It’s All About The Breading
Remember last week when we made the Curry Tofu Nuggets? Well, that recipe turned out so well, we knew it was mandatory we replicate it using chicken. Isn’t it all about the breading anyway? When you have a perfect breading that coats well and crisps up in the oven, it makes sense to use it often.
You can take the breading we’ve given you and make fried shrimp, crusted lamb chops or mozzarella sticks, but we decided to make one of my favorite foods… Gluten Free Popcorn Chicken. It even pairs well with our Sugar Free BBQ Sauce!
Gluten Free Popcorn Chicken
I know the first thing you’ll be thinking is “did they steal this from the Colonel, Colonel Sandersl?!” No. Believe it or not, there’s a new Colonel in town, Colonel KetoConnect, and we dreamed up this recipe all on our own!
As soon as you pull them out of the oven, you hear them sizzling and crackling just like they do down in Kentucky. You pop one, you pop two and all of a sudden you think you’re in a Pringles commercial! You may ask yourself, “How did KetoConnect replicate a recipe that resembles two cornerstones of American Food?!?” Well, we’re just that good.
Tried and True Process
The truth is, we’ve been making this recipe for a couple weeks now. You guys already know cobb salads are a go-to food in our house, so making popcorn chicken only amped up our salad game. We are kind of a ‘go big or go home’ household, so it dawned on us that if we love these, so will you.
The recipe video above provides an easy step-by-step process on how to make them and how they “should” look! Homemade food beats drive-thru any day and even if your family and friends disagree, just feed them this Gluten Free Popcorn Chicken and they’ll think you stopped at KFC on your way home! It’ll be our little secret.
Gluten Free Popcorn Chicken
Ingredients:
Breading
- 1/2 lb chicken
- 3/4 Cup Almond Flour
- 2 tsp Oregano
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp Onion powder
- 1/4 tsp pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp Pink Himalayan Salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Egg Wash
- 1 tbsp Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 Large Egg
Instructions:
- Cut up half a pound of chicken into bite sized pieces. Dry off and salt and pepper the chicken.
- For breading combine all dry ingredients.
- For egg wash combine egg and heavy whipping cream and beat until well combined.
- Place a couple pieces of chicken into the wash and then immediately into the breading and coat well.
- Place onto a greased oven tray. Repeat until all chicken is coated and on the oven tray.
- Place tray into a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.
- Broil for 1-2 minutes (optional).
- Serve warm on a cobb salad or with our homemade, low carb BBQ sauce and enjoy!
Notes
Written by
Megha Barot
Megha has always been a passionate cook, but she took this to a new level after starting her keo journey in 2015. She loves creating new recipes and producing educational content for KetoConnect, which she co-founded in 2016 with Matt. Her passion for healthy eating and personal development continues to thrive. She's the proud mom of two awesome kids.
Turned out way better than expected. Added paprika for more flavor and color and added pork rinds for more crunch. Paired it with spicy mayo and it was delicious
I noticed you used a silicone baking sheet in the video and photos. If you use that, do you skip the part of greasing the pan?
Also, has anyone tried these in an air fryer? I’m thinking it might work well, but I’m still new to using it.
Yup! The silicone mat acts like parchment paper and nothing sticks to it, it’s super handy!
s.mehak.ali86@gmail.com can I fry these in regular oil?
I am not sure what regular oil is, but sure!
Do these freeze well? If so, do you recommend freezing before or after cooking them?
We have not tried freezing them – let us know if you do and they thaw and reheat well!
how many are considered one serving?
3 oz.
My husband and I tried this recipe tonight. Everything looked great but when we pulled it out of the overn the bottom of the breading was completely burnt. The two pieces that were edible were great so any ideas why that happened and what we could so differently next time would be appreciated! We are beginner cooks so we don’t really know how to fix it. Thanks!
Sorry that happened! It could just be your oven is different than ours. Make sure your oven rack is in the middle of your oven and not near the bottom and turn the chicken more frequently during the cook time to avoid burning.
The first time I made this, I didn’t have oregano on hand. I substituted some basil and parsley and it was a huge hit. It was so pleasantly crunchy and slightly sweet.
Today I made this as the recipe instructed. Not as awesome – lacked some familiar flavor/sweetness of popcorn chicken and replaced with an overpowering herbal flavor. I will make this again but will go back to my accidental basil and parsley from now on.
Thanks for getting me started with this recipe!
Hi guys! Would it be possible to sub in full fat half and half instead of the HWC?
Yes!
I just imported this recipe into my fitness pal and it came up with 51grams of carbs PER SERVE??!!
Something must’ve gone wrong. Nothing in the recipe is that many carbs! Sorry
Would it work to replace the heavy whipping cream with almond or coconut milk from the carton? I’m dairy sensitive. Otherwise, these looks great!
Coconut cream maybe? Or almond milk creamer?
I usually don’t leave comments, but these are just so good I had to – they’re amazing!! Thank you for the great recipe! I will be adding this to my weekly meal prep for sure!!
IMHO that looks like alot more than a half pound of chicken in the video.
I’m trying to come up with a breaking for fried oysters. Do you think using almond flour mixed with nutritional yeast will work?
I don’t think the flavor of nutritional yeast would be great for oysters. I think an egg wash and then dipped in either almond or coconut flour would be your best bet!
Just made 3 batches of these for the first time and they are soooooo delicious!!! If I didn’t hit my protein cap for the day I’d still be munchin on em!!!
Awesome! Glad you liked them David.
Is tigernut flour keto?
I have never heard of tigernut flour but it looks like 1/4 cup has 9g of net carbs. Not sure how absorbent it is so I can’t really say if it would be a realistic keto option.
Can you deep-fry these bad boys? I imagine they’d be even better/crunchier if fried in coconut oil–or even bacon fat.
Why yes you can!
I wonder how your keto bread would hold up if it were blitzed in the processor and used as breading?
Haha not sure?! I think it would turn out good, but then you’re basically just using almond flour + egg wash 🙂
Hi,
Great recipe! For people who are allergic to almond, what is a good substitute?
Hey, I think the next best option would be ground up pork rinds. You can also try coconut flour but it will not be as crispy.