Meals · Skillet & sheet-pan mains
Keto oven-fried chicken with a parmesan-almond crust
Bone-in chicken thighs in a golden, crunchy crust of almond flour, parmesan and smoked paprika. Baked on a rack in a hot oven, they come out with juicy meat and no pot of oil to deal with.
- Time
- 70 min (20 prep + 50 cook)
- Servings
- 4
- Per serving
- 515 kcal
- Protein
- 49 g
Ingredients
- about 2 3/4 lb as bought, 6–8 bone-in thighs, skin pulled off (about 1 3/4 lb of meat) chicken thigh
Egg wash
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
Crust
- 2/3 cup almond flour, blanched
- 2/3 cup grated parmesan, finely grated
- 1 tsp paprika, smoked if you have it
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil, divided
Steps
- Heat the oven to 400°F and set a wire rack on a foil-lined sheet pan. Brush the rack with a little of the oil so the crust does not stick to it. Pat the chicken very dry with kitchen paper, because moisture is what lets a crust slide off.
- Beat the eggs and cream in a shallow bowl. Mix the almond flour, parmesan, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper on a plate. Press each thigh lightly into the crust mix, dip it in the egg and let the excess drip off, then press it into the crust mix again on all sides.
- Set the thighs on the rack with space between them and drizzle or spray with the rest of the oil.
- Bake 40–45 minutes, turning once after 20 minutes with a thin spatula, until the crust is deep golden and the meat reaches at least 165°F next to the bone; thighs are most tender at about 175°F.
- Rest 5 minutes before serving so the crust firms up. It is best the day it is made; a hot oven brings the crust back for leftovers better than a microwave.
Good to know
Can I air-fry it?
Yes: 400°F for about 20–25 minutes, in a single layer with a turn halfway, until the meat reaches at least 165°F next to the bone.
Can I keep the skin on?
You can, at about 42 instead of 52, and it is richer. The crust clings less well to the skin, so dry the pieces thoroughly and do not move them while they bake.
Per
- Calories
- 245
- Protein
- (39%)
- 23 g
- Fat
- (57%)
- 15 g
- Carbohydrates
- (4%)
- 3 g
- of which sugar
- <1 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 401 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2062 kcal goes into the pot and 1063 g of ingredients comes out as about 843 g of food: 245 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.