These crispy keto chicken nuggets are quick and easy in the Air Fryer. Whip up a batch with just a few ingredients and all of the chicken nuggets have only 3.8g net carbs! These air fryer chicken nuggets are keto, gluten free, Paleo, dairy free and definitely kid friendly!
You might also like these low carb breaded pork cutlets.
I’ve started using my air fryer more often, and one thing I noticed is that it cooks breaded food really well. To me it cooks like a microwave and oven all in one.
So today I wanted to make some crispy keto chicken nuggets and tenders in the air fryer for my son but keep to my keto diet. He loved them!!!
He actually said to me “mom you know how you try to make foods I like [junky foods ] well this one I really like!”
Yay for me! I’ve been trying for years to make healthier versions of foods he likes and I win maybe 25% of the time. So.
My Low Carb Chicken Breading
I have used pork rinds for my breading when I made my breaded pork cutlets awhile back. And while I don’t really like them as a snack they do make great a great keto breading!
Today I used mayo instead of egg for my breaded chicken. It worked great for this dish because usually you have to mix whatever you make in the air fryer with a tablespoon of oil. In this case the mayo acts as the oil and keeps the crunchy topping on the chicken.
So my low carb chicken breading is a mixture of crushed pork rinds, grated Parmesan cheese, paprika and garlic powder. And I use mayonnaise for liquid coating instead of eggs.
Note you can crush the rinds by hand or put them in the the food processor to get a crumb consistency.
This is now my preferred way to bread food when air fryer. Above you can see the ingredients I bought at Aldi. Note I used chicken tenders but you could also use chicken breast.
Let’s Make Some Keto chicken nuggets
- Start by towel drying your chicken so it will adhere to the mayonnaise.
- Then place chicken in a baggie with the mayo and squish it around until it is covered.
- Spray the basket of the air fryer with cooking spray.
- Mix the low carb breading ingredients and place in a shallow bowl.
- Roll each chicken piece in the breading and then gently place in the basket of the air fryer.
- Continue until all the chicken is done.
- Air fry for 15-20 minutes.
What temperature should you set the air fryer to?
I air fryed the chicken at 380 degrees F for 15 minutes and then turned it up to 400 for five more minutes. The higher temp will get it crunchier.
Make sure the meat is done though. If not put them back in for a few more minutes. It’s so easy to do in the air fryer.
Note I made tenders and nuggets. The nuggets cook a bit faster then the planks so make sure you check them to see if the tenders are cooked before you serve them if you are making them together like I did.
Where to buy pork rind breading
If you don’t want to make your own pork rind crumbs you can always buy these Pork Panko breading crumbs on Amazon!
This is my air fryer
I want to first point out the old air fryer I had used was a XL Air Fryer by Cozyna (5.8qt). It wasn’t very expensive but it did have a large basket which is necessary to roast a turkey breast or chicken.
My new air fryer is a Chefman 6.3 qt digital air fryer. You can use it to dehydrate and it has a rotisserie spit! However I really like that it has a window so you can see your food as it’s cooking.
Keto recipes to serve with these chicken nuggets
If you want to do the fast food theme you can serve these chicken tenders and nuggets with keto fries. I also like to this baked cauliflower and cheese or green beans with bacon. In the warmer weather a good keto coleslaw is nice as well.
Well these air fryer keto chicken nuggets were awesome and I will definitely be making them part of our regular meal plan.
Next time I might use Aldi’s spice pork rinds and see how they go. And for another awesome fried chicken recipe, check out my friend Mira’s best crispy keto fried chicken!
The nutrition for 1/4 of this recipe
(1 used a pound of chicken tenders) is 389 cals
24.3g fat / 1.2g carbs / 0.3g fiber / 43.8g protein = 0.9g net carbs
Crispy Keto Chicken Nuggets in the Air Fryer
This crispy low carb chicken nuggets recipe is quick and easy in the Air Fryer. Whip up a batch with just a few ingredients and the whole recipe has only 3.8g net carbs! Make it a part of your next keto meal plan.
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken tenders
- 1 bag pork rinds (3.25 oz)
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 cup mayo
Instructions
- Spray the basket of the air fryer with cooking oil.
- Pour the contents of the pork rinds in to a baggie and crush into the form of bread crumbs. Pour into a large shallow bowl and mix in the spices and cheese.
- Either cut the tenders in to small bite sized pieces or just add the tenders as is to a large plastic baggie and spoon the mayo on top.
- Squish the mayo and chicken around to cover the chicken completely.
- Take a piece of chicken and roll around in the the bread crumbs and then carefully place in the basket of the air fryer. Continue with all of the chicken pieces.
- Cook for 15 minutes at 380° F and then 5 minutes. at 400°F. Check to make sure the chicken is cooked, especially with the tenders. They should be golden brown and an internal temperature of 165° F.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Recipe Notes
The nutrition for 1/4 of this recipe (1 used a pound of chicken tenders) is:
389 calories / 24.3g fat / 1.2g carbohydrates / 0.3g fiber / 43.8g protein = 0.9g net carb count
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 389Unsaturated Fat: 0g
Marisa B
Shut the front door! These we amazing! We have a chip brand here call Julios and they recently started making seasoned pork rinds. I thought they were too salty but thought this would be perfect for this recipe. This came out so delicious event my 4 year old thought they were amazing. Definitely will be making again very soon and will keep this on repeat for our family. I followed the ninja suggestions other people recommended.
