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OK, guys! I did it!!!! I CRACKED THE CODE on making the juiciest, most delicious keto-friendly chicken nuggets EVER. Oh, have you been missing Chik-Fil-A? NOT ANYMORE, because I’m about to teach you their trick for getting their chicken to come out sooooo ultra tender!
You guys ready for this?
A pickle juice brine.
(I know, right?)
I had been hearing about this for years, and have always wanted to see what the fuss was about, so I went for it, and WOW did it work!
You just need a good half cup of dill pickle juice, and if you’re on keto/low-carb, surely you keep pickles in the fridge, right?!
Once you’ve chopped your chicken up, you just need to let it soak in the pickle juice for a couple hours (or overnight, if you really want!), and you will be so glad you did!
Then the breading? You are seriously going to think these were fried, they’re so good!
I LOVE them, if I do say so myself, so I hope you do too!!
Oh, and I paired them up with my recipe for keto “honey” mustard dressing, and it was PERFECT.
Enjoy!
Baked Keto Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb chicken breasts cut into large chunks or use chicken tenders
- 1/2 cup dill pickle juice
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 tbsp milk any will work; I used heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tbsp paprika sweet or smoked
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- In a large Ziplock bag, add chicken along with the pickle juice. This will allow it to brine and you are going to have the juiciest, most tender nuggets! Seal the bag tight and store in the fridge, allowing it to brine at least one hour, or up to overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Starting at the edge of the ziplock back, open it about one inch, and gently pour out the pickle juice, and dispose. Next, in a bowl, whisk the egg together with the milk, and add the chicken to egg stirring to coat. Set aside.
- Dispose of any additional pickle juice in the bag. Add to the bag the remaining ingredients for the breading. Using clean hands, remove the chicken from the egg mixture a few at a time, letting any excess egg and milk to drip off into the bowl. Toss each handful of chicken into the Ziplock bag with the breading mixture. Seal the Ziplock back back up and really massage the bag to get the breading to spread all over the chicken.
- Use parchment paper or aluminum foil to line a large baking sheet.
- Evenly spread out the chicken nuggets across the pan. Bake for 12 minutes, additional time if needed, until cooked through.