Keto Chicken Nuggets (Baked or Fried)

By the looks of it alone, you might think that this crunch and tasty recipe is packed full of carbs, but you’d be wrong! This simple recipe adds unexpected flavor and tons of crunch that plain ole breaded chicken nuggets just simply can’t deliver. Whether you are eating keto or not this recipe will delight, because it is delicious!

If you have been cooking keto for a while, you have probably come across some fried recipes that utilize pork rinds as the “breading”, and it is such a nifty substitution that it might even make the recipe better than the traditional one. We put a little bit of a spin on that method by adding in flavors to the meat prior to coating them in the pork rinds, and the ingredients list is commonly found in your household cupboard already.

Usually when you are looking at a recipe that has either a pan fried or a baked alternative you would feel inclined to think that the baked method would produce a more soggy result. If that was your expectation of this Keto Chicken Nugget recipe, you might be surprised by the outcome. We find that often times the oven baked method produced a crunchier nugget than frying it in a pan, and you obviously introduce fewer calories that way too.

KETO CHICKEN NUGGETS (BAKED OR FRIED)

Ease of Preparation: Easy

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Cooking Time: 10 Minutes Fried / 35-40 Minutes Baked

Total Time: 20-50 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 Pounds Chicken Breasts or Tenders
• 1/2 Bag of original pork rinds (unflavored)
• 3 Tablespoons Mayonaise
• 3 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
• 1 Egg
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika
• 1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• 1 Teaspoon Granulated Garlic Powder
• 2 Teaspoons Italian Seasoning

Instructions:

1. Begin by preparing your raw chicken, and cutting it into roughly 1 inch squares. Food Scissors can help make this so much easier.
2. Place chicken into a suitable dish, and season with the mixture of dry seasonings (Salt, Pepper, Cayenne, Paprika, Italian Seasoning, and Garlic)
3. Open the bag of pork rinds and either transfer about half of the bag to a resealable plastic bag for smashing, or utilize the bag they came in carefully. Using the palms of your hands or a rolling pin begin to break up the large chunks of pork rinds until some of them are fine like powder and others are chunkier like the size of granola grains. Transfer the crumbs into a medium or large bowl.
4. In a medium or large bowl prepare the seasoned dredge that we will use to coat the chicken pieces prior to coating them in the pork rind crumbs.
5. Whisk together the mayo, dijon mustard, and egg until smooth.
6. Now based on your cooking preference you will either need to heat up a frying pan with your choice of oil to around 350*, or you will need to preheat the oven to 425*.
7. Take the chicken by hand and dunk it in the dredge of mayo and dijon and then transfer to the bowl of pork rinds.
8. If you are baking, use a baking rack on top of a foil-lined baking pan to elevate the chicken nuggets off the bottom. This will insure a more crunch nugget all the way around. Place into the 425* oven on the middle rack for about 35 minutes.
9. If you are pan frying, once the oil is hot enough (careful not to make it too hot!) place the pieces of chicken in to the pan and cook for about 10 minutes, carefully turning them with tongs throughout the process so to evenly brown and crisp them on all sides. After frying, set the chicken nuggets on either a rack to drip, or onto a plate with paper towels on the bottom to soak up excess oil.

Optional: We like to serve these with a dipping sauce. Our personal choice is to make a simple and spicy sauce by mixing together Ranch Dressing and Sriracha Sauce. Just make sure that you read you labels on the sauces you choose to count those sugars too, because chances are there will be some.