Crispy Keto Fried Chicken

Keto Fried Chicken is so easy to make and delicious to eat and you will think that you are eating your grandmother’s recipe! After all, who doesn’t love Fried Chicken? We will show you how to have your “Fried Chicken and eat it too!”, the low carb way.

Ever since I was diagnosed with diabetes I have been wanting to eat fried chicken, but I’ve been on a strict diet in hopes to keep getting my blood sugar lower.  In the first few months I never even knew that there were some acceptable substitutes for some of my favorite foods, for instance, Fried Chicken. Who doesn’t love a good fried chicken!? 

Well, Stephanie and I went to the drawing board and started to experiment and after a couple of times, we finally figured out how to make crispy low carb fried chicken! It’s easy to make and I know that you and your family are going to love it! 

What is Fried Chicken?

Fried Chicken is chicken that you coat with egg and some sort of breading or flour so that when you cook it correctly you end up with crispy, delicious chicken. I don’t think that there are too many people who don’t like fried chicken unless you don’t eat meat!

It’s so yummy when the skin and the whole outer coating crisp up and you bite into the hot, juicy chicken underneath all of that!

You can use any type of chicken pieces that you want to, white meat or dark meat, thighs, breast meat, wings, with bones or boneless, and even made as chicken nuggets, which is every kid’s yummy delight and every mom’s go-to food when she needs a quick meal for her kids.

Can You Eat Fried Chicken on a Low Carb Diet? 

Fried chicken is a favorite of so many people, we all know how good it is! But as you might expect it is loaded with carbs….for instance, a drumstick and thigh are usually about 16 carbs.  That’s why we came up with a new recipe and our Keto fried chicken is only 2.9 NET Carbs per piece! That’s a big difference in carbs!

Low Carb fried chicken is a good choice for anyone on a Keto diet. It’s very low in carbs and there is almost no recipe that you can’t eat on a keto diet as long as you make it the Keto way. You can actually be on the keto diet and eat fried chicken and feel like you aren’t on a diet at all!

What Ingredients are in Keto Fried Chicken?

Chicken – I prefer dark meat but you can use white meat too, whichever you prefer. You can also choose to use chicken which still has bones or boneless, also whichever you like the best or if you’re like me, I use whatever I have in my house or whatever is on sale.

Almond Flour – Once I found out about almond flour my whole world opened back up to some of the foods that I love but had to give up to be able to eat a low carb diet.

Now I use Almond flour in so many things and I always have at least 2 bags of it in my house at all times in case I feel like making fried chicken or some kind of other delicious cookies or pancakes or pie crust….etc. It’s just made only from ground up almonds and is very low in carbs.

Olive Oil and Lard – I tried a few different things to fry my chicken but what I found works really good is a combo of Lard and olive oil. If you don’t have lard then just use a good extra virgin olive oil.

Spices – Any spices of your choice are ok. A lot of spices, 11 if you want it to taste the famous Kentucky Fried, which are salt, pepper, garlic salt, thyme, basil, oregano, celery salt, dried mustard, paprika, ground mustard.  Or maybe if you want it more simple then just use salt and pepper, garlic powder and parsley the way that we did.  

What Is Low Carb Fried Chicken Breading Made Of?

Usually, fried chicken is made with regular white flour which is high in carbs so we need to find a replacement. 

Almond flour is great for making fried chicken and is made from only ground-up almonds. For ¼ cup, there are about 2 NET Carbs which in turn makes a perfect choice for our Low Carb Chicken.

Here is a tip for all of our gluten-free readers, almond flour is also gluten-free and as a result so is our Keto Fried Chicken.

What Is the Best Flour Substitute for Breading?

From my experience in cooking, we find that almond flour is the best replacement for regular flour, it’s the most versatile in cooking and baking. It’s low carb, 2 NET carbs for every ¼ cup, and made up only from crushed almonds which are good for so many diets. It pretty much measures 1 for 1 like regular flour so it’s the best choice.

Can I Use Buttermilk on Keto?

