These copycat Chick-Fil-A keto chicken nuggets are going to be your family’s new favorite comfort food! Plus, they’re gluten free and nut free for our friends with allergies. These zero carb keto chicken nuggets are a very family friendly keto recipe!
Chicken nuggets will always be one of my favorite foods. No matter how strong my keto game is, Chick-Fil-A is my kryptonite.
Even though I still eat them on occasion, I desperately wanted to create a copycat keto chicken nugget. So, how did I accomplish that?
I thought you’d never ask.
If you love Chick-Fil-A as much as I do, then you’re going to flip out over these low carb chicken nuggets.
Are Chicken Nuggets Keto friendly?
Unfortunately, the majority of the chicken nuggets that you get at fast food restaurants are not keto friendly. Frozen chicken nuggets from grocery stores are also not keto friendly.
Chicken nuggets are usually covered with wheat flour and bread crumbs. They often contain sugar which makes them very high in carbs and thus not keto approved.
Are Chick-Fil-A Chicken Nuggets Keto friendly?
Traditional Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets are not keto friendly and you should avoid them if you are on a keto diet. Indeed, they are breaded, coated with flour and sugar.
However, Chick-Fil-A has added a grilled chicken nuggets variation with 1g of net carbs for 8 nuggets (vs 11g for the traditional recipe). They also have a low carb tasty cheese dipping sauce. The grilled chicken nuggets won’t be crunchy so if you want to get that crunchy texture you will need to follow my delicious recipe below.
Are Breadcrumbs Keto Friendly?
Just as the name suggests, one of the main ingredients of breadcrumbs is bread. As we all know, bread is not Keto friendly as it is very high in carbs. In any sort of keto cooking, breadcrumbs are usually replaced with a mixture of grated cheese and a keto friendly flour or pork rinds.
Can I Make Keto Chicken Nuggets at Home?
There are many ways to make keto chicken nuggets at home. My favorite is to use pork rinds instead of breadcrumb coating to eliminate the carbs.
If you do not eat pork you can also use a mixture of almond flour and parmesan. They will still be crispy and tasty after you cook them. Just know that they won’t be nut free if you coat them with a almond flour.
It is super easy to make these chicken nuggets at home. All you need is just a few ingredients and an oven. I like baking my chicken nuggets but you can also pan fry them in coconut oil.
don’t forget some keto chick-fil-a sauce for dipping
Can I Make Chicken Nuggets in an Air-Fryer?
Absolutely! If you have an air-fryer at home, I would suggest using it. All you need to do is coat these chicken nuggets with a little bit of coconut oil to make them extra crispy and golden brown.
Zero Carb and Nut Free Keto Chicken Nuggets
Not only are these nuggets keto and low carb, they’re grain free and nut free too!
With the abundance of nut allergies these days, I know many parents who struggle to feed their children nut free low carb recipes.
As a content creator, it’s discouraging to receive emails asking if there is a substitute for almond flour because so and so has a nut allergy. I always feel so terrible having to reply “no” to those emails.
That is why I am so happy to report that these low carb nuggets contain zero nut flours!
Keto Chicken Nuggets Ingredients
To make this recipe, this is what you will need:
- chicken breasts
- dill pickle juice (from jar) for brining.
- a beaten egg
- crushed pork rinds
- garlic powder
- paprika
- salt and pepper
The chicken nuggets will still hold onto the breading and get crisp in the oven, just like a proper nugget should.
If you have an egg allergy, you can also omit the egg and the recipe works just as well!
These keto chicken nuggets can be made ahead of time and either refrigerated or frozen to eat later.
Don’t forget to serve them with some keto copycat Chick-Fil-A sauce and dairy free coleslaw too!
The Best Keto Chicken Nuggets (Chick-Fil-A Copycat)
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup dill pickle juice from jar for brining.
- 1 egg beaten
- 1.5 cups 6 ounces crushed pork rinds
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp salt
- pinch pepper
Instructions
- Cut chicken breasts into 1 inch nuggets.
- Transfer to a large ziplock bag and add pickle juice to the bag. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes up to overnight. The longer, the better.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line large baking sheet with a roasting rack and set aside.
- In food processor, pulse the pork rinds until they are a crumb consistency. Transfer to a small bowl.
- Add the spices to pork rinds and fluff with a fork. Transfer the pork crumb mixture to a fresh plastic bag.
- Remove chicken from the fridge and transfer to new ziplock bag. Discard the juice.
- Add the egg to the chicken and squish around so that all of the chicken is coated.
- Use tongs to transfer the chicken nuggets to the bag with the pork mixture. Seal the bag, squish with your hands, and make sure all of the chicken is heavily coated.
- Transfer the nuggets to the baking sheet. Place them in a single layer.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Serve with sugar free Chick-Fil-A sauce or sugar free ketchup.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Megan
Sunday 4th of June 2023
Amazing! 5/5 I used an air fryer as some others did. 390 for 12 minutes was perfect. The nuggets were juicy and the breading was crispy. I used the 4505 classic chili and salt for mine.
Ketoinpearls
Monday 19th of June 2023
Thanks for your kind comment Megan, so happy you liked it.
Lynda
Saturday 4th of March 2023
If these chicken nuggets are indicative of your other recipes - I MUST check them out. You gave clear cooking directions and the cooking time was perfect. Much less mess than frying on the stovetop. I used about half plain and half barbecue pork rinds and a bit more garlic, black pepper, and paprika. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Ketoinpearls
Monday 6th of March 2023
Thanks so much Lynda, I am sure you will love my other recipes. I recommend my pancakes, everyone loves them: https://ketoinpearls.com/best-keto-pancakes/
Luanne
Saturday 20th of August 2022
I'm not a chicken nugget fan but made these as a healthy alternative to fast food nuggets for the kids. These were delicious. Everyone love them. Friends were especially impressed that they were made with real chicken. Recipe was incredibly easy and will certainly be making these again. Thank you.
Ketoinpearls
Tuesday 23rd of August 2022
Thanks for your feedback Luanne, so glad you like them :)
Shelly
Sunday 10th of July 2022
I loved these in the oven a couple of weeks ago. Today we are trying the air fryer and using chili lime pork rinds. Everything else is the same. 390 degrees 18-20 minutes.
Jennifer
Tuesday 22nd of February 2022
Just an FYI, you may already know this by now but the substitute for almond flour is sunflower seed flower. It’s a 1-to-1 substitution in place of almond flour for people who can’t eat nuts.