Properly crisp and utterly delicious, these keto chicken nuggets are a real treat with all good-for-you ingredients. Oh, and they just so happen to be ideal for meal prepping!
The Best (Baked!) Keto Chicken Nuggets
Nice ‘N Crisp!
Think of these paleo and keto chicken nuggets as bite-sized pieces of heaven. Perfect as a snack, entree, meal… and even fairly terrific in a lovely fresh salad! Oh, and I’m fairly certain even the kiddos will dig them 😉
They’re also baked for a more mess-free and ‘hands-off’ approach. And if that wasn’t enough, they freeze great too!
So feel free to whip up a large batch while meal prepping and keep handy for a rainy day. I like to go ahead and bake the whole batch and store away the leftovers (simply defrost and re-bake until warm).
The Coating
For these keto chicken nuggets, I went for a ‘breading’ for baking rather than a batter (like in our fish tacos or ‘fish ‘n chips’). And I truly do love pork rinds (i.e. chicharrones!) more than anything for it. Plus, they’re the perfect balance between fat and protein with zero carbs (i.e. a keto dream come true!).
So before you freak out, there’s no after taste whatsoever. More like a wonderful crisp texture and amazing flavor. A lot of you ask me for brands, and I’ve loved the new baked variety from Epic (which has 40% less calories btw!). Because they’re not fried in lard, they’re drier and resemble panko crumbs so much.
Other than that, you’ll want to marinate the chicken in sour cream (with a touch of vinegar and spices). Then you’ll do three layers (almond flour, egg and pork rind blend) for the ultimate coating. And if dairy free, full-fat coconut milk actually does an awesome job in lieu of the sour cream.
Tips ‘N Tricks
Honestly not much to it! Simply cut up your chicken into small pieces, generally breast will slice cleaner but I used deboned thighs for extra juicy (and tasty!) results. Whatever works for you is fine!
Just try and marinade the chicken overnight– it’s a game changer. For any poultry dish really, always aim for an overnight marinade for best-tasting results (or at least 2-3 hours).
Other than that, my one advice for mess-free breading application would be to use one hand for dipping in the dry ingredients (i.e. the almond flour and pork rinds mix bowls) and your other hand for dipping in the egg. This way you won’t end up with battered up fingers!
The Ketchup
I seriously love chicken nuggets with ketchup (i.e. I wasn’t giving it up!), so I came across this unsweetened Primal Kitchen ketchup. And I’m just sorry I hadn’t tried it sooner…!
It’s taste is terrific IMO, ingredients are ace (no maltitol guys!!) and the macros are spot on. It is a little less sweet than the sugar-laden variety (obviously?), but you can always mix in a bit of allulose to taste if need be.
But I honestly love it more than the usual as its not ‘sickly sweet’ (and, per usual, not sponsored just happy to recommend!).
The Best (Baked!) Keto Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients
For the marinade
- 500 g chicken breast or debonned thigh (for extra juicy nuggets!), cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup sour cream or full-fat coconut cream
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 2 cloves garlic ran through a press
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- kosher salt to taste
For the 'breading'
- 1/2-1 cup almond flour as needed (or more pork rinds for a nut-free version)
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- 90 g pork rinds crushed*
- 25 g Parmesan cheese finely grated
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- pinch cayenne pepper
- kosher salt to taste
Serving suggestions
- (sugar free!) ketchup **
- our marinara sauce
- chives finely chopped
Instructions
- Rinse and pat dry your chicken pieces. Set aside.
- In a large bowl suitable for marinating, mix together the sour cream, vinegar, poultry seasoning, garlic, freshly ground black pepper and season to taste. Add in the chicken, cover with cling film and marinate in the fridge for at least two hours (though preferably overnight!).
- Preheat oven to 425°F/220°C. Line a rimmed baking tray with parchment paper or a baking mat.
- You will need three bowls for the three coatings. In bowl 1, place your almond flour (or more crushed pork rinds). In bowl 2, whisk your egg with sour cream. And in bowl 3, mix thoroughly together the crushed pork rinds, Parmesan cheese, paprika, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, freshly ground black pepper, cayenne and season to taste with salt (will vary quite a bit depending on the saltiness of your pork rinds).
- Dip your chicken pieces one at a time in the almond flour, followed by the egg, followed by the pork rinds mixture. Place in the prepared baking tray.
- Bake your chicken nuggets for 20-15 minutes until fully cooked (i.e. no longer pink and the juices run clear). Serve right away (though they're also surprisingly good cold too!).
