This succulent homemade Keto Fried Chicken recipe is perfectly crispy and crunchy with not-so-secret herbs and spices.
If you like your fried chicken with a bit of bite try making our Keto hot and spicy fried chicken recipe.
Keto Fried Chicken tastes excellent with a low-carb side dish of Cauliflower Mash.
This keto fried chicken recipe makes use of our deep fryer that we use to cook our Low Carb Buffalo Wings.
Check out our article on the Best Deep Fryer Oils for recommendations on oils and fats.
Keto Fried Chicken
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Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken thigh fillets
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp celery salt
- 1/2 tsp hot chilli powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp Heavy Cream
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 1/2 cup parmesan finely grated
Instructions
- Cut each chicken thigh fillet into 3 evenly sized pieces and place into a bowl.
- Coat chicken in garlic powder, celery salt, hot chilli powder and dried oregano, mixing well to ensure all the chicken is covered. Leave to marinate for half an hour.
- Meanwhile whisk the eggs and cream together. In a separate bowl, combine the almond flour and powdered parmesan, then pour onto a tray ready to bread the chicken.
- Turn the deep fryer to 180 degrees Celsius and allow to heat up.
- Dip each piece of chicken in the egg mix and the roll in the almond meal and parmesan mix. Set aside on a tray until ready to fry.
- Place chicken in the fryer basket, remembering not to over crowd the fryer. I have a small fryer and put 6-8 pieces of chicken in my basket, this will prevent the oil temperature from dropping too quickly and allow the chicken pieces to be totally surrounded by the oil and not stick to each other.
- Fry the chicken for 5-7 minutes until it is a dark golden brown. If you are unsure whether the chicken is cooked remove one of the pieces and cut through the thickest area to check.
- Once cooked through the chicken is ready to eat.
Notes
Nutrition
Ingredients for Keto Fried Chicken
- 2 pounds of Chicken Thigh Fillets, boneless
- 1 teaspoon of Garlic Powder
- 2 teaspoons of Celery Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon of Dried Oregano
- 1 Egg
- 1 tablespoon of Heavy Cream
- 1/2 cup of Almond Meal
- 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, finely grated
For this recipe, we’re using peanut oil in the deep fryer.
How To Make Keto Fried Chicken
- Cut each chicken thigh fillet into three evenly sized pieces and place them into a mixing bowl.
- Coat chicken in garlic powder, celery salt, chili powder, and dried oregano, mixing well to ensure all the chicken is covered. Leave to marinate for half an hour.
- Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and cream together.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine almond flour and powdered parmesan, then pour onto a tray ready to bread the chicken.
- Turn the deep fryer to 180 degrees Celsius and allow it to heat up.
- Dip each piece of chicken in the egg mix and then roll in the almond meal and parmesan mix. Set aside on a tray until ready to fry.
- Place chicken in the fryer basket, remembering not to over-crowd the fryer. I have a small fryer and put 6-8 pieces of chicken in my basket. This will prevent the peanut oil temperature from dropping too quickly and allow the chicken pieces to be surrounded by the oil and not stick to each other.
- Fry the chicken for 5-7 minutes until it is dark golden brown. If unsure whether the chicken is cooked, remove one of the pieces and cut through the thickest area to check.
- Once cooked through, the chicken is ready to eat.
Traditionally the breading used to coat fried chicken is very high carb due to the use of various ingredients (depending on the recipe) like breadcrumbs and wheat flour. So regular fried chicken is not keto-friendly.
No, fried chicken is not low carb as it is coated in breading made of flour and often other high carb ingredients.
However, when making our Keto Fried Chicken recipe, those high-carb breading ingredients are replaced with low-carb almond flour (meal).
To make a larger batch of Ketogenic Southern Fried Chicken Thighs, adjust the serving amounts in our easy-to-use recipe card above.
Can you do this in an air fryer?
Hi Jeff,
You sure can. Just don’t add the oil into the air fryer, as you would for a deep fryer!
I’m going to try it… Wish the author had responded. Very curious about this as well. Air frying is far healthier, and much less messy, than deep fat frying.
Hi Patrick,
I did reply, you would have scrolled right past my response to write your comment! Did you know that an air fryer is just a small convection oven, so your chicken will be baked, not fried 😉
You can absolutely cook the chicken in an air fryer – just don’t add the oil like you would for a deep fryer.
I basically “bread” mine in oil after the breading step and put it directly in the air fryer. It’s a similar taste but still healthier since the oil drops off!
Cool, thanks Kate. While it’s perfectly ok to use an airfyer, with a keto diet you want as much fat (oil) content as possible. So don’t try reducing your oil content. You want high-fat, moderate protein and very low carbs.
Fantastic!! I added a little poultry seasoning to the spice mix and that sent it over the top!!
That sounds delicious Sandy! I’ll have to try it!
Yummy keto recipe! I sliced it and put it on a salad. Easy to assemble. Used boneless chicken breast (thin cut). Fried it for 4.5 minutes in deep fat fryer with peanut oil at 350 degrees. Couldn’t find the hot chili powder, so I used 1/4 tsp cayenne and 1/4 tsp chili powder.
What a great idea to add it to a salad! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it!
I just made this for lunch today… holy moly! It’s amazing. My sons both devoured it, and had no idea it was GF. I don’t have a deep fryer so I used lard in a nonstick; 7 mins on each side, and it was perfect. Super juicy and flavorful. I made the boys sandwiches with a sauce made of Crystal hot sauce, mayo, and dill relish… AMAZE! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Hi Michelle,
Those sandwiches sound delicious! Thank you for your kind words 🙂
Loved this recipe! I also tried it with flaxseed meal instead of almond and worked great with that as well. Love how simple and delicious this recipe is and will definitely be using it again!
We used shallow frying pan with lard & pounded chicken tenders thin, dipped in egg wash then dry ingredients & into pan for 3-5mins depending on thickness of breast.
We tweaked amounts of ingredients but used same ones due to our amount of chicken.
VERY DELICIOUS! RECOMMEND eating as often as possible!
I fried it in coconut oil on medium high heat. Turned out great.
Hi there
I just made this using boneless chicken breast fried in a shallow pan with olive oil. My husband loved it!!!
Thank you!
Hello, I dont have a deep fryer and my little one is allergic to peanut. Is it possible to use a regular frying pan? And for oil any other suggestions?
Hi Margie,
I recommend frying in tallow or lard, they are both very flavorsome fats with a high smoke point. I haven’t tried shallow frying in a pan, but I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work. I’d love to know how it goes for you!
Delicious, crunch, juicy and easy to prepare, will definitely make again!
Glad you enjoyed it Jody!
This looks amazing. Can this recipe be made/adapted to using breast meat?
Hi Bree,
Of course it can 🙂
What oil is being used to fry?
Hi Felicia,
When I made the recipe I used Peanut Oil, as the deep fryer used has an exposed element.
However, I would recommend using either lard or tallow (But do not use lard or tallow in that type of deep fryer, you must use a deep fryer “without” an exposed element when using lard and tallow) – check out the link to our article about choosing the best oil in the post above the recipe for more options.
Gerri
How long should whole thighs be fried in skillet?
Hi Sharon
For whole thighs I would recommend sealing them in the skillet then finishing them off in the oven for 15-20 minutes depending on their size.
Gerri
Will this recipe work in an airfryer?
Hi Adie, We haven’t tested this recipe in a airfryer, and are unsure how it would turn out. Give it a go and let us know how it turns out 🙂
Gerri