Keto Crack Chicken
This Keto Crack Chicken Recipe is bursting with flavor. Tender and juicy chicken with crumbles of bacon, cream cheese, and mozzarella makes the best keto meal. This incredible keto chicken recipe is also low carb and gluten-free.
Chicken is one protein we often eat in our home. It is so versatile that you can transform it into so many keto recipes. Right now, Crack Chicken is what my entire family is asking for the most when they see chicken tenderloin or boneless skinless chicken breasts in the fridge.
I’ve been wanting to make my own keto diet version into a casserole for years. I’ve seen a lot of crack dips but casseroles are more my thing. My whole family, kids included, love any kind of cheesy, creamy casserole especially if it has bacon in it.
What is Crack Chicken?
It is a concoction of creamy chicken with ranch and crispy bacon. The sort of keto chicken recipe I love to share here on Joy Filled Eats!
Why is it called Crack Chicken? It is addictive and highly tasty, so everyone says they can’t resist the cheesy chicken. I did not invent the name for it. I just make my own version of a popular recipe.
Ingredients
Chicken Tenderloins – Chicken tenderloins are the narrow strip of meat on the inside of an uncooked chicken breast. They are indeed more tender. You can use chicken breasts (cut big ones in half) or boneless skinless chicken thighs if you prefer.
Cream Cheese – I use full-fat cream cheese.
Mozzarella Cheese – Shredded mozzarella is great in this keto chicken recipe.
Scallions – Scallions (also known as green onions) give a great fresh flavor in both the sauce and topping.
Bacon Crumbles – Bacon Crumbles are an easy way to get bacon flavor without cooking fresh bacon. They are 100% bacon. They are different from bacon bits, which are normally made of soy protein.
Garlic Powder – I use garlic powder in this since it is convenient. You can sub in fresh garlic if you’d like.
Onion Powder – Onion powder give a great onion flavor without the work.
Dried Dill – Dill weed has a very strong and distinctive flavor. It is a signature flavor in ranch dressing. Because of this and the seasonings above, you don’t need store-bought ranch dressing or a ranch dressing mix packet.
See quantities in the recipe card.
How To Make Keto Crack Chicken
Step One: Start by heating the oven. Then spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Lay down your chicken tenders into the dish and then set aside.
Step Two: In a bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, half the mozzarella, half the bacon, half the green onions, and all the seasonings. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
Step Three: Mix until well blended then spread the cream cheese mixture all over the chicken.
Step Four: Sprinkle on the leftover bacon and cheese, top with remaining scallions, and bake! Drain any cooking liquid before serving.
Top Tip💡
The cream cheese topping is easy to mix IF your cream cheese is very soft. If it is cold, microwave for 15-30 seconds to soften.
Variations
Cheese: Feel free to use whatever shredded cheese you have or fits your liking. We have used mozzarella cheese, pepper jack cheese, mild cheddar cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, and parmesan cheese.
Sauce: For a thinner sauce, mix a little heavy cream, chicken broth, vegetable broth, mayonnaise, sour cream, or even marinara sauce into the cream cheese. In most of my casseroles, I use a combination of mayo, cream cheese, and sour cream. You can tweak the creamy sauce to your palate.
Vegetables: If you’d like to add a veggie to this keto chicken recipe, spinach, broccoli, or cauliflower are my top choices.
Common Questions
Do You Shred the Chicken?
Most recipes for keto crack chicken you see do offer a shredded chicken. I kept my chicken in tenders and then piled on toppings and baked. I loved the method of serving up small chicken tenders.
If you prefer shredded, precook chicken, shred and then place in the bottom of the pan and then add on the toppings.
Is Crack Chicken Keto?
This crack chicken recipe is a low carb keto-friendly recipe. Just remember how you serve it is important because you don’t want heavy carb sides.
How to Store Leftover Keto Crack Chicken
Store any leftovers you may have in the fridge. I place ours in an airtight container or cover with plastic wrap, and it will keep up to three days. Use your best judgment on how long the chicken is good for, as you don’t want to get sick from leftovers.
Best Way to Reheat Casseroles
I like to warm my leftovers up in the oven, but the microwave works too. For the oven, place chicken in a pan and cover with aluminum foil. Toss in at 350 degrees and heat until it is warmed through. Remove foil and serve!
For the microwave, don’t overcook it as it will pop and splatter and make a mess if you have a shield for your microwave cover the dish before heating.
Can You Freeze Crack Chicken?
The cream cheese will separate a bit when you go to thaw this from the freezer, but it will still taste good. If you don’t mind a slight change in texture, you could quickly freeze any leftovers you don’t plan to eat right away.
Just place in a freezer container or sealable freezer bag and store for up to three months. Allow the chicken to thaw in the fridge the night before you plan to serve it up.
You can easily make single serve portions of this keto chicken recipe when freezing it so that it makes for a quick single serve lunch or dinner.
