A keto fried chicken recipe that even Colonel Sanders would love! It tastes just like real fried chicken, and since it's baked in the oven, you don't have to worry about the usual mess that comes along with frying. If you've got a craving for breaded chicken but you've given up carbs, this no carb keto fried chicken recipe is going to be a lifesaver!
Don't forget to PIN it for later!
Keto Fried Chicken Breading
For the breading of the keto fried chicken, we're going to use crushed pork rinds and a combination of spices: thyme, sea salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. If you don't like pork rinds, don't worry! That's not what this recipe tastes like at all, but it's critical for getting that perfect southern fried chicken coating.
You can pop the pork rinds into a food processor to crush them into a powder, but I prefer to do it manually. That way the pieces are different sizes to give it that real crispy fried chicken look and texture.
If you don't eat pork, almond flour or almond meal makes an excellent base for keto friendly breading. Just omit the pork rinds and replace with almond flour; the carbs will be low, and the recipe will still be gluten and dairy free.
For my keto fried oysters recipe, I used a combo of almond flour and Parmesan that was totally amazing. There are tons of options! Get creative and do what fits with your diet!
How do you make fried chicken breading stick?
Some folks use a wet batter; some do a simple egg wash dip. We're going to do a combo that's guaranteed to make the breading stick while adding a lot of extra flavor to the dish. Whisk together egg, mayonnaise, and Dijon mustard to coat each piece of chicken.
Oven-Fried Chicken
There's no need to fry the chicken in grease once it's coated, just pop it in the oven! I much prefer oven-fried chicken for a few reasons. Fried chicken is usually such a nuisance! The grease splatters, the wasted oil, the extra calories, getting the oil to the right temp to thoroughly cook the chicken without burning the coating. I've done it, but the hassle-to-taste ratio doesn't make a lot of sense to me when I can achieve the same level of crispy right in the oven.
The key to crispy oven-fried chicken is using a wire rack to bake on. This tray ensures that all sides of the chicken are exposed to the heat. Just set up a baking pan with a wire cooling rack over the top. Space your breaded chicken apart on the rack and bake for 40 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Other keto chicken recipes you might enjoy:
- Keto chicken wings
- Raspberry glazed chicken wings
- Chili lime chicken drumsticks
- Keto chicken roulade
- Garlic parmesan chicken thighs
- Low carb cinnamon chicken
- Chicken meatballs stuffed with provolone
- Low carb Indian chicken curry
- Easy mustard chicken
- Spicy chicken sausages
Enjoy your keto fried chicken!
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 oz pork rinds
- 1.5 tsp thyme dried
- 1 tsp sea salt dried
- 1 tsp black pepper dried
- 1 tsp oregano dried
- 0.5 tsp garlic powder dried
- 1 tsp smoked paprika dried
- 12 legs and thighs bone-in chicken skinless, medium-size pieces
- 1 egg
- 2 oz mayonnaise
- 3 tbsp Dijon mustard
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Crush pork rinds into a powder-like texture, leaving in a few larger pieces.
- Combine pork rinds with thyme, salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. Spread out into a thin layer on a large plate or flat dish.
- In a wide bowl, combine egg, mayo, and Dijon mustard. Dip each piece of chicken into the egg-mayo mixture, then roll in the pork rind mixture until evenly coated.
- Place chicken on a wire rack over a baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi, I'm Tasha–nutritionist, recipe developer, and multi-published cookbook author.
This looks so good! I can't wait to give it a try. I think we may try it to make chicken strips.
That's a great idea! I hope you love the recipe 🙂
Hi Tasha! I am excited to try this recipie. Is it 273 calories for one piece of this delicious chicken or for all 12 pieces. I wanted to make sure because I am trying to do 400 calories per meal.
Thanks in advance!
Hi Tahirah,
I believe it will be 273 calories per piece of chicken.
This recipe sounds amazing. Does this work for skin on chicken? Would the bake time change? Same questions for chicken breasts? Thanks
This recipe is delicious!!! Thank you!
This recipe is delicious!!! Thank you!
I will use the recipe and cook in aid fryer, I am sure it taste delicious be crispy
Hi there,
How did it taste in the AirFryer?
