Keto Fried Chicken

When you’re craving fried chicken on the keto diet, you can’t exactly hit up the KFC or Popeye’s drive-thru. All that fried chicken is breaded with wheat flour, making it off-limits for anyone on a low-carb diet. Luckily, you can make homemade keto fried chicken that’s free of foods to avoid on the keto diet, like milk, grains and processed foods. We fry our chicken with almond flour and Parmesan cheese—a keto-friendly coating that turns out every bit as crispy as traditional fried chicken.

Ingredients for Keto Fried Chicken

• Chicken: You can use any bone-in chicken, like chicken breasts, wings, drumsticks or thighs. If you want a combination of dark and white meat, cut up a whole chicken.
• Eggs and cream: Eggs and heavy whipping cream help the coating stick to the chicken.
• Almond flour coating: Almond flour fried chicken tastes just as good as traditional fried chicken. We also add Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt, paprika, dried thyme and pepper to the flour.
• Oil for frying: This isn’t the time to reach for butter! You want to use an oil with a higher smoke point, like safflower oil (one of the healthiest oils for frying).

Directions

Step 1: Dredge the chicken

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In a shallow dish, whisk the cream, eggs, salt and pepper. In another shallow bowl, combine the almond flour, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Dip the chicken in the cream mixture, then dip it in the almond flour coating and coat both sides. Shake off the excess flour.

Step 2: Rest the chicken

Arrange the chicken on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Let stand 30 minutes.

Step 3: Deep-fry the chicken

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In an electric skillet or deep fryer, heat the oil to 375°F. Fry the chicken, several pieces at a time, until the chicken is golden brown and the juices run clear, six to seven minutes on each side. Drain the chicken on paper towels before serving.

Editor’s Tip: If the coating looks finished but the chicken isn’t cooked through, transfer it to a wire rack set inside a baking sheet. Bake the chicken in a 350° oven until it reaches an internal temperature of 165° for white meat and 175° for dark meat.

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Recipe Variations

• Change the seasoning: You can season the almond flour with the herbs and spices from your favorite fried chicken recipes, including the not-so-secret seasoning blend from this copycat KFC fried chicken recipe.
• Add crunch: Give the chicken a crunchy boost with keto bread crumbs or finely crushed pork rinds.

How to Store Keto Fried Chicken

Keto fried chicken is best enjoyed fresh out of the fryer, as the breading will become very soft in the refrigerator. If you do have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator, where they’ll be good for up to four days.

Keto Fried Chicken Tips

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Is fried chicken keto?

Most fried chicken is not keto because the coating contains milk and wheat flour. We make this almond flour fried chicken with a grain-free coating to keep it keto-friendly. We also use heavy cream and eggs instead of milk or buttermilk in the dredging process.

How do you keep the coating from falling off keto fried chicken?

Rest the chicken for 30 minutes after adding the almond flour coating to ensure it will stay on the chicken. The coating is a little delicate, and this resting step allows the flour to hydrate and firm up around the chicken. Then, handle the chicken with care. Don’t grip it too firmly with the tongs or you might tear the coating right off.

Can you make keto fried chicken in the oven or air fryer?

We make deep-fried keto fried chicken, but you can make this recipe in the oven or air fryer. Try baking the chicken in a 400° oven, as with this southern-style oven-fried chicken, or in a 375° air fryer for air-fryer fried chicken.