What to Serve With Keto Chicken Recipes
There are so many ways to enjoy this keto recipe. Eat your chicken on a plate with favorite sides, top a hamburger or slider bun for a sandwich, are two popular methods. You could even top zucchini or pasta with the chicken or use it as a dip for entertaining!
- Salad
- Roasted broccoli or cauliflower
- Steamed or oven-roasted green beans
- Zucchini Noodles or cauliflower rice
- Serve in lettuce wraps
- Keto Mashed Cauliflower
Any side you feel sounds good is worth trying! Depending on what we have on hand will decide what sides I use for dinner.
Check Out More Chicken Casserole Recipes
This is such a simple and easy keto chicken recipe! You all know I love outstanding flavors that work, but also are easy for you in the kitchen. Minimal prep, a little bake time, and one exceptional keto chicken dinner recipe will be waiting for you! Afterward, make sure to try my other chicken casseroles:
- Chicken Divan Casserole
- Keto Chicken Parmesan Casserole
- Chicken Fajita Casserole
- Mediterranean Chicken Casserole
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Video
Keto Crack Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 lbs raw chicken tenders
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 8 oz mozzarella cheese
- 2 scallions finely sliced
- 1 cup bacon crumbles
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dried dill
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400. Spray a large casserole dish with cooking spray.
- Put the chicken tenders in the prepared baking dish.
- Mix together the cream cheese, half the mozzarella, half the scallions, half the bacon, and the seasonings. Spread on top of the chicken. Sprinkle on the remaining cheese, scallions, and bacon.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the chicken is 160 degrees. Carefully drain any cooking liquid before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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Originally Published June 17, 2019. Revised and Republished May 16, 2025.
delicious and soo simply to make!!
I made this recipe as written, with the exception of about 3/4 of the salt. Because of the bacon and cheeses, it seemed too much. I used precooked bacon from Costco, and for the record, Sam’s precooked bacon is better. The dish still had a little too much salt for me, but it wasn’t over the top.
This was a good dish, I will likely make again, but next time, I will add 2 finely diced jalapeños to the dish.
Good dish!
so I make dinner each night when my parents go to work and my mom was on the keto diet so I felt so bad because she could never eat anything I cooked. when I stumbled across this recipe I thought yes this sounds good and to my surprise this dish is fabulous! my mom loved and and so did the whole family! I’m actually making it again right now. 🙂 I mixed a little mayo and sour cream in with my cream cheese mix . I yummy ymy yummy thank you!
The ‘printed’ version didn’t match exactly what was described, and it didn’t say whether to cover when baking or if it should be left uncovered.
Generally, recipes are supposed to be uncovered when baking unless they say otherwise. I see the discrepancy, the blog post says to mix in half the scallions, the recipe card says to just top with them. I will edit to fix that. This really works either way.
the cream cheese mixture was very thick. it was really hard to spread. i cooked as directed. the topping wasnt really a sauce. it was a thick cooked on crust….the chicken tenders left a watery juice in the dish. i thought this sounded amazing but honestly i didn’t want any more after the first serving. my husband didn’t care for it either…i probably wont ever make this recipe again.
Hi Tracy, sorry you didn’t like this recipe. It sounds to me that you may have overcooked it. The topping should not end up as a ‘thick cooked on crust.’ Did you use fresh chicken tenderloins? They normally release a bit of juice but aren’t that watery.
Really flavorful. I threw some mushroom on top too, because I love mushroom and needed to use it. Tasted great!
sooo good. will be on my regular menu rotation..
I started Keto 11 days ago and this recipe was my absolute favorite so far😋 Thank you.
I have made this recipe time and time again and it is always a hit in my house! It is such a delicious meal!
I Just tried this recipe and my family loved it. It was so easy and the flavors were fantastic.
Followed the recipe to the T. And absolute let horrendous amount of water was released during cooking. Cut into it and it was practically soup.
Hi Thomas, any chance you used frozen chicken tenders? Fresh chicken tenders do not normally release that much liquid. I’m very surprised to hear it was soupy.
Too salty.
Hi Barb, this only has 1/2 teaspoon of added salt to 2 pounds of chicken. The saltiness is primarily from the cheese and bacon. You can omit the added salt and use low-sodium cheese and bacon if you prefer.
Simply delicious, simply easy! My very first Keto meal. Going to make it in 2 weeks for my family on vacation.
How much cream was used? And where is the video found? 🙂
The measurements are in the recipe card. The video appears under the first photo, unless you have a pop-up blocker. You can also see it on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CgR1yfNtTA5/
The recipe says cream, and then mentions the cream cheeee. I also was confused on if cream was needed. Step 2 of “how to make…” says cream, then cream cheese.
The recipe in the recipe card is correct. You don’t need cream. I’ll fix that typo asap.
Made this Tonight for dinner didn’t have dill so I used dried rosemary paired with steamed broccoli