14 Keto-Friendly Chicken Recipes

By
Ariane Resnick
headshot for ariane resnick
Ariane Resnick
Ariane Resnick is a special diet chef, certified nutritionist, and bestselling author who takes great joy in shattering the image of what, and how, nutritionists eat.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Published on 01/19/21
Roast chicken legs on white plate over light gray table
istetiana / Getty Images

Grilled, baked, roasted, air fried, or cooked under a brick: chicken is a great entree choice for keto dieters, and it can be enjoyed through a wide variety of cooking methods. For this roundup of keto chicken recipes, we've focused as much as possible on dishes that add to the fat content of the chicken so that they're best aligned with keto dieting principles. 

The recipes either contain no carbohydrate ingredients at all, or tiny quantities of items like plain yogurt that will add only about one gram of carbs per serving. We've avoided all with ingredients like sugar or honey, even in small quantities, that you'd have to substitute out for lower carb replacements. With any of the below recipes, you're on your way to a delicious keto meal!

  • 01 of 14

    Garlic Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters

    Garlic roasted chicken leg recipe

    ​The Spruce / Ali Redmond

    Full of the dark meat from the thigh, drumstick, and a portion of the back, this garlic roasted chicken recipe calls for a full quarter of a chicken per serving. Since dark meat gets moist with roasting it employs that method, along with a hearty dose of fresh garlic for flavor.

  • 02 of 14

    Spinach And Artichoke Stuffed Chicken Breast

    spinach artichoke chicken recipe

    The Spruce / Elaine Lemm

    It might sound light, but the sauce of heavy cream and mascarpone cheese make this vegetable stuffed chicken breast a filling and great-for-keto dish. The sauce is rounded out with lemon juice so it's well balanced, and comes together quickly enough that you'll have it on the table just a half hour after getting the ingredients out. 

  • 03 of 14

    Grilled Butter Chicken

    Grilled Butter Chicken

    Rajesh Gupta / Getty Images

    Choose ghee over butter for the richest possible flavor from this Indian spiced chicken dish, which has you use an entire chicken cut into quarters. Ginger, coriander, chili, and onion are married with plain yogurt. Basting frequently with butter or ghee can only be made better by adding even more fat to the cooked chicken when it comes off the grill!

  • 04 of 14

    Tex-Mex Chicken Drumsticks

    Chicken Cacciatore
    LauriPatterson / Getty Images

    How fun and simple is this dish? Drumsticks are excellent as a party snack, or for a meal if you have a few, and it couldn't be a lower maintenance preparation of them: you'll use a jarred salsa for the sauce, which requires only that you pour it over the drumsticks before baking. Add some chili powder and salt and pepper, and these hands off baked drumsticks will have a spicy kick.

    Continue to 5 of 14 below
  • 05 of 14

    Crock Pot Portuguese Chicken

    Crock Pot Portuguese Chicken

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

    A half pound of chorizo sausage makes this chicken thigh dish sing with spice. Because it's a slow cooker recipe, you can prep it in the morning for dinner without worrying over it all day. Artichoke hearts, canned tomatoes, and olives are all shelf stable ingredients that can be kept on hand for whenever the chicken craving strikes. 

  • 06 of 14

    Chicken Skin Chips

    Chicken skin chips recipe

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

    Sure, they aren't technically an entree, but these chicken skin chips are a fabulous keto chicken recipe to have at your disposal. They can be used as a dipping agent, or eaten as a side dish when you need to bulk up the fat macro of a meal. These seasoned skins bake up into large, meaty chips. 

  • 07 of 14

    Moroccan Roasted Chicken With Preserved Lemons

    Moroccan Roasted Chicken With Preserved Lemons

    DebbiSmirnoff / Getty Images 

    A sublime recipe for entertaining, this dish features a whole chicken and an overnight marinade. You'll add the marinade under the chicken’s skin so it permeates as much as possible. The onion sauce is enhanced with saffron, turmeric, cinnamon, and ginger, making this a complex and innovative choice for a meal's centerpiece. 

  • 08 of 14

    Spicy Grilled Chicken Wings

    Spicy grilled chicken wings recipe

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

    There's more to chicken wings than buffalo sauce! This version grills them for caramelization, and seasons them simply with oregano, cayenne, and garlic. It's a take on party wings that requires less work, and they're less messy to eat, too. 

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  • 09 of 14

    Baked Chicken With Pesto, Tomatoes, And Mozzarella

    Baked Chicken Recipe With Pesto, Tomatoes, and Mozzarella

    The Spruce / Diana Rattray

    If keto dieting has you missing pizza, this chicken breast recipe is the perfect opportunity to bring those flavors back into your life. Making a fresh pesto brings brightness to the chicken breasts, and mozzarella cheese gives you all the gooey, drippy stretch you could want from cheese. 

  • 10 of 14

    Easy 5-Ingredient Garlic Baked Chicken Leg Quarters

    Roast chicken legs on white plate over light gray table
    istetiana / Getty Images

    Whole chicken quarters couldn't be easier to prep in this recipe, which asks for only five minutes of your time before baking. It's seasoned mildly with garlic and olive oil, and by spooning the pan juices over it for serving there's no additional sauce needed. 

  • 11 of 14

    Grilled Lemon Rosemary Chicken

    Lemon-Rosemary Chicken

    Dennis Gottlieb / Getty Images

    If you love the taste of rosemary, you'll enjoy how much this chicken breast recipe lets it shine. With a quick marinade and a short grill time, the depth of flavor belies the ease of preparation. Lemon and garlic pair perfectly with the woody herb, and permeate the chicken well. 

  • 12 of 14

    Air Fryer Chicken Thighs

    chicken thighs on a plate with parmesan cheese on the side

    The Spruce / Diana Rattray

    Actual frying is great, but air frying is a bit more convenient for a weeknight meal. Plus, an air fryer lets you add ingredients like parmesan cheese directly onto the chicken skin, making for a crispy, cheesy topping with no extra work. 

    Continue to 13 of 14 below
  • 13 of 14

    Chicken Under A Brick

    Chicken Under a Brick

    The Spruce / Anita Schecter 

    Spatchcocking, AKA removing the backbone from a chicken, is the secret to getting a whole chicken flat enough to be cooked in this crispy, juicy manner. Thyme, rosemary, and garlic give it an Italian flair, but the real beauty is in the presentation of the flattened bird. It can be made indoors or out. 

  • 14 of 14

    Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings

    Baked Buffalo Wings

    The Spruce / Diana Rattray

    Prepping the chicken in a brine is the only step needed before baking these Buffalo sauced wings. After baking, you'll toss the chicken wings in a sauce containing plenty of butter. Serving them with a blue cheese dip will cool their heat down while adding considerably more fat.