So many parents have requested a recipe for healthy chicken nuggets. Parents are looking for a recipe that is lower in carbs, gluten-free and made with real chicken and healthy fats.
Your children will love this quick and easy recipe. In fact, make double do you have some leftovers ready for your school lunch boxes the next day.
If you've been looking for a healthier low-carb lunch for yourself or the kiddos, these are PERFECT! Pair with our sugar-free Instant Pot ketchup recipe or a keto chicken side dish, and everyone will be happy.
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Low-Carb Chicken Nuggets
I already have bacon-wrapped chicken nuggets, but they aren't crumbed with a crispy coating. That recipe is simple chicken strips, wrapped in delicious streaky bacon.
Super easy and super tasty, but some kids just cannot be fobbed off with that. They want the real thing that is fried, coated and full of flavour (albeit artificial ones their taste buds have become accustomed to).
If you really want to discover why most processed chicken nuggets need to be avoided, read this post and the 3 main health concerns surrounding chicken nuggets.
For those of you, whose children live on chicken nuggets and you are desperate to wean them off, you need to make this recipe.
After much trial and error, the trick to ensure the almond flour coating sticks to the chicken is to whisk the egg with plenty of olive oil. This allows the coating to adhere beautifully, and the addition of the extra oil allows the healthy chicken nuggets to have that deep-fried taste children love.
Gluten-Free Chicken Nuggets
Whilst developing this recipe, I manage to ensure it works using almond flour/meal OR coconut flour. So this child-friendly recipe can cater for many allergies or intolerances.
My 9-year old's primary school has a nut-free policy, so he is delighted to be allowed to take these to school when I make them with coconut flour.
Instructions
1: Dip each piece of chicken meat into the oil and egg mixture. This is the secret to making the batter stick and give it the real deep-fried texture that kiddos love.
2: Lift each chicken piece out of the egg and oil mixture and roll in the almond flour or coconut flour coating.
3: Begin to heat the oil in your frying pan while you coat all of the low-carb chicken nugget pieces with the tasty almond flour crust, ready to cook.
4: Gently fry the healthy chicken nuggets until golden and each one is cooked thoroughly in the centre.
How to use an air fryer
Using an air fryer to cook homemade chicken nuggets, makes for a quick and easy mid-week family dinner.
- Preheat to 190C/375F.
- Spray the wire basket with cooking oil.
- Gently place each chicken piece into the oiled basket. Ensure there is plenty of space between them.
- Cook for 5 minutes, open the drawer and turn each piece.
- Cook for a further 5-7 minutes, depending on the size of pieces being cooked. Chicken must be completely cooked into the centre of each piece.
If you love using your air fryer, I have 101 keto air fryer recipes for you to choose from (chicken, pork, ground beef, salmon, vegetables, and even desserts). Discover how to use your air fryer plus FREE printable air fryer cooking cheat sheets.
You can also cook air fryer chicken wings, air fryer pork chops, air fryer pork rinds, and of course bacon in your air fryer too.
Healthy lunchbox fillers
Easy to make, super nutritious, high in protein, gluten-free, healthy oils and super tasty - what's not to love about these?
Best keto side dishes to serve with chicken
There are so many delicious low-carb and keto side dishes to serve with chicken. Chicken is a versatile family-friendly dinner and so you need to choose quick and easy healthy side dishes the whole family will love.
Here are some of my favorite keto side dishes to serve with chicken.
- Cheesy keto garlic bread
- Easy mashed cauliflower
- The best low-carb bread, pasta, and potato substitutes
- Low-carb keto almond flour bread
- Baked cheesy broccoli and cauliflower
📖 Recipe
Please rate this recipe.
Keto Chicken Nuggets Recipe
Recipe Video
Calculate ingredients
Ingredients
First bowl
- 1 eggs - medium whisked
- 4 tablespoon oil of choice
Second bowl
- 850 g (1.9 lb) chicken breasts
- 100 g (1 cups) almond meal/flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion flakes
Instructions
First bowl
- Mix the egg and oil together with a fork.
Second bowl
- Mix the almond flour (alternatively use ⅓ cup coconut flour), salt, garlic and onion together.
- Cut the chicken breast into strips or nuggets sized pieces. Dip each on in the egg/oil mixture then dip it in the coating and cover fully.
- Fry each chicken nugget in oil on both sides, until golden and cooked thoroughly in the centre.
- Alternatively, you can bake these on a lined baking tray at 180C/350F for 10-15 minutes.
- Serve with salsa, sugar free tomato sauce or garlic mayonnaise.
Notes
5-INGREDIENTS COOKBOOK
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YOUR HOLIDAY PANTRY & GIFT GUIDES
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Approximate nutrition information is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. For the most accurate nutritional data, use the actual ingredients and brands you used in your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Kristen
Will these turn out much better (browner & cripier) if pan fried rather than air fried? I could do either way and want to get the best result. Also, have you tried them with thighs?
Libby Jenkinson
Low-carb chicken nuggets that have been pan-fried in oil probably give a slightly better result. Browner and crispier, but the downside is you have to keep a close eye on them and flip them which risks losing some of the coatings.
Erica Lee
Who knows if there is any worthy content here, there are so many ads you can’t even get to the content!
Seriously, I understand this is a source of income but you lost a reader of your blog because there is an ad every 4 sentences. It’s very frustrating.
Libby Jenkinson
I’m sorry the adverts are sometimes intrusive, unfortunately, they are necessary to meet the ever-increasing costs of running a FREE website. Video production, email providers, staff costs, recipe development, running free support groups and providing over 400+ free low-carb and keto recipes and articles. You may wish to join Ditch The Carbs PRO which is entirely ADVERT FREE!!!! Yay. Plus you get instant access to our famous mini-challenges, 4-week course, cheat sheets, templates and free eBooks. You can join us here for an advert-free experience.
