Air Fryer Keto Fried Chicken

There’s a reason we all know KFC’s slogan—it’s because fried chicken is finger lickin’ good. But we also know that delicious doesn’t always equal healthy or diet-friendly. You’d be hard-pressed to name a diet out there that accommodates eating fast food fried chicken (unless it involves cheat days). But if there was a diet that could reasonably accommodate eating fried chicken, it would be the ketogenic diet. The challenge then becomes finding a fried chicken recipe that isn’t prepared with unhealthy oils, preservatives, or additives. We’ve done that for you. Below, we’ll show you how to make the tastiest air fryer keto fried chicken you’ve ever had, and also explain why it’s important to not eliminate tasty foods like this from your nutrition plan when trying to lose weight. If you make this recipe, be sure to post a photo on Instagram and tag @ketologic! Ingredients Used in This Recipe Include: Chicken drumsticks Almond flour Whipping cream Eggs Mayonnaise Hot sauce Spices: garlic, basil, onion powder, chipotle powder, cumin Why You Should Try This Keto Fried Chicken Recipe An air fryer makes all the difference in this recipe. (By the way: an air fryer is a perfect keto-friendly gift idea.) Instead of deep frying your chicken in unhealthy canola oil and preservatives like fast food joints do, an air fryer uses a small amount of healthy oil and hot air circulation to cook your chicken to crispy, golden perfection. It’s like the diet hack of diet hacks. You can enjoy your favorite fried foods without any of the guilt (or calories) that come with it. The #1 Reason This Air Fryer Keto Fried Chicken Is Healthy When introducing our recipes, we typically review the health benefits of each ingredient. For example, we’d usually use this section to tell you that chicken drumsticks are packed with protein. Almond flour contains both fiber and protein. And one serving of this chicken is less than 2 grams of net carbs. But there’s actually one health benefit that trumps all of these: that diet success is largely contingent on you getting to eat foods you enjoy [1]. We’ve all followed a restrictive diet at some point—one where we had to obsessively count calories and cut out our favorite foods. And if we had to describe that experience in a few words, we’d probably say something like, “not fun” or “unsustainable.” Science confirms those feelings—not only are those types of diets not enjoyable, but they aren’t very effective tools for long-term weight loss, either. Just consider: The taste, smell, and texture of our foods play a role in our eating habits, and help shape our overall attitude towards what and how much we eat [2]. Whether we like it or not, reward value (how much we enjoy a food) is a real thing that helps us determine what we eat. When we allow ourselves foods we enjoy, we’re more satisfied and happier with our nutrition [3]. Being satisfied makes it more sustainable. Being sustainable is linked to higher success rates. So there you have it… a case for making fried chicken and your other favorite “unhealthy” foods from time to time. Except in this case, it’s healthy and you can enjoy it without feeling any guilt.

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet