Keto Chicken Nuggets

Before I start sharing this simple keto nugget recipe, let me answer a few questions that probably come to your mind as you started the keto diet.

Are Chicken Nuggets Keto?

Unfortunately, none of the store-bought keto nuggets or homemade classic nugget recipes are keto-approved.

All manufactured nugget recipes include a lot of carbs in the wheat flour and breadcrumb coating.

Plus, you’d be surprised by the other additives that go in the coating, like sugar or vegetable oils, that aren’t keto either.

How To Make Keto Chicken Nuggets

There are many different keto chicken nugget recipes online, using different coating options like ground pork rinds, coconut flour, or almond flour.

My favorite way to make crispy, juicy keto nuggets that taste like the real thing is to make almond flour nuggets with a touch of parmesan.

And great news, it is super easy to make your own keto chicken nuggets at home.

Ingredients

You only need a few basic ingredients to make almond flour chicken nuggets. Let’s see what you need to start:

• Chicken breast – breasts are the best part of the chicken to make juicy, tender chicken nuggets.
• Water and vinegar – to soak the meat, break the meat fiber and release the meat tenderness.
• Almond flour or almond meal – almond flour is very low in carbs and crisps very well when fried or oven-fried. This is your keto four replacement for carb-loaded wheat, breadcrumbs, or starch. Read how to choose your keto flour!
• Grated Parmesan Cheese – this is the best part for flavorsome keto cheesy chicken nuggets. A dairy-free option is to add more almond flour to the recipe. However, if you do so, this will slightly increase the carbs per serving.
• Egg and heavy cream – to make an egg wash. If you are paleo or eat dairy-free, coconut cream can be used.
• Salt
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• Oregano
• Paprika
• Pepper

All you need to make these low-carb nuggets is to follow 3 simple steps.

Preparing Chicken Breast

The trick to perfectly cooked chicken nuggets, crispy outside and juicy, tender in the middle, is the size of the chicken pieces.

The best is to cut the breast into 1-inch (2.5 cm) wide strips and then cut 2-inch (5cm) length chunks from each strip.

Your keto nuggets should be small enough to perfectly cook the inside without burning the coating. On the other hand, if your nuggets were too small, the meat would cook faster than the coating.

So as a general rule, the perfect nugget size is 1-inch x 2 inches (2.5 cm x 5 cm).

Soaking Chicken In Vinegar

I know it sounds like a weird step but soaking your chicken into acetic acid like vinegar breaks down meat fibers.

It results in tender and flavorsome chicken meat. Regular homemade chicken nugget recipes soak the meat in pickle juice which I don’t recommend as pickle juice is often loaded with sugar.

Follow my recipe to properly soak your nugget meat for tender keto chicken nuggets.

Double-coat the chicken pieces

The best part of a chicken nugget is the outside, the crispy coating.

To achieve the best crispy keto chicken nugget recipe, you must dip each piece of chicken into an egg wash first.

Then dip the chicken into the dry coating ingredients. I always recommend making the egg wash by combining beaten egg and cream rather than milk or almond milk. The cream keeps the chicken meat juicier.

Oven-Fried Option

While I prefer to fry my nuggets in coconut oil, you can also oven-bake chicken nuggets.

It takes a bit longer to bake as you will have to cook the nuggets for 10 minutes on one side first, then flip them one by one on the other side and bake for 5-10 extra minutes.

Oven-baked nuggets are firstly sprayed with oil and then baked at 400°F (200°C) for a total of 15-20 minutes on a baking tray, leaving 0.2 inches (0.5 cm) space between each nugget.

Check the baking process by slicing one nugget in the center. If the meat is still pink in the center, it needs to bake for longer.

The result of oven-fried nuggets is crispy, like pan-fried nuggets, but they are less fatty, and the meat is slightly less juicy.

Storage Instructions

You can freeze your nuggets baked or unbaked. The best way to freeze nuggets is to lay them one by one on a plate covered with parchment paper.

Leave a 1-inch space between each nugget. One hour later, the nuggets are slightly frozen, and it’s a good time to transfer them all into a ziplock bag.

This two-step freezing method will prevent the nuggets from sticking to one another in the freezing bag.

Rewarming

You can rewarm your keto chicken nuggets with almond flour in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 15-20 minutes.

Place the nuggets on a large baking tray covered with a piece of parchment paper or lightly oil the tray with coconut oil.

Leave 1 inch (2.5 cm) between each nugget and bake for 20-25 minutes, flipping over halfway to make sure both sides bake as well.

You don’t have to thaw the frozen nuggets before baking them.