Discover 4 clever ways to make EASY keto chicken drumstick recipes for dinner tonight.
All recipes are kid-approved and are a cheap family-friendly chicken dinner when you're busy.
Learn how to make easy keto chicken flavored with Mexican, Indian, Chinese, or Italian spice rubs.
Chicken is the perfect high-protein and low-fat meal or snack. To make a quick and easy cheap chicken dinner tonight, you can use chicken thighs, chicken breast, or drumsticks.
To make this a completely healthy balanced meal, add a delicious side salad with plenty of mayonnaise and you instantly have an amazingly quick and easy low-carb healthy fat meal.
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Is chicken keto?
Chicken is a versatile and filling source of complete protein.
The nutritional values of chicken depend on which part of the chicken you are cooking. Some areas of the meat will have higher fat content and contain chicken skin, dark parts will have higher iron and the chicken breast has the least fat.
| Per 100g (3.5oz) | Net Carbs | Protein | Fat | Calories |
| Chicken breast, skinless | 0 | 30.9g | 4.5g | 173 |
| Chicken drumstick, skin eaten | 0 | 27.3g | 10g | 206 |
| Chicken drumstick, skinless | 0 | 24.2g | 5.7g | 155 |
| Chicken skin | 0 | 20.4g | 40.7g | 454 |
| Chicken thigh, skin eaten | 0 | 28.2g | 13.2g | 239 |
| Chicken thigh, skinless | 0 | 27.7g | 6g | 173 |
| Chicken wing, skin eaten | 0 | 23.8g | 16.9g | 354 |
Chicken recipes (for picky eaters)
If you have picky eaters it can sometimes be hard to please everybody, but these keto chicken drumsticks are an easy meal or snack the entire family will love.
There are 4 simple flavors. Mexican, Indian, Chinese, and Italian. All you have to do is mix the spices and rub them over the chicken drumsticks.
You can even use chicken wings, chicken thighs, or chicken breast meat. Use whatever cut you have on hand!
More chicken dinner recipes for picky eaters
These are a few of the most popular delicious keto chicken recipes that kids love and they are perfect for your keto diet too.
- 21 easy tasty low-carb chicken recipes - you'll find more ideas with grilled chicken recipes, ground chicken recipes, and even stuffed chicken recipes too.
- Gluten-free keto chicken nuggets -
- Keto fried chicken (KFC) - the perfect healthy fried chicken.
- Low-carb chicken burrito - replace your fast food burrito with this easy keto chicken dinner.
Perfect school lunchbox filler
As a busy mum, I am always trying to find quick and easy snack ideas and lunchbox fillers for my 3 children. This keto chicken recipe is perfect for any fussy eater and leftover cooked chicken is the perfect healthy lunchbox meal prep.
Simply make them their favorite flavored low-carb chicken, or even better, ask them to invent a new spice rub, and keep that chicken drumstick just for them.
Chicken is perfect for the lunch box. Chicken drumsticks are sturdy and can be enjoyed hot or cold. Simply add a few lettuce leaves along the bottom of an airtight container, then pop the keto chicken on top.
If you want more healthy lunchbox ideas, head over to my Lunchbox Hacks Group. I post all my lunchbox recipes there.
Ingredients you need
All quantities, ingredients, and instructions are in the recipe card below.
Let's get started on how to make this yummy keto chicken. For each of these variations, you'll need:
- Chicken - I used drumsticks but you can easily substitute for a chicken breast or chicken thighs, depending on what you have on hand.
- Coconut oil - I find this gives the chicken the best flavour along with a nice crispy taste. You can also use olive oil or another kind too.
I'm going to break it down by spice rubs since that's what differentiates the flavor of this cooked chicken.
- Indian spice - you'll want to have curry paste and tumeric on-hand.
- Italian spice rub - easy to make with dried rosemary and thyme.
- Mexican spice - coriander seeds, cumin, and chili powder give plenty of spice.
- Chinese rub - five spice + ground cinnamon are absolutely delicious.
Instructions
All quantities, ingredients, and instructions are in the recipe card below.
So many readers are asking me for easy recipes for those of you who don't know how to cook, or don't want to cook. This recipe is perfect for beginners and perfect for a cheap easy mid-week meal.
STEP 1: Make your spice rub.
Melt your coconut oil in a small mixing bowl. Then, choose which spice mix you'll be enjoying. Add the spices to the coconut oil, and mix well.
STEP 2: Cover your chicken.
Brush, spread, rub or pour the spice mix over each piece of chicken.
STEP 2: Cook your chicken.
Place the meat into a greased baking dish or baking sheet. Rub on the oil and spice mixture all over the chicken. Bake until completely cooked in the center then enjoy!
