Keto Chicken Nuggets
Keto Chicken Nuggets have only 5 ingredients and take about 5 minutes to prepare. They freeze well, travel well, and taste delicious!
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There is just something about chicken nuggets. Maybe it’s the fun of eating with your hands or just the yum factor of dipping in a condiment but they really are a comfort food. I’m happy to eat them for lunch along with my kids when I have some of these low carb chicken nuggets waiting in the freezer.
Most of the chicken nugget recipes I’ve come across use small pieces of raw chicken and just bread them. Those are good, but I like the soft texture that is inside conventional chicken nuggets. That is what I wanted to mimic in this keto chicken nuggets recipe.
It is as simple as mixing, scooping, and flattening. It really takes about 5 minutes to make a whole batch. This easy recipe is low carb, gluten-free, grain-free, sugar-free, and Trim Healthy Mama friendly.
For a complete keto diet meal the entire family will love, make a batch of my Broccoli Nuggets too!
Ingredients
- Cooked chicken – Any type of cooked chicken works in this recipe.
- Cream cheese – Cream cheese gives the nuggets a soft texture.
- Almond flour – Almond flour helps the nuggets hold together.
- Egg – Egg is the binder in this recipe.
- Garlic salt – You can use garlic powder plus salt if you don’t have garlic salt.
How to Make Keto Chicken Nuggets
Step One: Combine the ingredients in a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer until thoroughly combined. You must use warm chicken, or it will not shred easily.
Step Two: Form into balls with a cookie scoop or your hands.
Step Three: Press into nuggets on the tray. You can make any shape you want.
Step Four: Bake until firm in the preheated oven. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.
Top Tip💡
The trick is warming the chicken before adding it to the mixer so it shreds into tiny pieces with no effort. With a big bowl and a decent mixer, you can even shred the chicken and mix in the other ingredients all at the same time. Just make sure the chicken is very warm and the cream cheese is soft.
Variations
- Meat – Try making these with another type of shredded meat, like pork.
- Vegetables – This recipe works well subbing in a vegetable for some or all of the chicken.
- Seasonings – These have a mild flavor to be kid-friendly. Feel free to kick up the spices for your own palate.
- Pork rinds – Feel free to swap in crushed pork rinds for the almond flour.
- Air fryer – Cook in an air fryer basket lined with parchment paper or a silicone liner for 8-10 minutes at 400.
- Coating – Coat the nuggets in almond flour or crushed pork rinds before cooking for a breadcrumb-like exterior.
Storage
Store the keto-friendly chicken nuggets in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can also freeze these for 3-4 months. I prefer to freeze in a single layer on a baking sheet and then transfer to a storage bag so they don’t stick together.
Common Questions
Yup! I’ve roasted whole chickens just to save the meat for this recipe but it also works great with leftover chicken meat or rotisserie chicken.
Keto Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked chicken
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1 tsp garlic salt
Instructions
- Shred chicken with an electric mixer. This works best with a combination of dark and white meat (or just dark meat) that is still warm. If you are using leftover chicken warm it up a bit first. Once the chicken is shredded add in the rest of the ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Drop scoops onto a greased baking sheet (or use parchment paper to line it) and flatten into a nugget shape.
- Bake at 350 for 12-14 min until slightly golden and firm.
Notes
Nutrition
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Originally posted on Dec 31, 2015. Revised and republished on September 16, 2025.
These are so tasty and I have made them multiple times now. However, I have no clue what I am doing wrong when it comes to them looking like yours and getting the crispyness on the outside!
Mine aren’t crispy on the outside. You could fry them after baking to crisp them.
Do you think this would work with shredded chicken made in my instant pot? Do you have any idea how many pounds of chicken would yield the 2 cups? I’ve had my eye on your recipe for a while! Thank you!
Hi! I’ve never left a comment on a food blog before, but just wanted to say your recipe was a true savior when it came to the leftover turkey I had from Thanksgiving! I followed everything else to a tee. I used a silicone spatula to help pat down and shape the balls into nuggets. This was the EASIEST ever. I even reheated some tonight and put them on a salad! I can’t wait to try the original version with chicken! This is going in my “Keto-Worth” bookmarks. Thank you SO MUCH ~ lots of love and blessings. 🙂
Best ever!!! However… it takes me a lot longer than 5 minutes. (The first batch I made disappeared in less than 5 minutes. I now triple or quadruple the recipe when I make them!)
I have such a hard time scooping and flattening the mixture into the nuggets and they just aren’t as good if they are too thick (I tried that too). The mixture is SO sticky!
How do you flatten out the scoops before baking?
I wet my hands so they don’t stick 🙂
Can I use Flaxseed meal instead of almond flour? I’m on a elimination diet and can’t have nuts and I know coconut is a go to but I dont like anything coconut.
I think sunflower seed flour would taste better but flax would work.
WOW! just WOW!
These are out of this world! AND they’re super easy to make!! I used to always stay away from chicken nuggets, but now that I am full-on keto, I want to eat these every day!. I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes.
These nuggets are really good! Thanks for the recipe!
How would these nuggets do to send in a school lunch? I’m worried about not being able to heat them before eating.
I enjoy them cold right from the fridge. If your kids do too then they’d be fine to send with an ice pack. Or you could heat in the morning and send in a thermos.
Very east. Super delicious. Keep up the great recipes! Love them.
Would canned chicken work?
Yes. I would just taste it to see if you need added salt. You may just want to use a little garlic powder instead of the garlic salt blend.
these are very easy to make and absolutely delish! i do think they were a little big. i think you could easily get 36 out of the mix, possibly more. we did an extra step, though. after baking them, we shallow pan fried them. i think it gave a more “authentic” flavor. these will most definitely become a regular at our house!!!!!
I thought about breading and frying them to give a crispy exterior but I decided to keep it simple. I’m glad you liked them!
no breading! just baked and then fried until crispy. 😋
Approximately how many nuggets dose the recipe make in total?
24 nuggets.
What size scoop did you use and how many nuggets per serving? Looks delicious!
I used a standard cookie scoop which I believe is 2 tablespoons. I got 24 nuggets. The nutrition is calculated for 6 servings of 4 nuggets each.
I’m a bit confused. is the nurtician facts you provided above it states per serving, are the calculations for 4 chicken nuggets or 6 chicken nuggets?
The calculations are for 4 nuggets.
Thank-you so much for this recipe! I am new to THM and I don’t like chicken very much, but this was one of the few recipes w/chicken that I LOVED! Fantastic! Thanks so much for taking the time to share the recipes.
Hello! I was wondering what the serving size was and the approximate net “carbbage” is for the nuggets. They look awesome. I’m going to see if I can shape them with cookie cutters for my 4 year old.
About 1 carb per nugget. I just added a nutrition box to the bottom of the post.