat within 10 minutes. Like every fried chicken sandwich, this one peaks right out of the fryer.

Storage and Reheating

• Make ahead: Brine the chicken up to 24 hours. Bread it and refrigerate uncovered on a rack up to 4 hours before cooking. Biscuit dough keeps 24 hours in the fridge.
• Refrigerator: Store cooked chicken and biscuits separately in airtight containers for up to 2 days.
• Freezer: Wrap cooked fillets individually and freeze up to 1 month. Freeze baked biscuits on a sheet, then bag them for up to 3 months.
• Reheat: Chicken at 375°F in the air fryer for 4 to 5 minutes (8 to 10 from frozen). Biscuits at 350°F for 3 to 5 minutes. Don’t microwave the chicken; the crust goes soft.

Hardee’s Chicken Biscuit FAQs

What is on a Hardee’s chicken biscuit? Just a hand-breaded, buttermilk-dipped chicken breast fillet on a Made From Scratch biscuit. No egg, cheese, or sauce unless you order a specialty version like the Chicken Bacon Swiss Biscuit.

How many calories are in a Hardee’s chicken biscuit? About 550 to 660 calories depending on the source, with around 1,330 to 1,680 mg of sodium. The air-fried copycat above comes in closer to 430.

How much is a Hardee’s chicken biscuit? It launched at $2.99 in 2008 and is listed around $4.19 at many locations now, though prices vary by store.

Does Hardee’s have a honey butter chicken biscuit? It has appeared as a limited-time item. The honey butter variation above gets you the same sweet-salty bite at home.

Can I use canned biscuits? Yes. Pillsbury Grands or Trader Joe’s buttermilk biscuits work well; air fry them at 330°F for 8 to 10 minutes. The homemade biscuit is closer to Hardee’s, but the shortcut is still very good.

Can I use chicken thighs? Yes. Boneless, skinless thighs stay juicier and fit a biscuit nicely; cook them to 175°F for the best texture.

Can I make this gluten-free? Use a gluten-free 1:1 flour blend in the breading and gluten-free self-rising flour (or a GF biscuit mix) for the biscuits.

What time does Hardee’s stop serving the chicken biscuit? Breakfast typically ends at 10:30 a.m., which is one more reason to keep a few of these in the freezer.

More Copycat Hardee’s Recipes

• Copycat Hardee’s Hand-Breaded Chicken Sandwich
• Hardee’s Biscuit Recipe
• Copycat Hardee’s Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders (+ Nashville Hot)
• Hardee’s Honey Mustard Recipe
• Copycat Hardee’s Monster Biscuit
• Hardee’s Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits
• Hardee’s Gravy Recipe
• Air Fryer Hardee’s Big Hot Ham ‘N’ Cheese