Using buttermilk on the Keto diet is not acceptable which is high in carbs. There are 12 grams of sugar and 12 grams of carbs in one cup of buttermilk. It’s more the process of making buttermilk which leaves all the sugars, etc which is not good.  If you consume too much of it too often it will spike your blood sugar and kick you out of ketosis.

If you have a recipe that you think needs buttermilk you can make mock buttermilk from heavy whipping cream and vinegar,  instead, you can also substitute with almond milk or ghee which are low carb, low sugar and high in healthy fats.

What Is The Best Oil For Frying Chicken

There are a lot of oils that can be used for frying Chicken, but some of the best ones are olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, sesame oil, and lard….all of which are good for frying. Some oils are more expensive than others so keep this in mind too. 

I personally used a combination of olive oil and lard and also avocado oil with lard. Lard is an old fashioned frying substance that makes fried food taste really good and comes out crispy. It’s odorless and tasteless and it’s really cheap too compared with some oils that can be expensive.  

Best Spice Mixture for Fried Chicken

For our recipe of Keto Fried Chicken, we used just a few spices, which were salt, pepper, garlic powder, and parsley. I wanted to make it with this base of spices but you can certainly use more spices just like a certain man became very famous using more than that.

There are a lot of spices that you can use in Keto Fried Chicken. Some of the best spices you can use with fried chicken are these 11:

• Salt
• Thyme
• Basil
• Oregano
• Celery Salt
• Black Pepper
• Dried Mustard
• Paprika
• Garlic Salt
• Ground Ginger
• White Pepper

So I would say that you could use all of these spices or any of these spices. Even Colonel Sanders made a fortune selling fried chicken with 11 herbs and spices so feel free to experiment with some. If you like it a little more plain tasting, then just add salt and pepper.

Which Parts of the Chicken are Best for Frying?

What’s nice about chicken is that you can use the whole chicken for frying. Each and every part of the chicken is usable and delicious to eat, the white meat for those who prefer that and dark meat who prefer that, after all, who doesn’t love a good fried drumstick or fried chicken wings!!!

Even though I will eat any piece of fried chicken I love the dark meat, drumsticks and thighs and of course wings are the best.

Should I Leave the Skin On or Off?

Whether or not you leave the skin on the chicken before you coat it and fry it is a personal choice, just the same as it’s a personal choice which type of chicken that you use to make your Keto/Fried Chicken.

My personal favorites are the drumsticks and the thighs and the wings with the skin left on. I feel that when the skin is on the chicken comes out crispier and juicier.

Some people don’t like to eat the skin on the chicken, maybe because they think it’s more fattening, but when you are eating fried chicken on keto you need some fat in order to lose weight. So if you like the skin on the chicken go ahead and eat it. 

Pan Frying vs. Deep Frying Chicken

When you make your Keto Fried Chicken you can either pan-fry it or deep fry it, it’s up to you. I have done it both ways and it comes out equally as good. 

The main takeaway is if you pan-fry your chicken you use less oil and if you deep fry then you use more oil. 

If I have enough oil or lard in the house I will typically deep-fry the chicken because it takes less time to cook that way because it’s totally covered in the oil, cooking both sides at once.

Yes, you will have to buy more oil if you decide to deep-fry your chicken but it’s worth it because deep-frying makes the fried chicken taste better. When you pan fry or deep fry the chicken, either way, it will make your kitchen smell like fried food so in that regard it won’t matter which way you cook it.

Do You Cook Chicken Before Deep Frying?

When you are making Fried Chicken you may wonder if you have to pre-cook the chicken first before frying it since chicken is one of those meats that need to be cooked thoroughly.

However, there is no need to par-cook your chicken before you deep fry it because when you deep fry it, the oil is so hot that it cooks the chicken all the way through.

How Long Does Chicken Take To Fry?

If you totally cover the chicken in the oil, deep-frying it, your Keto Chicken will take about 10-15 minutes to get nice and crispy. If you fry it and only the bottom half of the piece is in the hot oil and the top half is exposed to the air, then your pieces of chicken will take about 20 minutes to get done.

What Temperature Do You Fry Chicken At?

If you have never made fried chicken at home before you may be wondering what temperature is good for frying it at. If you cook at it too high of a temperature then it will cook too fast and can get too dark or burn.