Denise
Hi Marisa, so glad you liked them! Thanks for coming back to comment…I really appreciate it!
Chari Robinson
Great recipe. I looked at other recipes with almond flour, but this one made more sense with the mayo and pork rinds. It turned out crispy and oh so good. My husband asked “and this is done without deep frying?” Adjusted the times to 12 minutes and 3 minutes with my Ninja Foodi. Thank you!
Denise
So glad you liked them Chari!
Patti
Delicious, and so easy!
Denise
Hi Patti, so glad you liked them!
Rickie
Wow, these were lovely! I used chicken portions and oven baked them in olive oil! Absolutely delicious – my husband hates pork scratchings but loved these!
Denise
Hi Rickie, I am the same way. Pork rinds have never appealed to me but they work so good as breading. Glad you all liked the recipe!
Brittany Scoggins
How many carbs does this have?!
Denise
HI Brittany, the nutritional information is right above the recipe card. Here it is again. Hope you like them!
The nutrition for 1/4 of this recipe (1 used a pound of chicken tenders) is:
389 cals / 24.3g fat / 1.2g carbs / 0.3g fiber / 43.8g protein = 0.9g net carbs
Rose Rolo
This recipe is fantastic! So glad to find a recipe that doesn’t include almond flour. My very picky husband thought they were the best chicken tenders he has ever had. I added a little Cajun seasoning because we like things spicy around here. My chicken tenders were very large so they needed a few extra minutes. This will be my go to recipe from now on. I might try Italian seasoning to make chicken Parmesan too. Thanks for this recipe so much!
Denise
Hi Rose, so glad you and your family like it. I’ll have to try the cajun or Italian seasonings next time. I love the air fryer for fried food!
Sarah
Do you use shredded parmesan cheese or grated parmesan cheese? I just got an air fryer and I’m planning to make this sometime this week!
Denise
Hi Sarah, I used grated. you want it to be fine so it mixes well with the pork rinds. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Ninjette
Terrific recipe – the chicken came out amazing – delicious crunchy crust and juicy and tender inside. My family devoured every morsel and asked me to keep this recipe in rotation. I stuck to the basic recipe, but did take the other reviewer’s advice and added a pinch of chili powder to the crumbs. The only other difference was the cooking time. My air fryer (Ninja) cooked everything in about 12 minutes total on 380 At the end, I did zap them at 400 to add a bit more crunch, but only for a minute or two more. I flipped the first batch halfway thru, but noticed I lost a bit more of the crust, so I did not flip the next couple of batches, and I ended up with more crust. Thank you!!
Denise
Hi Ninjette, thanks so much for coming back and sharing your tips! There are so many air fryers on the market now so it’s good that readers share their experiences. And I’m glad you liked the chicken nuggets. I also have a recipe for pork chop strips that you might like. It’s the same idea but another option for the family.
Kelly
WOW these are good
Denise
Hi Kelly, so glad you like them!
Chelsie
I’ve tried other recipes, but always come back to this one. Thank you!
Denise
Hi Chelsie, so glad you like it! My picky son liked it so that was good enough for me. 🙂
cyndi
Did you flip them?
Denise
Hi Cyndi, I did not but you can if you want. Hope you like them!
Pam Wolfe
Wow! Just Wow! I used some spicy pork rinds AMF this was amazing… And beautiful! Thanks!
Denise
Hi Pam,
so glad you liked them. I have a whole new appreciation for pork rinds now that I use them with my air fryer. Thanks for coming back to comment and rate the recipe…I appreciate it!
Kaela Milette
Made these tonight for dinner and the family LOVED them. I have tried other “keto” chicken tenders before and I had not come across any that my husband and daughter liked. SO GLAD we found this recipe and that it was such a hit. I added some buffalo sauce to them and dipped them in blue cheese. SO GOOD.
Kaela Milette
Forgot to leave my rating. of course-5 stars!
Denise
Hi Kaela, so glad you liked them! I love the idea of the buffalo sauce and blue cheese. I’m trying that next time. Thanks also for coming back to comment and rate the recipe … I really appreciate it!
Kristen Warnick
I made these last night after finding your on pinterest. WOW!!!!!!! These were amazing!!! I am totally hooked and can’t wait to try more of your recipes! I shared the link to this recipe on your website on the Atkins Recipe Share board. I hope that’s OK! 🙂
Denise
Hi Kristen, so glad you liked it! And yes you can share the link. THat’s really helpful to me so thanks a lot!
Jennifer
Just got my air fryer today and this was the first thing I made. They were delicious!! My family likes a bit more spice so I did add in a little chilli powder.
Denise
Hi Jennifer, so glad you liked them. That air fryer is really a cool kitchen gadget. I need to try new things with it but so far I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Thanks for sharing your experience. You can certainly add any herbs and spices you want. My husband and I like spice too but sometimes I write my recipes for what the average person would like. Take care.
Thia
I just finished making these about 10 minutes ago. They are DELISH!!!! The only issue is that I made the nuggets a bit too small and one or two was a little dry. Next time, I’m going to go with a chicken tender shape. You know, once I look at every recipe on your site. 🙂
Denise
Hi Thia, so glad you liked them! That breading will go with everything. I’m going to try cauliflower this week. Thanks for taking the time to come back and comment!
Laura
These were amazing. I will be sharing and making these often.
Denise
Hi Laura,
So glad you liked them! Thanks for taking the time to come back and comment!