Easy Paleo Fried Chicken

Full Recipe PDF at bottom of Post

One of the things I missed when starting to eat Paleo was friend chicken. I was able to replicate a pretty good version with gluten-free flour, but not using grains presented a new problem when I started eating paleo. When I learned how to make Paleo Fried Chicken without using grains, so I knew I had hit the jackpot. 

How To Make Paleo Fried Chicken With Grain-Free Flour

While there are many Paleo fried chicken recipes out there that use almond flour only. I found that when I did this, the chicken didn't have that really crispy coating because almond flour has so much fat and virtually no starch. However, when I split the amount of flour between almond and either tapioca or potato starch, it came out with that crispy coating you expect from fried chicken.

How To Cut Chicken Tenders

You can make fried chicken with breasts, cutlets or tenders. If you can only find chicken breasts, or that's all you have in your fridge, you can easily cut tenders from regular chicken breasts. It's really only a couple of steps. (See gallery below)

1. Cut off the actual tender. (It's the little 1" piece that runs along the back of the chicken breast.)

2. Cut the remaining breast into pieces that are roughly the size of the tender - there are usually 3 or 4 per breast.

3. Actual tender is to the left of the knife in photo

4. Cut 2-3 more pieces equal in size to tender

5. Now you have 3-4 chicken tenders

The Best Way To Coat Paleo Fried Chicken

I used to use a three step coating process for fried chicken - flour, egg, flour again - but with almond flour's inherent moisture, it never got crispy. I found that dredging the chicken in the spiced flour mixture alone gave it just enough coating while retaining the crispness.

How To Make Spicy Paleo Fried Chicken

Spicy fried chicken has been trending for years, so if you like yours spicy, just add cayenne to the flour mixture.

Ways To Serve Paleo Fried Chicken

Sure you can serve with the usual suspects - mashed potatoes, corn and other starchy sides, but why not try something different:

• As a salad - Fresh greens plus fresh and pickled veggies pair perfectly with fried foods and are much lighter than starchy carbs. Drizzle with my Homemade Ranch or any of my homemade salad dressings and add some sliced avocado.

• Serve on a platter with your favorite dipping sauce for your next Game Day and try with my Honey Mustard. No one has to know they’re healthy.

• Add to lunch box along with baby carrots, dipping sauces and fruit.

Meal Prep Friendly

You can make these completely ahead of time. They are great cold or you can warm them in an air fryer.

Paleo Fried Chicken

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 pounds chicken breast tenders (if tenders are not available use chicken breasts and see post for how to cut into tenders)

• 1 1/4 cups almond flour

• 1 1/4 cups potato starch or tapioca starch

• 2 tsp sea salt plus extra for seasoning chicken

• 1 tsp pepper plus extra for seasoning chicken

• 1 tsp onion powder

• 1 tsp paprika

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1/2 tsp cayenne, optional for spicy

• coconut oil or avocado oil for shallow frying