If the temperature is not high enough then it won’t crisp up too good and it will take a lot longer to cook. After trying it a bunch of times, in my opinion, 350 degrees is the best temperature, for both white meat and for dark meat.

How to Make Keto Fried Chicken

Our goal here is to pass along our experience in making Keto Fried Chicken and to give you step by step instructions so that you will be able to make it as easy as possible. Just follow these simple instructions…

The first thing to do is to rinse your chicken in cold water. Pat dry.

Make your egg mixture by beating the eggs with a fork in a bowl.

Next, put your almond flour in a bowl and add the spices, salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley. (If you want to add other spices from the previously mentioned list you can. You can add cayenne pepper to add some heat).

Now dip your chicken pieces in the egg and then the almond flour.

For extra coating, repeat this process again with egg and then flour. Now set aside on a dish.

When all of the chicken is coated, get ready to fry it, by placing the chicken in hot olive oil or melted lard or whatever other oil that you choose to use and fry until golden brown.

You can use any frying pan, but if you have a dutch oven, use it because of its tall sides it will keep your splatter down plus they do such a good job frying food because it regulates the temperature well.

Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature of the oil. That’s one of the secrets to getting crispy Keto fried chicken. The temperature of the oil should be 350-375 degrees and when you add the cold chicken the temperature will automatically drop to 300-325 degrees which is ok to fry it at.

Cook the chicken until golden brown on all sides, about 10-12 minutes making sure that the internal temperature is around 170 degrees. That will make sure the outside is crispy, but the inside juicy!

Remove and place on paper towels to absorb the grease.

Best Tips for Making Keto Fried Chicken 

Here are some of the most important tips we found to help you make the best Keto Fried Chicken:

Use whatever part of the chicken that you like, white meat or dark meat. They both can be used to make Fried Chicken but I think using thighs make for juicier chicken. You can buy the pieces already cut or you can buy a whole chicken and cut it up in pieces yourself.

You can make your almond flour mixture better by adding some spices of your choice to it and put it in an air-tight container and store it in the refrigerator so that when you want to make Keto Fried Chicken the flour will be ready to use. 

In order to get the oil at the right temperature, use a thermometer so that it will take the guesswork out of the process. Don’t rush your chicken or else it will overcook on the outside and undercook on the inside.

Use a thermometer to also test the temperature of the chicken to assure it’s done.

Frying your Keto Fried Chicken on the stove in a dutch oven makes good fried chicken because first of all it’s cast iron which is great for frying food because of how it conducts the heat, plus it’s deeper with tall sides which will keep your splatter to a minimum.

How to Keep Fried Chicken Juicy

No one likes dried out chicken….. so you may worry about how to keep it juicy. The best way we’ve found is to use a thermometer and make sure the oil does not exceed 350 degrees and that your chicken does not exceed 175 degrees. It will come out juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside….yummy!  

If you cook it longer the chicken will begin to dry out and be overcooked.

How Can I Make Fried Chicken Crispier?

If you have a cast-iron frying pan or a dutch oven then those are the best for making your crispy Keto Fried Chicken. They both conduct the heat evenly so that your chicken will not burn and remain juicy.

Once your chicken is done then place it on a cooling rack over a baking sheet lined with paper towels to catch the oil. By doing this the breading will remain crispier.

Another way to make crispy chicken is to use whey protein isolate instead of almond flour or pork rinds or parmesan. It sticks to the chicken well, bubbles up in the hot oil and is super crispy when eaten.

How to Not Burn Fried Chicken

From my experience in making Low Carb Fried Chicken, in order for your chicken not to burn, the secret is making sure that the temperature of the oil is not too hot. It should be around 350 degrees at first and when you add the cold chicken the temperature of the oil will drop to 325 degrees which is perfect,

Otherwise, if the oil is too hot, like 375 degrees, your chicken will cook too fast and as a result, it will burn too.

How Can I Keep the Breading from Falling Off the Chicken and Stick?

One of the first things that you need to do to make sure that your breading sticks to your chicken, is to make sure that you dry off the chicken well before breading it. If you don’t, the egg will not stick to it and as a result then your breading will not stick to it.