Zeljka
What can I use instead of onion flakes?
Thank you
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
If onion flakes don't appeal to you (however this is what makes the recipe so flavoursome), you could perhaps use garlic or even a pinch of chilli would do brilliantly.
Candy
Can I use an hairdryer for these?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
I think autocorrect has gone haywire with your question. I am guessing you meant to say air fryer? Then yes, this would work.
Jacqueline
1 serving = 1 nugget is 445 kal?
Really? I hope you will correct it.
Rebecca
Can you pls just show the US & Metric measurements. Easier for us users of the recipes because when you save & print the recipe it reverts to metric. Easier to just display both measurements. Thank you!
Ross
This is a good base recipe to start with.
I ran out of egg/oil mix and almond flour. Needed 2 eggs and another 1/2 cup of almond meal.
The first batch took 30 minutes to cook in the oven at 180c/350F and were still white.
I cooked the second batch at 230c/450F for 20 minutes and they came out much better.
Jacky
Our 11yr old vegetarian visitor loved her haloumi cheese breaded this way. Thanks again Libby
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Oh my word - I absolutely LOVE fried halloumi. I have never thought of using it this way. I'll certainly be trying this next!
Ju
Do you think these will freeze well after cooking? Want to have a batch ready to just grab and warm up.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Yes they freeze well, but the coating sometimes has a tendency to fall off slightly. A great grab'n'go meal to have on hand.
Holly
Followed directions to a t. Turned out white and pal. Used coconut flour. Brushed them with oil to see if the will brown.Tate good.
Rachel
How did you follow this recipe to a t if you didn’t use the right flour?? Lol
Christina
Probably because the information leading up to the recipe card states you can use coconut flour instead of almond flour. 🙂
Jacqui
Would you mind telling me the best way to store these when you send off for school lunches? My youngest is so picky and when I’ve tried to pack breaded chicken for her lunch, the crumb goes quite soft and mushy in her lunchbox by the time she gets to eat it. Thanks!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
I love little mini airtight containers like these ones - number 6 in Healthy Lunchbox Gadgets. You can buy an insulated lunch box and place a freezer block inside, but it really depends on what your children are used to. My children prefer not to have a cold lunch box because of the condensation that builds up inside and out. You could try partially freezing them, so by lunch time the are defrosted, yet cool. That would also help keep the rest of the lunch box cool.
Lisa
Greek yoghurt works well
Elisabeth
Can you taste the almond flour? If yes, is there any neutral tasting flour I can use instead?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
If you don't like the taste of almond meal/flour, you could use coconut flour, but you would only need 1/3- 1/2 the quantity. Both of these flours have a subtle taste, so flavour heavily if you prefer not to taste them.
brenda J hardie
I made these today for my son who loves the processed chicken strips/nuggets. I cut the chicken when it was partly frozen for ease of cutting, and fried them. Then I put the in the oven to bake another 15 minutes because I had started with partly frozen meat.
They were moist and tasty, but the coating is very soft. I was hoping they would have a bit of crunch. Do folks find them crunchy at all? Or are mine turning out like everyone else's, even with my modification?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Partly frozen meat will have a high moisture content. I would never recommend cooking with frozen meat, especially chicken for health reasons. Try using defrosted meat next time, thin strips as shown, I'm sure you will have a better result 🙂
G
This is probably a stupid question, but for the nutrition label, is that for each nugget?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Not a silly question at all. The recipe serves 6 so it is 1/6 of the recipe. It is up to you how big or small you cut the chicken pieces. 🙂
Mona liza
Hi I have a son who has egg allergies, is there something else I could use instead of egg?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Yes, you could roll the chicken pieces in oil first. This would allow the coating to adhere to the chicken.
Lynn
What oil do you fry them in? Can you fry in butter?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
I like to use butter or coconut oil. I don't fry them at super high temperatures so either of those work well, especially important without burning the butter.
emma
hi, would I be able to cokk and then freeze, I love chicken nuggets for the convenience but need this healthier alternative!!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Yes these can be frozen in an airtight container. Defrost then bake or fry to re-heat.
Lindsay Kotouch
Just tried these for dinner, though I didn't have any chicken so I used a couple of ahi tuna steaks I had in the freezer instead. Also used one of my failed attempts at the mayo for a sauce, though I wish I had some lemon to add to it. Very tasty and filling.
Joseph
Great recipe, we tried this the other night (my minor modification was to add Paprika 🙂 ) complete success ! Our 8 yr old loved them, without any sauce at all 🙂 This is a real winner, thanks
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Oooh, paprika, I hadn't thought of that. So glad your 8 year old loved them. 🙂 I love hearing this.
Nadine
Hi! I don't actually see the Nutritional Panel. Could you post or direct me to its location? Thank you so much! LOVE your recipes!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
There was a glitch last night and they all disappeared! As if by magic, they are back today (puts technical hat away). Enjoy 🙂
Kareena Hodgson
So I'm pretty new to low carb cooking, previously ate way too much processed food and a firm favourite for me and my husband was breaded chicken. I made these yesterday with almond flour, added a little paprika and baked them - they were gorgeous, tasty, and had a great texture. I will definitely be making more and experimenting with other spices along with the almond flour.
Thank you for this recipe!
Karena
What does LCHF stand for
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Low Carb Healthy Fat (Or Low Carb High Fat). Apologies, I should have made this clearer for those of you who are new here. Take a look at this page to get started. Welcome, Libby 🙂
Mandy
When baking, do you use parchment paper? Do you need to flip halfway through? Thank you for the recipe, I will definitely try!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
You don't actually need to flip them halfway, but it would make them crisp on both sides.