OMGThis looks keto fried chicken recipe tasty! It is such an easy recipe and so delicious beautiful gold colour,perfect salt,Full chicken taste.this was really good.Thanks. Jast one ques How nice easy and tasty This keto fried chicken recipe was too yummy?
Made this for dinner tonight. My husband and I both loved it. Easy too. I was afraid I'd never get to eat fried chicken with crust again!
This is my new go-to fried chicken recipe! The chicken is juicy, flavorful, and the pork rinds are amazingly crunchy! 5 stars!
Hi it looks so.good but can we substitute pork rinds with anything else as we dont eat pork
Is a serving size for this 1 piece of chicken or 2?
it said 12 but i couldnt even get 3 pieces covered w/out having to add waaay more grounded pork rinds id say more like 12oz of pork rinds -seriously no joke, the wet wash (mayo egg and mustard ) was thick so the crumbs stuck to it and used alot
Shinah, if you used a measuring cup for your 4oz you definitely won't have enough. You have to use a scale to measure the 4oz.
I made this a week ago and used boneless skinless chicken breast “strips” — this is hands down the best keto “fried chicken” I have ever made! The egg wash with Dijon & mayo is genius and so tasty!
Great idea! I actually prefer boneless skinless chicken breast to drumsticks most of the time, I'm definitely going to try this!
what cooking temperature and time did you use for the boneless skinless chicken breast "strips"?
What was your cook time and temperature for the Keto Fried Bone/Skinless chicken breast "strips"?
We cut boneless skinless chicken breasts in half, had no egg/mayo dip leftover, and just a tiny bit of the pork rind mixture leftover. (Ended up with 11 pieces of chicken). We put them on 2 sheets so none were touching. Cooked at 400F for 40min. The sheet on the top rack should've come out a touch sooner and the bottom rack needed a little more time. My oven is stupid lol!!
But regardless, it was amazing!!! Will be making this again!
I don't eat any pork products due to religion what could I possibly substitute for the pork rinds. I have looked on the internet for hours and can't find a substitute for pork rinds
I think using almond flour or almond meal would be a great replacement--it won't have quite the same texture, but it works well as a low carb breading base. Hope that helps!
I'm looking for, easy, very affordable recipes, that looks & tastes great. All of my recipes are full of gluten, carbs, dairy & sugar.
I was recently diagnosed borderline pre diabetic & with Autoimmune disease
(Hashimotos) I have a very tight budget and can't afford expensive ingredients, with hungry teens in the house. Can you help?
I think this recipe would be easy on the budget as chicken legs are usually inexpensive. Have your kids explore new recipes that align with your diet and that way they're on board to try new things. Heck, they're teen-agers put them in charge of meals!
I made this tonight using chicken wings only and it was fantastic! I lightly seasoned the chicken before dipping and omitted the thyme and mustard as I do not like either. The texture was on point...much better than Panko. This will be my new go to recipe for "fried chicken".
Awesome! I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe, it's amazing how similar the texture is to the real deal. Thank you for the positive feedback! 😍
I made this tonight with chicken tenders. SO good. My teenage daughter was in awe. My toddler son was having an off night, so his opinion doesn't count. Cranky!
Hi, stumbled on this site, is there a substitute for mayo and mustard?
You could try using an egg wash instead. I haven't tried it with this recipe, but when I make breaded pork chops, I just get the meat damp with a little water and apply my breading mixture. Works like a charm without the extra ingredients (and carbs, calories, etc). Might give that a go!
thanks
Can you use bbq flavored pork rinds?
I'm not sure what the nutrient data from bbq flavored ones look like, especially since it varies so much brand to brand. If you check the nutrition label and the carbs fit your macros (and there aren't any specific ingredients that you are trying to avoid), then it should work out pretty well.
Beware BBQ flavored rinds often have sugar.
I would add some Gh Hughes SF BBQ into the Mayo/Egg Mixture, instead of Dijon.. that will still give you the flavor of BBQ. 😬👍
Can men use your recipe recommendations also or are these recipes specifically designed to work with the chemistry of women only? If so, I will tell my male counterpart to stop pulling recipes from this site as they are not meant for him. If so, then we'll KETO on!!!
Hahaha, we can all enjoy them! Keto on! 🙃
I notice you don’t have carb, fibre or sugar count on this. What is the rest of the nutritional information that we need for Keto?!?
