As is normal for children under ten, my son and daughter's favorite food is probably fried chicken- specifically nuggets and strips. When cooking and eating keto, battered and fried foods can be off limits because the flour and corn meal used to make the most common batters are both high carb nightmares. When I was in an Atkins phase I spent hours looking up recipes for chicken tenders and nuggets, only to have every single one of them fail. If it wasn't a complaint about taste, it was texture. Or something else. Nothing would ever replace flour battered chicken in my children's lives.
That is, until I decided to take matters into my own hands.
I am not a fan of almond flour on my chicken. It just doesn't do it for me, and all the straight coconut flour crusts I've tried didn't really stick to the chicken. In my book that's a fried chicken FAIL. So I concocted, and this is what I came up with. A pork-rind crust using the traditional 3-step dredge, dip, and roll method.
The finished product is amazing and my son, who is quite possibly the pickiest child in human history, begs me to make this dish at least once a week. He says it's his favorite chicken.
This, my friends, is Winning.
Now there are a few things of note that I will mention up front.
First, I'm not very exact about my measurements in this recipe, so I will give you the closest approximations I can.
Second, the detailed recipe- which I will put at the end of this post- is for 1 lb chicken. This will serve four people at two strips each. What I actually make is more like 3 lbs chicken, because we will eat the snot out of this stuff. We're having it tonight, we will eat it for dinner tomorrow night, and I guarantee you my children will have leftover chicken for lunch every day until it's all eaten. That's how we roll.
Third, you can cook this recipe two ways: in a deep fryer or pan fried and finishing in the oven. This evening I did the latter because I didn't have enough oil for my deep fryer. If you choose to do it deep fried I recommend cutting the strips down into nuggets, which is my preferred method. This is to make sure the chicken cooks through without burning the crust. You can do nuggets or strips in the pan, whichever floats your boat. I personally like the crust-to-meat ratio of the nuggets, but you will see the strips here.
Fourth, spices have carbs and I don't measure them very well in this concoction. Most spices are basically considered "free" because you wouldn't put enough of them on your food to equal anything other than very trace amounts. The exceptions to that are garlic and onion powder. I have plugged this recipe- my best guesses- into Fatsecret and if my spices add any carbs at all, they seem to be negligible. That's because, even guessing on the high side, I use maybe 2 tsp of each spice, which is spread out amongst the batter ingredients, then further amongst the chicken pieces, and again I'm making 3 lb of chicken. If you're only making 1 lb you're not going to be adding any significant carbs unless you really go nuts when seasoning your batter components. Don't go nuts.
Ok. On to the cookin'!
First, gather your supplies. You need three shallow bowls, chicken, pork rinds, coconut flour, Tabasco, 3-4 eggs, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika.
Next, prep your cooking area. This saves time later. Cover a baking pan in foil, get out whatever pan you're frying in and the coconut oil.
Begin by measuring out about 1/4 cup coconut flour into one of the shallow bowls. Then season it with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle each of garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. Mix well.
This is going to look like it's not enough. Trust me, it is. We're only really dusting the chicken with the coconut flour so the egg and pork rinds have something to stick to. This amount lasted through the entire 3 lbs of chicken without being replenished, and I even had a tsp or two left when it was all said and done.
In a second bowl, crack your eggs and season them with salt, pepper, a sprinkle each of garlic powder and onion powder, and about 1/4-1/2 tsp Tabasco. Don't worry! This will not yield a spicy chicken tender. It just provides a nice depth of flavor. Beat together well. I used four eggs and had plenty leftover when all the chicken was battered.
Open your bag of pork rinds and crush them relatively fine. I have a handy contraption that chops nuts and such and I use this for the task. It gets the pork rinds evenly crushed and I can have them either coarse or fine depending on which way I turn the handle. I usually do a combination of each, but whatever you like is fine.
Crushed pork rinds!
