Chick-fil-A Style Keto Chicken Nuggets (with Keto Chick-fil-A Sauce)

Overhead view of Chick-fil-A style keto chicken nuggets on a plate with keto dipping sauce.

Chick-fil-A Style Keto Chicken Nuggets (with Keto Chick-fil-A Sauce)

easyhealthyrecipes.com/keto-chicken-nuggets/

Inspired by the popular fast food chain but made totally keto, these homemade chicken nuggets are better than anything you'll get from a drive thru.

Prep: 15

Cook: 20

Marinate: 1

Total: 1 35

Recipe makes approximately 6 servings

Equipment Needed

large airtight, refrigerator-safe container
small airtight, refrigerator-safe container
2 whisks
2 shallow bowls
Large skillet
Tongs
2 plates (or 1 plate and 1 wire cooling rack)
Paper towels

Ingredients Needed

For the Chicken Nuggets

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (approximately 8-10 ounces each, cut into bite-sized chunks)
½ cup dill pickle juice (from jar of dill pickles)
2 large eggs (at room temperature)
1 cup almond flour
¼ cup grated fresh parmesan (at room temperature)
½ teaspoon salt (more or less to taste)
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon paprika
avocado oil (or other neutral oil, for frying)

For the Dipping Sauce

¼ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons keto barbecue sauce (store-bought or make your own)
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon keto honey (or similar honey-flavored liquid keto sweetener)

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

Place bite-sized chunks of chicken in large airtight container. Cover chicken with pickle juice, adding more as needed depending on size of container to fully cover chicken. Cover container and place in refrigerator. Let chicken marinate in pickle juice at least 1 hour, but no more than 10 hours.
Prepare dipping sauce by adding all ingredients to small airtight container and whisking until ingredients are fully combined. Close lid and refrigerate sauce at least 30 minutes.
When chicken has finished marinating, remove container from fridge and drain pickle juice.
Crack eggs into one shallow bowl and whisk well until egg mixture is pale yellow and no longer streaky. Set aside.
Add almond flour, parmesan cheese, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika to second shallow bowl. Whisk ingredients together until well blended.
Set up "breading" station in following order: marinated chicken, egg wash, almond flour mixture, empty plate. Working in batches as needed, coat marinated chicken chunks in egg wash, covering chicken on all sides. Allow excess egg to drip off chicken and back into bowl, then place chicken in almond flour mixture. Coat chicken on all sides with "breading", shake any excess breading back into bowl, and transfer chicken to empty plate. Repeat until all chicken chunks have been prepared.
Heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Line second plate with 2 to 3 paper towels. For crispier chicken, use wire cooling rack instead of second plate, and place paper towels under wire rack to catch oil drips.
When skillet is hot, add ½" to 1" oil and swirl pan as needed to coat bottom of pan in oil. Heat oil until hot and shimmery. If desired, test oil temperature by inserting handle end of wooden spoon. When oil is ready, small bubbles will form around handle. Strong bubbling means oil is too hot - reduce heat under skillet and let oil cool slightly, then test again.
When oil is ready, place chicken nuggets in skillet, working in batches as needed to avoid overcrowding. Cook chicken 4 to 5 minutes, then flip nuggets over and cook another 4 minutes or until breading is golden brown and chicken is cooked through. Transfer chicken nuggets to plate lined with paper towels or wire cooling rack. Repeat until all chicken nuggets have been fried, letting oil heat up again before adding more chicken to skillet.
Once all chicken nuggets have been fried and excess oil has drained from breading, divide chicken nuggets into desired portions and serve with dipping sauce.

Recipe Notes

Chilling the sauce is optional but recommended. Refrigerating the sauce at least 30 minutes gives the flavors time to meld and deepen, resulting in a more flavorful sauce.
BBQ Sauce: Make sure your BBQ sauce doesn't include any added sugar, or any alternate sweeteners that aren't keto-friendly (maltodextrin, sucralose, dextrose, etc.).
Nutritional Information: Number of servings will vary depending on size of chicken breasts and size and number of chicken chunks. Carb count per serving will vary slightly depending on amount of breading used. Nutritional values shown reflect 6 servings using entire breading mixture, and does include information for chicken nuggets with dipping sauce. Skipping the sauce will lower the total and net carb counts.

Nutrition Info (Approximate)