So many parents have requested a recipe for healthy chicken nuggets. Parents are looking for a recipe that is lower in carbs, gluten-free and made with real chicken and healthy fats.

Your children will love this quick and easy recipe. In fact, make double do you have some leftovers ready for your school lunch boxes the next day.

Low-carb chicken nuggets (gluten-free)

If you’ve been looking for a healthier low-carb lunch for yourself or the kiddos, these are PERFECT! Pair with our sugar-free Instant Pot ketchup recipe or a keto chicken side dish, and everyone will be happy.

Low-Carb Chicken Nuggets

I already have bacon-wrapped chicken nuggets, but they aren’t crumbed with a crispy coating. That recipe is simple chicken strips, wrapped in delicious streaky bacon.

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Super easy and super tasty, but some kids just cannot be fobbed off with that. They want the real thing that is fried, coated and full of flavour (albeit artificial ones their taste buds have become accustomed to).

If you really want to discover why most processed chicken nuggets need to be avoided, read this post and the 3 main health concerns surrounding chicken nuggets.

Low-carb chicken nuggets with almond flour crust.

For those of you, whose children live on chicken nuggets and you are desperate to wean them off, you need to make this recipe.

After much trial and error, the trick to ensure the almond flour coating sticks to the chicken is to whisk the egg with plenty of olive oil. This allows the coating to adhere beautifully, and the addition of the extra oil allows the healthy chicken nuggets to have that deep-fried taste children love.

Gluten-Free Chicken Nuggets

Whilst developing this recipe, I manage to ensure it works using almond flour/meal OR coconut flour. So this child-friendly recipe can cater for many allergies or intolerances.

My 9-year old’s primary school has a nut-free policy, so he is delighted to be allowed to take these to school when I make them with coconut flour.

Instructions

1: Dip each piece of chicken meat into the oil and egg mixture. This is the secret to making the batter stick and give it the real deep-fried texture that kiddos love.

Dip the chicken into the egg and oil mixture

2: Lift each chicken piece out of the egg and oil mixture and roll in the almond flour or coconut flour coating.

Roll into the almond flour coating

3: Begin to heat the oil in your frying pan while you coat all of the low-carb chicken nugget pieces with the tasty almond flour crust, ready to cook.

Coat the chicken nuggets in almond flour crust

4: Gently fry the healthy chicken nuggets until golden and each one is cooked thoroughly in the centre.

Fry healthy chicken nuggets in oil

How to use an air fryer

Using an air fryer to cook homemade chicken nuggets, makes for a quick and easy mid-week family dinner.

  1. Preheat to 190C/375F.
  2. Spray the wire basket with cooking oil.
  3. Gently place each chicken piece into the oiled basket. Ensure there is plenty of space between them.
  4. Cook for 5 minutes, open the drawer and turn each piece.
  5. Cook for a further 5-7 minutes, depending on the size of pieces being cooked. Chicken must be completely cooked into the centre of each piece.

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Healthy lunchbox fillers

Easy to make, super nutritious, high in protein, gluten-free, healthy oils and super tasty – what’s not to love about these?

Keto Chicken Nuggets Recipe

Ditch the chicken nuggets today and start making low-carb chicken nuggets. Grain-free and using 100% chicken meat. Even the adults adore these.
See the recipe notes below how to use coconut flour instead or almond flour if you wish.
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Coconut Flour Recipes, Dinner, Lunch, Lunch boxes, Snacks
Cuisine: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Grain free, Keto, LCHF, Low Carb, No Sugars, Paleo, Wheat Free
Keyword: Low-Carb Chicken Nuggets
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 445kcal
Author: Thinlicious.com
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Ingredients
 
 

First bowl

  • 1 eggs – medium whisked
  • 4 tbsp oil of choice

Second bowl

  • 850 g chicken breasts
  • 100 g almond meal/flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion flakes

Instructions

First bowl

  • Mix the egg and oil together with a fork. 

Second bowl

  • Mix the almond flour (alternatively use 1/3 cup coconut flour), salt, garlic and onion together.
  • Cut the chicken breast into strips or nuggets sized pieces. Dip each on in the egg/oil mixture then dip it in the coating and cover fully.
  • Fry each chicken nugget in oil on both sides, until golden and cooked thoroughly in the centre. 
  • Alternatively, you can bake these on a lined baking tray at 180C/350F for 10-15 minutes.

Video

Notes

Nutrition panel shows per serving size (the entire recipe serves 6). 
You may replace the almond flour with 1/3 cup coconut flour instead.

Nutrition

Serving: 1nuggetCalories: 445kcalCarbohydrates: 4.5gProtein: 48.8gFat: 25.5gFiber: 2gSugar: 0.8g

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45 Comments

  1. When baking, do you use parchment paper? Do you need to flip halfway through? Thank you for the recipe, I will definitely try!

  2. What does LCHF stand for

  3. Kareena Hodgson says:

    So I’m pretty new to low carb cooking, previously ate way too much processed food and a firm favourite for me and my husband was breaded chicken. I made these yesterday with almond flour, added a little paprika and baked them – they were gorgeous, tasty, and had a great texture. I will definitely be making more and experimenting with other spices along with the almond flour.

    Thank you for this recipe!

  4. Hi! I don’t actually see the Nutritional Panel. Could you post or direct me to its location? Thank you so much! LOVE your recipes!