Now season those puppies with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle each of garlic powder, onion, powder, and paprika and mix well. I should note here that I only use about a cup of the crushed pork rinds at a time. When I'm doing only one pound of chicken I use about a cup, but since I did three pounds I used about 3 cups total. This ended up using up about 90% of a 3.5 oz bag of pork rinds. Also, when you run out and need more, be sure to re-season.
On to the chicken. Dredge each piece lightly in the coconut flour and shake off any excess. Again, trust me on this, you do not need a lot of coconut flour. A light dusting is perfect.
Roll the chicken in the crushed pork rinds and then set aside while you move on to the next piece.
Here's what it looked like when I got the whole batch done.
From here you need to heat your skillet or pan and preheat your oven (if you're deep frying follow the instructions for cooking chicken in your fryer). I have a convection oven so I normally crank it to 375 degrees F. If yours is not convection go with 425.
Once the skillet is good and warm, add in your coconut oil. I began with about 1/3 cup oil so as to get a good layer on the bottom of the pan. You want this to heat but not smoke. You will also want to add more oil to the pan and let it come to temperature in between batches.
Once the oil is good and hot, add your chicken to the pan. I never cook more than 3-4 strips- or the equivalent in nuggets- at a time so as to avoid overcrowding.
This is only going to cook for a few minutes on each side; just enough to get the crust golden and crispy. Once one side looks crunchy and beautiful, flip it and wait for the same on the second side.
When both sides are finished, lay the chicken in the baking pan and work on the next batch. Continue until all your chicken is ready to bake.
Once it's all fried and laid on the pan, bake for about ten minutes. Turn each chicken piece over and bake another five minutes on the second side. You want the chicken to be cooked through and maintain its moisture, while not making the crust soggy.
Here's the finished product.
I served it with a light drizzle of ranch dressing and my mom's coleslaw on the side (recipe here: http://ketomama.blogspot.com/2015/06/mom-coleslaw.html)
Our Favorite Chicken
Ingredients:
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 8 strips or bite-sized nuggets
2 tbsp coconut flour
2 eggs
Approx. 1 cup crushed pork rinds
1/4 tsp zero carb hot sauce or Tabasco
Salt and pepper, to taste
Garlic powder, to tasteOnion powder, to taste
Paprika, to taste
1/3 cup coconut oil, plus several 1-2 tbsp, for frying
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 convection, or 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil. OR prepare your deep fryer as directed.
2. In three separate bowls, measure out the coconut flour, eggs, and crushed pork rinds, one thing in each bowl. Season coconut flour and pork rinds with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle each of garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. Season the eggs with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and hot sauce. Mix all dry ingredients well in their bowls and beat the egg mixture.
3. Dredge a chicken piece in a light dusting of coconut flour, shaking any excess back into the bowl.
4. Dip the dredged chicken in the egg, letting an excess drip back into the bowl.
5. Roll the chicken in the pork rinds so all sides are covered. Let any excess fall back into the bowl.
6. Set aside and repeat with each piece chicken.
7. If deep frying, follow the directions for your fryer. If pan frying, heat your pan over medium-high and add in 1/3 c oil. Once it's hot, but not smoking, add the chicken and cook in batches of 3-4. Do not overcrowd the pan.
8. Turn chicken once the bottom is golden brown and has formed a crust, approximately 2-3 minutes. Cook on the second side until it looks the same as the first, then remove chicken to the baking sheet and repeat with remaining pieces, being sure to add 1 tbsp coconut oil to the pan and let it come to temperature before adding another batch of chicken.
9. Bake at 375 convection, or 425 degrees F for ten minutes. Flip the chicken over and bake an additional five minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Juices should run clear and no pink should remain internally.
10. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5-7 minutes. Serve warm.
Makes 4 servings of 2 strips per person.
522 calories, 43.6g fat, 4g total carbohydrates, 2.5g fiber, 27.49g protein, NET CARBS 1.5*
* calculated using Fatsecret.com
Please note you will not eat all the cooking fat, but I included the total amount of coconut oil used in the recipe count. Therefore the fat and calories listed may be higher than what is actually consumed.
Go easy on the spices or you will add carbs. You want just enough to add depth of flavor to the crust.
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