My husband asked me to make “real” skillet-fried chicken for dinner recently, so I caved and gave it a try. Haven’t been pleased with any of the low-carb fried chicken recipes I’ve tried to date, so I decided to put on my experimenting hat. Although I hat standing over hot, popping grease, I will do so for fried chicken.
I wasn’t sure what to coat it with, but remembered reading a recipe somewhere on the web for a coating that used whey protein powder, so I decided that would be my foundation ingredient. To that I added crushed pork rinds for crunch and a touch of oat fiber for a flour-y taste. BINGO! The resulting coating was the closest to my old high-carb flour coated chicken. I was astounded! Although I didn’t make any cream gravy with the browned skillet bits, I tasted them and they would have made an excellent batch of gravy had I been in a mood for some gravy.
I’m so pleased with this recipe we make it again and again!! Great flavor! Crispy! Until you try this one, you just won’t believe it tastes just like flour coated chicken! A real keeper in my opinion!!! It’s great leftover, cold, right out of the fridge!! Hubby said this was the best low-carb fried chicken I have cooked to date on my low-carb journey. My heretofore popular Oven-Fried Chicken, although very good, is just not the same as classic skillet fried chicken, ya know what I mean? Not like my Granny made, at least. This new recipe is almost exactly like my Granny’s and my mom’s fried chicken!
As I can’t know how you cut up your chicken, or what size pieces you tend to eat, I can’t really provide nutritional stats for the entire final meat dish. Instead, I am providing nutritional info for 1/10 of the coating, as it was just enough to coat 10 pieces of chicken: 2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings and 4 pieces of breast as I cut them into halves to speed cooking time.
INGREDIENTS:
3/4 c. plain whey protein
1 c. crushed pork rinds (about 2 oz.)
1 T. oat fiber (omit if on Induction or for gluten-free version)
1 tsp. my Seafood Spice blend (or seasonings of your choice)
½ tsp. onion powder
½ c. Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp. coarse black pepper
2 large eggs
¼ c. heavy cream
¼ c. water
½-3/4″ deep hot oil (I used palm shortening) in a large 13-14″ skillet
DIRECTIONS: Measure out and mix all dry ingredients in a paper bag by shaking well. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, cream and water together. Toss in the pieces of cut up chicken into the egg wash and turn several times to well coat each piece. Pick each piece of meat out of the bowl and drop into the bag of seasoned “flour” and when you have 3 pieces in the bag, holding the top closed, shake the bag to coat the chicken. Don’t put more than 3 pieces into the bag at a time or they will not coat well.
Heat 3/4″ deep oil over high heat. Place the pieces closely together. If you’re creative, you can get an entire chicken in a 14″ skillet. Lower heat to medium-high so larger pieces don’t over-brown before done. Repeat the coating process with the remaining pieces of chicken. I was only able to fry 8 pieces of chicken in my largest skillet at a time, so I saved the wings for last as I knew they would cook quite fast. Brown the chicken well on one side disturbing as little as possible. Turn pieces of chicken over carefully to brown the second side. When brown and done (about 30 minutes) remove to paper toweling to drain. Finish cooking the remaining pieces if you were unable to get them all in your skillet. Serve at once with your favorite sides. I served mine with steamed cauliflower I topped with cheese and chives.
NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes enough coating for 10 pieces of chicken. Numbers are for the coating only. Be sure to add in the info for the chicken piece(s) you eat! 1/10 batch of the coating contains:
113.4 cals, 7.26g fat, 1.72g carbs, 0.53g fiber, 1.19g NET CARBS, 12.8g protein, 209 mg sodium
Buttoni's Low-Carb Recipes 
My husband made this tonight using chicken tenders, and we both agreed that it was better than any chicken strips you can get at any restaurants we’ve ever been to. This recipe is a keeper for sure. Thanks for such a great recipe!
I’m so glad you folks liked it! It took me a long time to come up with the right ratios on the ingredients, but we just love it, too.
This is the most amazing recipe! I have used low carb diets for the last 12 years or so, and the one craving that I have never been able to satisfy was Southern Fried Chicken. Being a Southern boy, this was a staple every Sunday after church in my house. This recipe tastes EXACTLY like my mother’s fried chicken. I used Quest multi-purpose powder left out the oat fiber which essentially makes it zero carbs. My whole family loved it including my 80 year old mother and 5 year old son! THANK YOU!!!!
