A viewer recently requested a Raising Cane’s copycat recipe. We had never actually tried it before, so I sent Steve to pick up a meal for a taste test. We had to know what the hype was about!

The verdict? The chicken was definitely juicy and had a slight crisp to it, but to be completely honest, it just didn’t meet our seasoning specifications. It seems like a lot of restaurants serve pretty bland chicken strips and rely entirely on the dipping sauce to make up for it. While their famous sauce is very good, I knew we could make the chicken itself so much better—and cheaper!—right here at home.

So, I went to the kitchen to make my upgraded version. The first major change? The meat. I decided to cut up both boneless skinless chicken breasts and chicken thighs. It was my first time trying thighs for chicken strips, and let me tell you—the dark meat strips were absolutely amazing. I am officially making all my nuggets and strips out of chicken thighs from now on!

Because I didn’t have regular buttermilk on hand, I whipped up a quick substitute using half-and-half and lemon juice. For the breading, I took the standard copycat base and completely overhauled the spices to give it some real flavor.

Then came a happy little accident. I got all the strips battered and resting on a baking sheet while the fryer oil heated up. I was multitasking, making a batch of sourdough discard onion rings in the meantime, and when I came back to the chicken, the breading had absorbed the moisture and looked like it needed another coat. I was completely out of all-purpose flour at that point, so I grabbed some self-rising flour, added a little more seasoning, and did a quick double-batter.

The Great Sauce Experiment

Of course, you can’t have chicken strips without the sauce. I tried mixing up a traditional Cane’s copycat sauce, but after a quick taste test, it just didn’t taste right. Something was missing.

Steve immediately suggested mustard. Now, Steve absolutely loves mustard—it is easily his favorite condiment—so I was a little reluctant at first. To be safe, I separated a small amount of the sauce into a little dish and mixed in some yellow mustard just to test his theory. To my surprise, it was actually really good!

We went ahead and added a few swirls of yellow mustard into the larger batch. It definitely did not taste like Cane’s sauce anymore, but it transformed into an incredibly delicious, tangy dipping sauce that paired perfectly with our extra-seasoned chicken.

Here is the recipe for our extra-seasoned chicken strips and the accidental mustard-spiked sauce!

Upgraded “Better Than Cane’s” Chicken Strips

Ingredients

The Chicken & Marinade:

• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts and chicken thighs, cut into strips
• 1 ½ cups half-and-half
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

The First Breading:

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (standard recipe base)
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 ½ tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp Red Lobster seasoning

The Second Breading (The Crispy Double-Batter):

• ½ cup self-rising flour
• 1 tsp Red Lobster seasoning
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper

Instructions

1. Prep the Marinade: In a large bowl, stir the half-and-half and lemon juice together. Let it sit for about 5 minutes to curdle slightly into a buttermilk substitute. Add your chicken breast and thigh strips, ensuring they are fully submerged. Leave in the fridge a few hours or overnight to marinade.
2. Mix the First Breading: In a shallow dish, whisk together the all-purpose flour, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, and the first 2 teaspoons of Red Lobster seasoning.
3. The First Coat: Remove the chicken strips from the marinade, letting the excess drip off. Dredge them in the seasoned flour mixture until fully coated. Place the breaded strips on a baking sheet to rest while you heat up your fryer oil.
4. Mix the Second Breading: In a pie plate or similar shallow dish, whisk together the self-rising flour, the remaining 1 teaspoon of Red Lobster seasoning, salt, and pepper.
5. The Double Batter: Just before frying, take the resting chicken strips (which will look a bit damp by now) and dip them directly into this second dry mixture for a final, crispy coating.
6. Fry: Carefully drop the strips into your hot fryer oil. Fry until golden brown and crispy. The smaller strips will take about 4 to 5 minutes, while the larger strips will take closer to 7 minutes.
7. Check the Temp: Always use a meat thermometer to ensure the internal temperature has reached a safe 165°F before serving.
8. Serve: Plate them up hot and fresh with your favorite copycat dipping sauce!

Heads up: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and buy something, BobbiJos.com may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Whether it’s my favorite cast iron skillet for Southern cooking or the molds I use for Bobbi Jo’s treats, I only recommend tools I genuinely love and use in my own kitchen!

This is the fryer I use in this video. I love this fryer and have been using it since July 2025. I love that it has an oil filtration system which makes it much easier to save my oil for future use.
T-fal Deep Fryer with Basket, 3.5L, 1700W, Oil Filtration, Temp Control https://amzn.to/4gDPACm

Steve’s “Not-Quite-Cane’s” Mustard Sauce

Ingredients

• ¾ cup mayonnaise
• 3 Tbsp. ketchup
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• ¾ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• ½ tsp. onion powder
• A few generous swirls of yellow mustard (about 1 to 2 tablespoons, to taste)

Instructions

1. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and all the spices until smooth.
2. Swirl in the yellow mustard and mix thoroughly.
3. Taste and adjust the mustard if necessary. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving to let the flavors meld.