Ah! Thank you for pointing that out, the nutrition label generator I use rounds down the same as US labeling. I didn't catch that if it rounds down to zero, it completely leaves the nutrient off the label by default. I was able to manually add it and updated it to reflect the carbs.
In the whole recipe there are 7g total carbs, 3g fiber, and 1g sugar. I hope that helps! And thanks again for pointing out the missing info. I really appreciate it! 🙃
Thanks
This the BEST oven fried chicken I have ever had! The pork rinds were SO crunchy! I added cayenne pepper to the mix because we love the extra kick. I have tried other oven fried recipes before but the fell short in the crunch. My husband absolutely loved this too! I have been trying to get him off fried chicken and this will definitely help.
This was delicious! The best oven fried chicken ever!
Can you do this with just the egg for the wet? I am most definitely not a person who likes mustard but did not know if you had tried it without mustard and mayo. Thanks!
Great recipe. Kids and I loved it. Very filling.
So, I'm newer to cooking, for sure, but I've been using your website to expand my horizons while on the keto diet, and I LOVE it! This chicken was amazing. I've done various pieces of chicken with it, and it's perfect! I get that little crunch that I miss for sure. I've been cooking for my boyfriend so much more now, and he's loving it. He's normally the chef in the relationship, but I'm switching things up. Love your recipes and I look forward to trying so many more. Thank you so much for all your ideas! They are massively appreciated by this novice chef! Bless you!
WOWWWW!!! This chicken was amazing!! It tastes even better than our regular fried chicken! We loved it and are having it again this weekend! Hubby and me are now on our 2nd week of keto and I'm sooo glad i was told by a friend about your blog.. this is the first recipe I try and I'm so looking forward to making many more. Thank you so much for sharing!!! 🙂
YOOOOOOOOOO! The was AMAZING!!!!!!!!
I am very sensitive to spicy food. I even find that paprika is to hot for me. Are any other of the ingredients going to be to spicy for me to eat and if so what could i use as a replacement or can i leave it out all together. Thanks so much
Could you make the breading ahead of time and store in ziploc?
Yes, absolutely! That's a great idea.
Can I freeze the chicken after cooking?
Why can't we leave the skin on
I suppose you could do that if it's your preference. The calories will be quite a bit higher, I personally prefer it without. Feel free to adjust to your liking!
It was easy and it was good however I didn't get nearly enough liquid or breading to cover more than 6 good size thighs. I'll have to double it next time.
Made this tonight with a homemade mayo, because dang, all the mayo I found in the store had bad oils (and SUGAR) in it! I think the homemade mayo gave it a great tanginess to it! Will make again for sure!
Just made this, and it was truly excellent...
It's a real keeper..
I made this other night. Was absolutely the best! My fam loved it. It is a keeper
I used chicken breast cut into strips,& lower time to 20 min. Husband and i trying keto. I am loving the change in my body
If I don’t have a rack to put them on.... what else could I do?
Morgan I made this without a rack. I used a copper baking pan and it crisped up very well . Added bonus it did not stick to the pan!
I have made this recipe at least 5 times already and it is AMAZING! I even use this batter for frying fish. Thank you!
I’m making it with chicken thighs, do
you remove the skin?
Yes, personally I remove the skin and stick the breading directly to the meat. I find it helps the pork rinds and seasoning stick well, but you can definitely try it with the skin on. Nutrition info will be a little different, specifically higher fat grams and overall calories due to the skin. Hope that helps!
made this last night. used pounded chicken breasts and chicken thighs. both were juicy and delicious and my husband even loved it.
I will definitely be trying this. I used to eat my chicken with shake and bake extra crispy, but all that is out now. I saw a recipe for coconut flour breading and had high hopes. I made it, and it looked fine, but it was so bad - the texture was so weird that to me it was inedible. Buying pork rinds today.
I never have much luck with coconut flour, it's a tricky ingredient for sure. If are able to eat nuts, almond flour is not a bad breading substitute. I like to toss it in with some seasoning and herbs, then "shake n bake" style coat the meat. It doesn't get that crispy texture that the pork rinds do, but it tastes great!
Hi there,
Thank you for the recipe!!
Can we use this with an AirFryer instead of the oven?
