Grain-Free Fried Chicken Nuggets

Chicken nuggets have never been more easy or delicious to make homemade thanks to this quick grain-free coating. gluten-free, keto, & low-carb too! No one will miss the traditional breading since these chicken nuggets come out crispy and kids just love them too.  You can also make homemade gluten-free chicken tenders from this same recipe, by simply cutting them into bigger strips and cooking them longer.

Making your own chicken nuggets helps you control the ingredients you are eating.  You can use organic chicken if you want to for this recipe. You can use white breast meat, dark thigh meat, or both.  The beauty of this recipe is just that, you can alter it a bit to make it perfect for what you and your family like best.  The parmesan and almond flour coating for this recipe you will not want to change. It is the best and easiest way to ensure you have the crispiest and most delicious homemade grain-free/gluten-free chicken nuggets ever.

No more running to McDonald’s, Chic-fil-A, or Burger King to get the kids to eat dinner. These also taste so much better than any frozen store-bought chicken nuggets like those made by Tyson, Perdue, or Costco.  This is the only chicken nugget recipe you will ever need.

Best Dips for Chicken Nuggets

Everyone has a favorite. I will be honest, my favorite dip to go with these grain-free chicken nuggets depends on my mood. Some days I just want them crispy and plain and then on a different day, I want to drizzle them with my Hot Honey for an addicting sweet and spicy combo. The good news is no matter what you choose to eat with these homemade nuggets, you cannot go wrong.  Here are some amazing recipes and ideas that I highly recommend:

• HOT HONEY (seen above)  is sweet, sticky, and spicy goodness
• HOMEMADE RANCH DRESSING WITHOUT MAYO is cool and creamy
• Blue Cheese dressing for tang and creaminess
• Ketchup for the kid’s favorite
• Honey Mustard for some sweet and spicy kick
• Red’s Hot Sauce for buffalo-style nuggets

Easy Grain-Free Chicken Nuggets

You only need a few ingredients for this homemade recipe.  I like my chicken nuggets fried versus baked.  When on a keto or low-carb diet, fried food is not frowned upon as much but we do consider this a treat meal and by no means eat it often. About once a month I do make these since they are a favorite with the kids.  It is not the norm to fry in olive oil as typically olive oil is thought of as fat to be enjoyed in its natural state like in salad dressing.  But I am not a fan of processed vegetable (soybean) or corn oils. I try and not to use them and frying these in something else like coconut oil just gives it a “coconutty” flavor that we just do not want.  Therefore, this recipe for homemade chicken nuggets is pan-fried in olive oil.

The Best Coating for Low-Carb Keto Chicken Nuggets

The coating for grain-free chicken nuggets consists of equal parts of almond flour and parmesan cheese. It is the perfect low-carb and gluten-free yet still crispy coating that you want in a good chicken nugget. Seasoning is also added for additional flavor.  I highly recommend super-fine almond flour for this.  Costco has a great Kirkland Almond Flour but you can also find some on Amazon.  This recipe will give you the best homemade coating (breading) for crispy and delicious gluten-free chicken nuggets.

Dip and Dredge Chicken Before Frying

Once you have cut the boneless chicken breasts into equal-sized nuggets, get the rest of the ingredients ready. I like to use shallow pie pans for all my ingredients to dip from one item to the next.

You will need 3 shallow plates or pie pans to have all the following ready to go.  The three include:

• Whisked eggs with salt & pepper (and a splash of water)
• Grain-free coating of parmesan, almond flour, and the seasonings
• Chicken cut into chunks

Fry the Chicken Nuggets

Once the ingredients are ready, get a frying pan ready on the stove and add the oil. Heat on medium-high heat for a few minutes so the oil can come to temperature. You can check to see if it is ready for frying by sticking the end of a wooden spoon handle gently into the oil, is little bubbles form around the wooden spoon end, it is ready!

Dip each chicken chunk into the beaten egg and then roll or toss gently in the grain-free coating mixture.  Place each nugget gently into the frying pan.  DO NOT overcrowd the pan, this recipe will make about 3 batches so you will only fit about 1/3 of the nuggets in about a 10″ frying pan.

They will cook for about 3-5 minutes on each side. It will depend on the size you make your nuggets. For the size seen here, 4 minutes was perfect. You can use a digital instant-read thermometer on them to be sure they cook to an internal temperature of 165°.   (if you are making bigger pieces like chicken tenders you will fry for longer, estimating about 6 minutes on each side but use your thermometer to be sure they are 165° in the center so they are cooked throughout)

The Best Grain-Free Fried Chicken Nuggets

Remove nuggets that are ready and place on a paper towel-lined plate to drain any remaining oil and keep crispy.  To keep nuggets warm as you cook other batches, you can put them on an oven-safe plate to keep warm in the oven on the lowest setting your oven allows.  Once all the batches are complete, serve with your favorite dips and side dishes.

Who Invented the Chicken Nugget?

And a final note and a bit of trivia to discuss while enjoying them.  It is always great to teach your kids a bit more about food and history, right?  Many think that McDonald’s invented the chicken nuggets.  They sure did make them famous, but they did not invent them. Robert C Baker invented the chicken nugget.  He actually is credited with over 40 poultry-related innovations.  He made the recipe in the 1950s but didn’t patent it. McDonald’s later did, and it is all history from there. Learn more about him and his accomplishments on the Wikipedia page for Robert C Baker. 

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GRAIN-FREE FRIED CHICKEN NUGGETS

Angela

Chicken nuggets have never been more easy or delicious to make homemade thanks to this quick grain-free coating. Keto, low-carb, & gluten-free too! 

5 from 10 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 40 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

• 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into medium sized chunks
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 C Parmesan Cheese grated
• 3/4 C Almond Flour super-fine
• 1 tsp seasoned salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• salt & pepper
• water splash
• olive oil

Instructions

 

• In 3 pie pans or shallow rimmed plates, prep the ingredients. In one pan place, the cut-up chicken.
• In another pan, whisk together the eggs, add some salt and pepper. Then add a splash of water and whisk again.
• In the final pan, add the parmesan, almond flour, seasoned salt, and black pepper.
• Once the ingredients are ready, get a frying pan ready on the stove and add enough oil so that it is about 1/2' deep. . Heat on medium-high heat for a few minutes so the oil can come to temperature. You can check to see if it is ready for frying by sticking the end of a wooden spoon handle gently into the oil, is little bubbles form around the wooden spoon end, it is ready!
• Dip each chicken chunk into the beaten egg and then roll or toss gently in the grain-free coating mixture.  Place each nugget gently into the frying pan.  DO NOT overcrowd the pan, this recipe will make about 3 batches so you will only fit about 1/3 of the nuggets in about a 10″ frying pan.
• They will cook for about 3-5 minutes on each side. It will depend on the size you make the nuggets. For the size shown above, 4 minutes was just right. You can use a digital instant-read thermometer on them to be sure they cook to an internal temperature of 165°.
• Remove nuggets that are ready and place on a paper towel-lined plate to drain any remaining oil and keep crispy.  To keep nuggets warm as you cook other batches, you can put them on an oven-safe plate to keep warm in the oven on the lowest setting your oven allows. 
• Enjoy with your favorite dips.

Keyword chicken, diabetic, easy, fried, gluten-free, grain-free, keto, kid favorite

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