These crispy keto chicken nuggets are quick and easy in the Air Fryer. Whip up a batch with just a few ingredients and 10 chicken nuggets have only 1g net carbs! These air fryer chicken nuggets are keto, gluten free, Paleo and definitely kid friendly! Plus they tasty better than traditional chicken nuggets.
You might also like these low carb breaded pork cutlets.
I’ve started using my air fryer more often. Air frying is just so much better than deep frying. 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 in the air fryer for my son because they are one of his favorite foods but keep to my keto diet. He loved them!!!
I loved them because not only were they easy to make and very tasty, I didn’t have to use any type of flour so they are low carb, gluten free and flour free! So no almond flour or coconut flour necessary.
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 recipe.
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 the usual egg mixture 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, onion powder 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. Below you can see that a 3.25 oz bag of pork rinds will create just a little over 1 cup of bread crumbs.
This is now my preferred way to bread food when air fryer. This breading is made from simple ingredients and I bought them all at Aldi. Note I used chicken tenders but you could also use skinless chicken breast.
Let’s Make Some Keto Chicken Nuggets
Step 1: Preheat the air fryer for 3 minutes at 400°F. Cut the chicken tenders into small nugget size pieces then place it in a baggie with the mayo. Squish it around until all the pieces are covered in mayo. You can do this in batches if you want.
Step 2: Mix the dry ingredients for the low carb breading (ground pork rinds, parmesan cheese and spices) and place in a shallow mixing bowl.
Step 3: Roll each of the mayo covered chicken bites into the pork rind mixture to cover it all and place on a plate. Continue doing this until all the pieces are breaded.
Step 4: Spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray and then gently place the nuggets into the basket of the air fryer. Try to keep them in a single layer if you can.
Step 5: Air fry the chicken nuggets for 10-12 minutes at 380°F then turn up the heat to 400°F and cook for 3-5 minutes more. Depending on how big your air fryer or how much chicken you make you might have to cook these in batches. Also baking time may vary depending on your air fryer.
Serve with your favorite dipping sauce and store leftovers in an airtight container. You can quickly air fryer them for a few minutes to get them crispy again and to heat them up. (Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.)
Keto dippings sauces to try.
I have lots of dipping sauces on this blog that would go great with this dish. Try one of these:
- roasted garlic aioli recipe
- avocado lime dipping sauce
- tomato bacon jam
- jalapeno aioli
- buffalo aioli recipe
- sugar free sweet mustard sauce
Of course if you have a sugar free ketchup or bbq sauce brand that you like, try that or maybe this homemade dairy free ranch recipe.
Also you can check out all of my keto air fryer recipes here. I have over 50 recipes so far!
What temperature do you air fry homemade chicken nuggets?
I air fryed the chicken at 380°F for 12 minutes and then turned it up to 400°F for 3-5 more minutes. The higher temperature will get make for the crispy coating.
Make sure the meat is done though. If not put them back in for a few more minutes. It’s so easy to do that in the air fryer. The internal temperature should be 165°F when using a meat thermometer.
Note I originally made tenders and nuggets when I created this recipe. The nuggets cook a bit faster than the planks so make sure you check them to see if the tenders are cooked through before you serve them. I would cook tenders for 15 minutes at 380°F and a full 5 minutes at 400°F.
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!
Keto recipes to serve with this recipe.
If you want to do the fast food theme you can serve these chicken 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 delicious keto chicken nuggets were awesome and so easy to make in the air fryer. and I will definitely be making them part of our regular meal plan. They are great if you have fast food cravings on a low carb diet. Even picky eaters will love them.
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 facts for 1 out of 28 total nuggets is: 56 calories / 3.5g fat / 0.2g carbohydrates / 0.1g fiber / 6.3g protein = 0.1g net carb count
Crispy Keto Chicken Nugget Recipe in the Air Fryer
This crispy keto friendly chicken nuggets recipe is quick and easy in the Air Fryer. Whip up a batch with just a few ingredients and the 10 nugets have just 1g net carbs! Make it a part of your next keto meal plan.
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken tenders
- 1 bag pork rinds (3.25 oz)
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ cup mayo
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- Spray the basket of the air fryer with cooking oil.
- Pour the contents of the pork rinds in to a baggie and crush or add to a food processor and grind until they form 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. Note you can also add the mayo to a separate bowl and coat them that way. The baggie just seems easier to me.
- Take a piece of chicken and roll around in the shallow bowl of bread crumbs and then carefully place in the basket of the air fryer. Continue with all of the chicken pieces.
- Cook for 10-15 minutes at 380° F and then 3-5 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 out of 28 total nuggets (1 used a pound of chicken tenders) is:
56 calories / 3.5g fat / 0.2g carbohydrates / 0.1g fiber / 6.3g protein = 0.1g net carb count
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 389Unsaturated Fat: 0g
Joyce
These look great! However, you state that they are dairy-free. The parmesan cheese is dairy.
Denise
Hi Joyce,
You are absolutely right! I’ve taken that out of my post. I don’t know why I wrote that in the first place???? But thanks for pointing that out.
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!