Hello I made the chicken but I didn't see that the chicken must be skinless. How will this affect the chicken?
Leaving the skin on will increase the fat content and in turn, the calories go up a bit. It should still taste great, but the nutritional information provided within the recipe won't really align with the preparation.
Hi, you're right it still tasted great but will opt to leave it off next time. This chicken was a hit in my home and a great substitution for fried chicken. Thanks for the recipe.
Juicy, flavorful, crispy, and minimal miss. A mothers dream come true!
Hey this recipe rocks. The first time we made it in the oven according to the directions. The second time I decided to Bbq it over real wood. Recipe works really well on the Bbq, the flavour is out of this world! Thanks for the engenuity and imagination. You ladies rock.
I never thought of doing this on the BBQ, great idea! And thank you for the positive feedback, so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Tasha great job with this works great with my air dryer oven. This is my lunch every day on the keto diet
Trying this tonight with mushroom stuffed pork chops!! Thanks!!
Boneless skinless chicken breast YUKK! Most girls are all programmed the same (Brain washed) Use dark meat it is WAY! better.
This is excellent! 1/2 a recipe, enough for 6 “pieces” was perfect for 4 bome-in chicken thighs. I added some hot sauce and smoked paprika to the egg dip too. Wonderful!
Excellent recipe. I despise dark meat chicken, no I’m not brainwashed. Frankly it’s insulting to call girls brain washed, became they have different personal tastes. Several of my sisters like both dark and white meat.
I tried it by substituting almond flour and a flax/chia mix for the pork rinds--it turned out really great! Thank you for sharing this recipe. 🙂
Tasty and yummy. This will be my go to recipe for crispy chicken. Thank you!
Made this with boneless thighs (my husband skepti)but between 3 people we (he) ate most and all gone! My leftovers for lunch - gone!! Will try this inpork chops too! The cooling rack in sheet pan is key to crispy! Awesome! So glad I found this recipe! Almond flour works too but this was even better!
Tried these last night and they were BOMB. I used chicken breast strips instead and it was delicious. Felt like I was eating Zaxby's chicken strips. Will be repeating again and again!
I'm not a badass lady, but I sure appreciate mine! I also appreciate your content. Making this tonight with some shredded fresh turmeric in the mayo.
Thanks!
My pork rind Keto thighs are in the oven now. They were not skinless....my error...just seeing the "skinless" part now. I also just used the egg wash without mayo/mustard as my kids are very anti mayo anything.......Getting kinda smoky in my kitchen.....hope it turns out well......will comment again later.
just made this in my air fryer tonight! UNREAL!!!! i wanted to cry it was so good! i made my brother have a leg, since he’s the pickiest eater under the sun, and he ate the lot of them. i’ll never have regular fried chicken again!
air fryer info: put wings directly in basket (on top of crisper plate), 400 degrees for 25 minutes. 👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽
Yesss! Thank you for sharing! My best friend recently got an air fryer and it's so magical... I'm totally obsessed with it. I need to get one and start developing keto air fryer recipes.
I don't have an oven, oddly enough.
Do you know if frying this in olive oil will be okay to do?
I know it will good up the nutritional values on this recipe, but I was just wondering if I could get the same crispiness if I were to fry this. What do you think?
I don't have an oven, oddly enough.
Do you know if frying this in olive oil will be okay to do?
I know it will goof up the nutritional values on this recipe, but I was just wondering if I could get the same crispiness if I were to fry this. What do you think?
I made the dish and it is delicious however we found it very salty.
WOW!
My lady and I have been on the Keto diet for a little while now, and always on the lookout for new recipes. I came across this recipe because I knew I wanted to use pork rinds, but wanted to see what others had come up with. We just finished eating dinner (drumsticks and thighs with skin on) and used hot and spicy pork rinds. We both couldn't stop raving about how good these were! I have never written a review on a recipe online before this, but I felt I had to let you know how amazing this was!
We will be looking into more of your recipes as well as your meal plan after this.
I also have a YouTube channel (Bigfoot_Sightings https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBei6BbEfdzfPNuDEmA9aqg ) where I do instructional Keto recipes for people, and would love to use some of your recipes with your approval.
Thank you again! I look forward to trying more of your creations.