Make sure that you do not overcrowd your pan. If the pieces of chicken are rubbing against one another it can loosen up the coating that you worked hard to put on.

If you need to turn over the chicken during the frying process only do it once….the less you flip it the better your breading will stick to your chicken.

You can also double bread the chicken so that if a little breading falls off in the cooking process then you will still have some on there as a backup.

Can You Make Fried Chicken in the Oven?

What if you want to make Keto Fried Chicken but you do not want to fry it on the stove? To answer the question that you are probably wondering about….yes you can make your fried chicken in the oven.

The benefit would be that you do not have the frying mess on your stove with the oil splattering on your stove and on your shirt, and it’s easy to control the temperature. Just set it and you’re all set for the duration of the cooking time.

Just prepare it the same way with the almond flour mixture and eggs and place it on a cookie sheet lined with a piece of parchment paper, which will not only make it easier for cleaning up but will also help crisp up your chicken.  

Bake the chicken at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes or until crispy. If you want it to be crispier then turn on the broiler for a minute or two but be careful not to burn it.

Can I Use an Air Fryer?

If you don’t want to fry your Keto Fried Chicken on the stove or bake it in the oven, you can use an air fryer. This recipe is perfect for making fried chicken in an air fryer, with a slight change to some of the ingredients.

Some people make Low Carb/Keto Fried Chicken with an ingredient called whey protein isolate to make the chicken crispy but if you want to use whey protein you need to fry it the old fashioned way on the stove in hot oil. 

When you use the whey protein in the air fryer the powder gets hard but not crispy. It’s the hot oil that activates the powder so if you want to use the air fryer then you can’t use the whey protein, instead use almond flour to coat your chicken. That way it will remain tender and juicy. 

• To cook the chicken in the air-fryer preheat it to 400 degrees.
• Place the coated chicken single layer in the air-fryer basket, spray the chicken with cooking spray and cook for about 10 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. 
• Take it out and drain it on paper towels or on a rack on top of a baking sheet lined with paper towels to collect the drippings.

Do I Have To Check The Internal Temperature of Fried Chicken?

Some people say that if you check the temperature of the oil and cook the chicken for a certain amount of minutes, then your chicken is done but I like to play it safe. When dealing with meat, especially chicken it is always best to check the internal temperature of it with a thermometer.

Fried chicken should reach 165-175 degrees Fahrenheit at the thickest part of the chicken to make sure it’s good to eat. That way you know for sure that your chicken is cooked properly and won’t create any problems.

What Do I Do With The Leftover Oil?

Once you finish cooking Keto Fried Chicken you may wonder what you can do with the leftover oil. No worries….

The first thing to remember is don’t ever pour it down the drain in your kitchen sink!! That will give you a big clog in your pipes and cause big problems. 

When I am done cooking with the oil I throw it away by putting it in an old plastic container or glass jar and then discard it in the garbage. Just don’t do it while the oil is still hot. Let it cool off or else it will melt your container and you will have a big problem because the oil can spill all over and make a big mess.

And if you pour the oil outside it will attract all kinds of pests so that’s not a good idea either.

Some people say to strain the oil and then pour it back in its original bottle and refrigerate it for later use. They say that you can reuse it again to fry things in 3-4 times before you can throw it out. 

Personally I do not like to do that. I feel to be on the safe side it’s better to throw it away after every use. That way you are starting with fresh oil and your chicken will taste fresh instead of possible having a slight rancid taste. 

Different Variations of Keto Fried Chicken

Another delicious variation of this Fried Chicken is to add crushed pork rinds into the almond flour and use a combination of the 2 things together. The pork rinds add a little more crunch to your fried chicken. 

Or if you have a nut allergy then it’s ok to just use the pork rinds without the almond flour.

Parmesan cheese can also be added to the almond flour or to the pork rinds which also will help your chicken to come out crispy.

Another coating to put on chicken instead of almond flour, pork rinds or parmesan cheese is whey protein isolate. It sticks to the chicken and makes the chicken real crispy.

If your breading is too bland then just add some hot pepper of some sort to the breading and then you will have spicy chicken!