  5. Great recipe, we tried this the other night (my minor modification was to add Paprika 🙂 ) complete success ! Our 8 yr old loved them, without any sauce at all 🙂 This is a real winner, thanks

  6. Lindsay Kotouch says:

    Just tried these for dinner, though I didn’t have any chicken so I used a couple of ahi tuna steaks I had in the freezer instead. Also used one of my failed attempts at the mayo for a sauce, though I wish I had some lemon to add to it. Very tasty and filling.

  7. hi, would I be able to cokk and then freeze, I love chicken nuggets for the convenience but need this healthier alternative!!

  8. What oil do you fry them in? Can you fry in butter?

    1. I like to use butter or coconut oil. I don’t fry them at super high temperatures so either of those work well, especially important without burning the butter.

  9. Mona liza says:

    Hi I have a son who has egg allergies, is there something else I could use instead of egg?

  10. This is probably a stupid question, but for the nutrition label, is that for each nugget?

    1. Not a silly question at all. The recipe serves 6 so it is 1/6 of the recipe. It is up to you how big or small you cut the chicken pieces. 🙂

  11. brenda J hardie says:

    I made these today for my son who loves the processed chicken strips/nuggets. I cut the chicken when it was partly frozen for ease of cutting, and fried them. Then I put the in the oven to bake another 15 minutes because I had started with partly frozen meat.
    They were moist and tasty, but the coating is very soft. I was hoping they would have a bit of crunch. Do folks find them crunchy at all? Or are mine turning out like everyone else’s, even with my modification?

    1. Partly frozen meat will have a high moisture content. I would never recommend cooking with frozen meat, especially chicken for health reasons. Try using defrosted meat next time, thin strips as shown, I’m sure you will have a better result 🙂

  12. Elisabeth says:

    Can you taste the almond flour? If yes, is there any neutral tasting flour I can use instead?

    1. If you don’t like the taste of almond meal/flour, you could use coconut flour, but you would only need 1/3- 1/2 the quantity. Both of these flours have a subtle taste, so flavour heavily if you prefer not to taste them.

  13. Greek yoghurt works well

  14. Would you mind telling me the best way to store these when you send off for school lunches? My youngest is so picky and when I’ve tried to pack breaded chicken for her lunch, the crumb goes quite soft and mushy in her lunchbox by the time she gets to eat it. Thanks!

    1. I love little mini airtight containers like these ones – number 6 in Healthy Lunchbox Gadgets. You can buy an insulated lunch box and place a freezer block inside, but it really depends on what your children are used to. My children prefer not to have a cold lunch box because of the condensation that builds up inside and out. You could try partially freezing them, so by lunch time the are defrosted, yet cool. That would also help keep the rest of the lunch box cool.

  15. Followed directions to a t. Turned out white and pal. Used coconut flour. Brushed them with oil to see if the will brown.Tate good.

    1. How did you follow this recipe to a t if you didn’t use the right flour?? Lol

      1. Christina says:

        Probably because the information leading up to the recipe card states you can use coconut flour instead of almond flour. 🙂

  16. Do you think these will freeze well after cooking? Want to have a batch ready to just grab and warm up.

  17. 5 stars
    Our 11yr old vegetarian visitor loved her haloumi cheese breaded this way. Thanks again Libby

  18. 4 stars
    This is a good base recipe to start with.
    I ran out of egg/oil mix and almond flour. Needed 2 eggs and another 1/2 cup of almond meal.
    The first batch took 30 minutes to cook in the oven at 180c/350F and were still white.
    I cooked the second batch at 230c/450F for 20 minutes and they came out much better.

  19. Can you pls just show the US & Metric measurements. Easier for us users of the recipes because when you save & print the recipe it reverts to metric. Easier to just display both measurements. Thank you!

  20. Can I use an hairdryer for these?

      1. Jacqueline says:

        1 serving = 1 nugget is 445 kal?
        Really? I hope you will correct it.

    1. If onion flakes don’t appeal to you (however this is what makes the recipe so flavoursome), you could perhaps use garlic or even a pinch of chilli would do brilliantly.

  21. Erica Lee says:

    Who knows if there is any worthy content here, there are so many ads you can’t even get to the content!

    Seriously, I understand this is a source of income but you lost a reader of your blog because there is an ad every 4 sentences. It’s very frustrating.

    1. 5 stars
      I’m sorry the adverts are sometimes intrusive, unfortunately, they are necessary to meet the ever-increasing costs of running a FREE website. Video production, email providers, staff costs, recipe development, running free support groups and providing over 400+ free low-carb and keto recipes and articles. You may wish to join Ditch The Carbs PRO which is entirely ADVERT FREE!!!! Yay. Plus you get instant access to our famous mini-challenges, 4-week course, cheat sheets, templates and free eBooks. You can join us here for an advert-free experience.

  22. 5 stars
    Will these turn out much better (browner & cripier) if pan fried rather than air fried? I could do either way and want to get the best result. Also, have you tried them with thighs?

    1. 5 stars
      Low-carb chicken nuggets that have been pan-fried in oil probably give a slightly better result. Browner and crispier, but the downside is you have to keep a close eye on them and flip them which risks losing some of the coatings.

  23. Hi! I am interested in cooking these, but it appears the recipe card and nutrition facts, cooking/prepping time have all disappeared. Are you able to assess and re-upload?