Well that’s WONDERFUL music to my ears, John. We found it to taste just like real flour-coated chicken, too. So glad you family (especially your Mom) liked it!
Hi, I’m thrilled with these wonderful low carb recipes! Where can I purchase whey protein powder and oat fiber.
Any info would be helpful. Thanks again
I’m glad to be able to offer ideas that appeal to your taste, Christy. Variety of meals goes far to keep one on track with ANY diet plan. I shop around for the best deals on ingredients on the net, but frankly, that usually ends up being Netrition.com, Honeyvillegrains.com, or Vitacost.com in that order. You might click the tab above “Ingredient Sources” anytime a recipe mentions a hard-to-find item. Any of the suppliers mentions there I have have great luck doing business with. No messed up orders or problems at all.
I deep fat fry my chicken and it is done in 15 minutes.
Yes, indeed. Fryers are very efficient. But I ditched mine years ago. I find them to be very “messy” appliances you have to store somewhere. I wanted to cut down on all the ever-growing collection of small appliances in my kitchen. 🙂
So excited to try this yummy recipe!! Thank you so much for sharing! Do you think I could fry it in olive oil?
If you do, I’d use the extra light. It will effect the flavor a bit, too. I’ve never fried in 100% olive oil. I tend to use palm shortening of a mixture of it and coconut or olive oil.
Okay!! That’s great! Thank you again.
I wouldn’t deep fry anything in olive oil. it becomes unstable when heated. It can’t handle the deep frying temps. Try coconut or avocado oil. I think they are rated for the temps required for deep frying.
But I don’t want everything tasting like coconut………just not fond of that taste in anything but appropriate desserts. For that reason, I Only saute curries in it, which are enhanced by that flavor. Avocado is just too darned expensive for my budget at nearly $10 a quart. The recipe doesn’t recommend olive oil. I recommended and use trans fat free palm shortening from Tropical Traditions, which is very stable at high heat and imparts no flavor to the food. BTW, there is new data out now that says sauteing in olive oil is fine at medium heat, just not higher heat of deep frying.
Do you think the plant based protein could work in place of the whey protein?
I’m not familiar with it, so I really couldn’t say. Might work if it is flour-like. If it fries OK, the taste is likely going to be a little different, but perhaps acceptable to you. You might like to try it on a half recipe, or just one piece before messing up a whole chicken if it’s NOT going to work.
I haven’t tried this recipe but if you have a nuwave oven you can have the BEST fried chicken ever…I buy chicken with the bone in and whatever you do leave the skin on. Salt and pepper it and I usually leave chicken thighs in for 30 mins and I turn half way through…the skin is so crispy and crunchy and the inside is so juicy and tender
Well that certainly sounds good and I’m sure it is. Love crisp-skinned chicken. :). But you have to admit, that’s just not the same as chicken with a crunchy, flour coating one gets say at a KFC or Church’s. Sometimes that coating makes all the difference in the world and is precisely what you want. Another NuWave fan mentioned to me how good chicken was baked in that appliance, but as I told him, I’ve pretty much eliminated “small specialty appliances” in my kitchen as I don’t like to store them. Even ditched my crock pot and rotisserie oven for this reason. 🙂
Is it really 35-40 mins in the oil? Any idea what temp the oil is? (325-375)
No idea. I just heat in on high and put the chicken in. Bone-in chicken pieces don’t cook as quickly as boneless chicken breasts, ESPECIALLY legs and thighs. Check the joints and remove when it is done. I can’t know how powerful your stove or gas burner will get the oil.
Thanks, i’ll give it a shot.. i miss fried chicken so much 🙂
Thank You for this wonderful recipe. Made the fried chicken a little while ago…….. Fantastic ! Thank you again Peggy for all you have done for the LC community.
My pleasure, David! Good food is meant to be shared and I truly want to help others be successful at this without all the fuss and muss in the Kitchen. So glad you liked it! I think that’s my best fried chicken trial to date, though the Oven-Fried Chicken recipe is pretty darn good, too, if you ever liked KFC original. 😉
love your recipes!!! I have diverticulitis as well as being lactose intolerant…yay me 😛 what do you suggest instead of the cream and whey protein if no suggestions I understand my world of foods is small to say the least 😉
If you take out the whey protein it will not be as good. THAT’s what gives it the flour-y taste. You can use more eggs and omit the cream……….but again, you’re changing up the recipe so much you’re not cooking my recipe at all. I have no idea what your results will be using more egg…..I have no idea if it will be as good, or good at all.