Michael "Bigfoot" Stedman
Just made these and used the already-ground pork rinds I had just gotten from Amazon. Yes, I'm that lazy!
They baked beautifully. My only issue was that they were extremely salty, and I like salt. So I looked at the container of pork rinds and boom! There it was - added salt, onion power, garlic powder, paprika. So next time I'll not add salt or spices and keep tweaking those.
This double spicing was my fault, not the recipe's. The recipe is a keeper.
Thanks!
I made this last night and it was sooo good! I used de-boned chicken and it came out fantastic! Thank you for providing such a great recipe!
Wow! Made this three times already!
Love eating with hot sauce. Outside of Thomas Keller's fried chicken, this is the best fried chicken I have had [keto or non keto]. And I fried chicken for four years.
Thanks
Geoff
Best chicken I have made in a very long time, including non-keto! This will be my new recipe. I did not find it salty at all. I used deboned chicken thighs. Also made collard greens. Entire dinner was less than 2 net carbs!!!
Fantastic recipe! Had to use spicy brown mustard instead of Dijon because that's what I had on hand. Very tasty! Why ever eat out when I can make food like this?! Even my daughter loved it!
I don’t comment on recipes often. Maybe 5 times in my life. But I made this tonight, and it is some of the best chicken I’ve ever made; keto or not. One thing I changed, and one I would change next time. I noticed that the recipe called for the skin to be removed. I left the skin on half, and took it off half. I preferred it with the skin. Your mileage may vary. The thing I would change: I would cut the thyme in half next time. It was a little more prevalent than my tastes prefer. But not enough to give this any less than 5 stars!
Also made buffalo sauce and blue cheese dressing for it. Awesome and easy dinner!
Thank you so much for the detailed feedback! Some readers have asked about leaving the skin on (I'm a skinless gal, myself) and it's great to have a side by side comparison. So glad the recipe was a hit with your tweaks!
Omg! This chicken is so good... I feel like I’m cheating. The BEST recipe EVER!!
Love this comment! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! ❤️
Super crunchy and very tasty! Shook in a bag which I wouldn’t do again; I would have them on a plate: divide crumbs in 3 so they don’t get gunked up with the thick egg/mayo mixture.
Yay! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback and tips, it really helps the other readers and recipe hunters out. 😍
I made this for a group of kids and they all LOVED it, me included!!! YUM!! Definitely a keeper! I left the skin on the chicken.
Haven’t tried to make this, trying to replace the pork rinds with something non pork but still keto, is this possible?
Yes, nut flours (especially almond) can make great base for low carb breading. It doesn't have the same crisp or texture as the pork rinds, but almond flour is one of my go-tos for breading on keto. Hope that helps!
If anyone has alternative suggestions, please chime in! 😊
Do you think I can do this recipe with fish instead? Thanks!
Yes, absolutely. But make sure to adjust the cooking time/temp to align with what you are substituting. Fish cooks quite a bit faster than chicken!
What if anything can you use in place of pork rinds. I don't eat pork due to religious reasons
I love pork rinds...this recipe is in the oven as we speak...From reading all the reviews, I know I will love it. Just a suggestion for the pork rinds...put them In a large ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to get them crushed. Worked like a charm and no mess.
This recipe is a hit! I just replaced a bit of pork rinds by parmesan
I love the flavour! I added some garlic powder too. However, when put on the rack, one side of the skin came off.
Any tips how to keep that from happening?
Turned out delicious! Thanks for the recipe! Any tips for reheating to maintain the crunchiness??
Wow!! Beyond good. I was skeptical but it tastes like KFC! Thank you
Wow, delicious! This was so good, I did .5 teaspoon of Paprika and less of thyme, only because I am not the biggest fans of those spices- but to say it was delicious is an understatement, it was a hit with our entire family.
Great chicken recipe I really enjoyed it.
I love this chicken!
But to get the coating to stick I found that I need to remove as much water as I can.
I fork my Trader Joe's Organic drumsticks all over, and then wrap them tightly in paper towels, squeezing them, and then back into the fridge.
Baking them at 200 for 10 minutes helps to dry them.
And then I dip each drumstick into a pint glass with the egg mixture.
A Pyrex tray holds my pork rinds mixture.
So Good! Thank you.