- Store in the fridge for 3 days or in the freezer for up to three months (they reheat great!).
The recipe says bake for 20-15 min. Did you mean 15-20 or 20-25?
We tripled this recipe to for sure have leftovers. These were DELICIOUS!
We skipped the marinade because we didn’t have time, and found out that we didn’t have enough of the egg mixture (bowl #2), and had too much of the almond flour (bowl #1). In fact, to triple the recipe, instead of using 3 cups of almond flour, I measured out 1 cup and added about 1/3 cup coconut flour… and that was still way too much than what was used.
Still really great, and the leftovers were yummy as well. We were worried if the breading was going to be too almond flour tasting, or too pork rind tasting, but it was definitely a neutral, breading flavor. Will definitely be making these again!
I skipped the marinade entirely because I found this recipe last minute and it still turned out absolutely delicious. Totally satisfied a craving for nuggets. Even the kiddos devoured them. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe!
Hi, In my country do not exist PORK RINDS. Any other suggestion to reeplace them?
Thanks in advance, Karin
Parmesan cheese isn’t paleo. Neither is sour cream. If your headline is going to say “paleo”, you should at least provide proper substitutes for the items in the ingredients list that AREN’T paleo.
Being rude to someone who supplies free recipes is extremely inappropriate. If you are Paleo I’m sure you’re well aware of the appropriate substitutions.
Emily, to me her reply was just stating facts, it wasn’t rude. There are plenty of newbies to the paleo diet that might not realize that certain things aren’t paleo and follow this recipe. Not only that but they may have no idea what subs to use. I think it might be a little rude to just assume someone is rude and to assume that they already know what they’re asking for. It is indeed a free recipe but apparently to luvsun it isn’t a paleo recipe and that information should have been stated or subs provided. That is not rude.
Now my reply is not intended to be rude although perhaps one may think it is. I just wish we could get replies from readers about what would be good substitutes. That would be most helpful. I say this as one who is gluten and sugar free and thinking seriously about paleo.
Sour cream can be substituted by coconut cream (you can refrigerate a can of full-fat coconut milk and use the solid part!). I’ve done these without the parmesan and it worked out great still!
These are fantastic! I followed the recipe exactly– and I did a comparison between an air fryer and oven– both gave the same results, but the oven as less messy.
The only thing I would add is I’d do two tablespoons of sour cream to the 2 eggs– I ran out midway.
Thank you!
Question: When taking them out of the marinade, do you rinse them, or just dip with the sour cream mixture still on them? Really looking forward to making these. But they’ve been marinating over night already! Thanks so much. Katy
I made these tonight with chicken breast marinated 24 hours. They were DELICIOUS. I only had shredded parm, which ended up a little chunky, so next time I’d toss it into the food processor with the rinds. I used 4505 chili and sea salt pork rinds, which are my very favorite, but they don’t crush quite as well as the baked ones might. I made a dipping sauce of Chosen Foods harissa mayo, Primal unsweetened ketchup, mustard and some Lakanto golden to try and approximate Chick Fil A sauce and it was delicious. My chunks were fairly small and 15 minutes proved just right. My pork rinds were very salty so I didn’t add extra salt (and I love salt) but if they weren’t I would have also salted the almond flour a bit to layer the salt.
Hi Paola.
I can’t eat Pork. My tummy does not like since my gall bladder surgery. Is there an alternative you can suggest?
I love your site. You are helpful and your recipes are delicious.
You make a difference every day.
Thank you.
Cheryl
Hey Paola! I’m already thing thinking baked crispy chicken legs and baked fish tacos! Thank you!
I put ALL the breading mix in a plastic bag, shook it up thoroughly to combine, then dipped around 6 pieces of chicken in the egg/sour cream blend and tossed them in the bag of breading & shook. I opened the bag and used a fork to kind of mash the chicken pieces more firmly into the breading and put them into the pan. Repeat til all the pieces are coated, you can even spoon a bit more on them when they’re in the pan. Only 1 bowl gets dirty, unless of course you want to put the Egg/Sour cream mix in a baggie too and no bowl at all to clean. These were terrific and easy to make.
It would be great if folks who haven’t actually made the recipe could refrain from rating it. It doesn’t help the rest of us.
Glad you’re feeling better. I can’t wait to try these! Thx
How many nuggets per serving? And is your data on breasts or thighs?
The recipe states four servings. I’m going to try to air fry these for 8 to 10 minutes instead of baking them.
These look amazing! Are there any breading alternatives for us non-pork eaters?
Welcome back Paola! Can’t wait to make these 🙂