Simply throw everything in the oven, and whilst they are cooking, you can open a bag of pre-made salad and pour some homemade 1-minute mayonnaise over.
A simple keto dinner filled with real food that's easy enough to put together even on busy weeknights. Plus, it's delicious!
This bone-in keto chicken is so easy to make!
Storage
Once you make this keto chicken, it can be stored in a zip-topped bag or a glass airtight container. It will keep for 2-3 days in the fridge.
You can also store this low-carb chicken in the freezer. For best flavor, I recommend eating within 2 months.
Another option is to pull the meat off the bones and turn it into shredded chicken. The meat can be stored in the freezer in zip-topped baggies.
What to serve with low carb chicken
Part of why these easy keto chicken recipes are my go-to is because they are incredibly versatile!
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.
To make a meal, you can simply roast some veggies like cauliflower or broccoli with salt and pepper and a bit of garlic. It's simple but it's got great flavor!
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
FAQs
Prefer to make this a grilled chicken recipe? No problem. Prepare the meat as directed, but instead of baking it, add it to your grill or bbq.
I cook it over medium-high heat. Your cook time will vary depending on your grill. Keep a close eye and cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 Fahrenheit (74 Celcius).
This chicken recipe tastes fantastic as-is thanks to the spice rubs. But if you (or more likely, your kid) wants something to dip it in, here are a few options that still have low net carbs.
- Buffalo sauce
- Creamy mushroom sauce
- Cream sauce (make this delicious creamed low-carb Brussels sprouts recipe and dip the chicken into the creamy sauce)
- Sugar free ketchup
- Homemade mayo
- Melted cream cheese sauce (feel free to mix in a handful of your favorite cheese - cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese work well for a low carb version of cheesy sauce)
Get more options for low-carb sauces here.
Yes! This recipe will work well for chicken thighs, chicken breasts, and even wings. I prefer the taste of dark meat but choose your favorite and your whole family will enjoy.
If you are on a keto diet and want higher fat chicken, keep the skin on and serve with a creamy sauce.
If you are, however, on a low-fat diet and want low-fat chicken, remove the skin and any visible fat.
For dinner, avoid the high-carb side dishes such as garlic bread, potatoes, rice, or pasta. Instead, serve with coleslaw, keto garlic bread, mashed cauliflower, cauliflower rice or turn it into an avocado chicken salad for lunch.
If you prefer fried chicken, cook the low-carb chicken in your air fryer. until golden on the outside and fully cooked into the center. Cooking times will vary depending on the size of your air fryer, the amount of chicken you are cooking, and the space between each chicken. Read more: How to use your air fryer (and printable cooking charts).
You can eat plenty of cooked chicken on your keto diet. Use the free macro calculator to calculate your protein needs.
I hope your whole family enjoys this delicious meal like mine does. This is one of the best keto chicken recipes I've ever made to this day. Eat it in good health!
📖 Recipe
4 Keto Chicken Drumstick Recipes
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Ingredients
- 8 chicken drumsticks (2 per person)
- your choice of spice rub
Indian Spice Rub - enough to cover 8 chicken drumsticks
- 2 teaspoon curry paste/powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil melted
Italian Spice Rub - enough to cover 8 chicken drumsticks
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil melted
Mexican Spice Rub - enough to cover 8 chicken drumsticks
- 1 teaspoon dried coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon chilli powder to taste
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil melted
Chinese Spice Rub - enough to cover 8 chicken drumsticks
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil melted
Instructions
- Pour some melted coconut oil (or oil of choice) into a large baking dish.
- Choose which spice rub you will make and place all the spices and melted coconut oil in a small cup. Mix.
- Place the chicken drumsticks into the oiled baking dish and sprinkle/rub the spice mix all over the chicken pieces.
- Bake at 180C/350F for 20 minutes, or until cooked thoroughly.
Notes
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.
Katie
Throw away your take-out menus with these idiot-proof chicken drumsticks. My picky kids ate every-single-one! Are you a magician Libby? Because all your healthy recipes are pure magic!
Libby Jenkinson
Oh man, this is exactly the review I needed to read today, you made me giggle I almost spat out my tea! Big hugs to your picky kids, I love helping with easy family meals (that kids actually eat).
Marsha
I had 6 wings in the freezer so I separated the wing from the drumette and made one batch of Italian and one of the Mexican and tosses them in the air fryer. I did omit the coconut oil tho. Cooked for 20 minutes at 380F and flipped after 10 minutes. Cooked in two batched so the wings weren't too crowded and cooked more even. Very tasty and crispy skins. I'll have to try the other two on the drumsticks I have in the freezer