Try experimenting with different spices to see which ones that you like too. Add some of those 11 herbs and spices to take on a southern fried chicken flavor.

Other Diets This Recipe is Good For

Gluten-Free – This low carb fried chicken is also good for people who have a gluten allergy. My friend who gets very ill not only eating anything with gluten but also touching anything with gluten, can very happily eat my fried chicken without any problems. It’s recipes like this one that makes her feel like she doesn’t have to miss out on all the foods that she loves. 

What to Serve with Low Carb Fried Chicken

Well, when I make this Keto Fried Chicken in the Summer it makes me think of having our low carb coleslaw and a tossed green salad. If I make it in Fall or Winter, then I would make some hot vegetables, possibly some roasted broccoli and cheese sauce or mashed cauliflower which mimics mashed potatoes. 

If you are looking for something that resembles french fries with your chicken you can make some fried zucchini that give you that fried food feel. 

The best sidedish combo with fried chicken to me though is mac and cheese. There is no meal more perfect than this! Grab a bowl of our delicious Keto mac and cheese and you’ll be in heaven!

Best Dipping Sauces for Fried Chicken

If you are like Stephanie, she likes ketchup on her fried chicken. You can certainly buy low carb ketchup to use or even make your own!

Or if you are like my daughter and son in law, they put BBQ sauce on everything, fried chicken is one of the many things. We have a delicious low carb sugar-free BBQ sauce on our website that is easy to make and delicious to eat and the best part is that you can make a batch and keep it in your refrigerator for months and pull it out every time you want to use it.

Another great sauce that my husband makes to go with a lot of things is a sauce made of equal parts of mayo and stone-ground mustard with some fresh dill blended in.

And one other stand by that Stephanie likes to make which goes with chicken is tzatziki sauce.

Can I Make Keto Fried Chicken Ahead?

If you have time the day ahead before you want to serve your Keto Fried Chicken, then go ahead and make it and store it in the refrigerator on paper towels lined inside a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid. The lid will keep it fresh and the paper towels will absorb any excess moisture. 

How to Store Fried Chicken 

The best way to store Low Carb Fried Chicken is to place your leftovers in a big Ziploc bag, zipped shut tightly, or in a plastic container with the lid snapped on tightly. To avoid moisture in the container with the chicken just line it with paper towels to absorb any condensation to keep your chicken crispier. 

So whichever one you choose just make sure it’s securely shut to keep your chicken as fresh as possible. If done properly your chicken will last about 5 days in the refrigerator.

How to Reheat Fried Chicken

You may wonder if you have any leftover chicken, what is the best way to reheat low carb fried chicken? It’s very simple, just place your piece or pieces of chicken on a cookie sheet and put it into the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 min or so. 

Or if you have a toaster oven you can also use that, especially if you have only one or two pieces of chicken to heat up you don’t have to heat up a big oven for such a big amount of food. In the summer this is especially good because of the heat that comes from the big oven that can heat up your kitchen, so the toaster oven will not heat your kitchen up, and save electricity too. 

You can also use the microwave if you need a quick heat up, which only takes about 1-2 minutes.  

How Do You Make Fried Chicken Crispy Again?

If you have leftover fried chicken then pop it into the oven on a cookie sheet and heat it up for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. If it isn’t crispy enough then you can always put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes, but watch it carefully so as not to burn it.

Can You Freeze Fried Chicken?

I love leftovers. So if you are like me when you have leftover Keto Fried Chicken, the perfect way to have it another time is to freeze it.

Wrap your chicken in plastic Ziploc freezer baggies or in airtight plastic containers and it will stay fresh in the freezer for 6 months.

When you take it out of the freezer do not thaw it out, place it from the freezer right onto your cookie sheet or baking tray and heat at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, depending on how hot your oven runs, you may have to adjust the timing. Just keep your eye on it so that it doesn’t burn.

More Keto Chicken Recipes

If you’re in the mood for some other Low Carb Chicken recipes then try our:

• Keto Chicken Nuggets
• Greek Chicken Bowls
• Tandoori Chicken Masala Wraps

They all are Keto-friendly and low carb, and will be a hit at your next party!

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