Not just for kids, these Keto Chicken Nugget Meatballs with three dipping sauces are so good that the entire family will love them! They’ll never guess that these low carb meatballs are actually healthy – shhhhhh…I won’t tell if you don’t!
Getting our kids to eat healthy is hard enough these days, and when you throw dietary restrictions into the mix it can really get challenging.
Food intolerances in children are becoming more and more common, as well as conditions like Autism, Diabetes or Epilepsy that are often controlled and treated with a keto, low carb and/or gluten free diet.
It’s great that our kids feel better on these special diets – but maintaining them can be a struggle for the entire family. One way to combat the frustration and even depression that can result from cutting out some of these food groups is to get support from parents and others who are going through similar issues. Udi’s Gluten Free has a fantastic online community and Facebook page with lots of resources on how to help kids and families adapt to a new way of eating.
Another way to cope and adjust is to find acceptable alternatives to our favorites. Since 99.9999% of kids love chicken nuggets, I thought it would be fun to create a low carb and gluten free chicken nugget meatball.
This meatball is similar in consistency to their favorite drive thru nuggets, which will appeal to younger kids especially, who don’t usually find the texture of a breaded chicken tender to be an acceptable substitute. Crunchy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside, these chicken nugget meatballs will win over even the pickiest eater!
This delicious meatball recipe is not only low carb and gluten free, it’s also grain and dairy free. To make it nut free as well, you could replace the almond flour with pork rind crumbs.
The choices for dipping these kid friendly meatballs are endless, but I served mine with sugar free bbq sauce, honey mustard, and a simple chipotle mayonnaise. If your kids are gluten free but have no other restrictions, then store bought gluten free condiments are fine, otherwise you can make your own pretty easily. I’m adding my method for the honey mustard and chipotle mayo at the bottom of the meatball recipe. The BBQ sauce you can adapt from this recipe.
Chicken Nugget Meatballs – Low Carb and Gluten Free
- Yield: 16 meatballs 1x
Description
A kid friendly meatball recipe based on everybody’s favorite drive thru chicken nuggets! A low carb, gluten free, keto, atkins, lchf, Paleo friendly recipe.
Ingredients
For the meatball mix:
- 1 lb ground chicken (or turkey)
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/8 tsp celery seeds
- 1/4 tsp minced fresh rosemary
- 1/4 tsp paprika
For the coating:
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 2 Tbsp coconut flour
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp paprika
To assemble and fry:
- 1 egg beaten
- 2 Tbsp oil for frying
Instructions
To make the meatball mix:
- Combine the meatball mix ingredients together and mix thoroughly. Chill for 10 minutes. Coat hands lightly with oil (the mix is sticky) and form the mixture into 16 meatballs.
To assembly and fry:
- Combine the coating ingredients in a medium bow and mix well. Heat the oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Dip each meatball into the egg, then the coating, then into the hot oil. Cook about 3 minutes per side, turning until all sides are golden brown and the meatballs are cooked through. Serve with your choice of store bought or home made sauces.
To make the chipotle mayonnaise:
- Combine 1/4 cup of mayonnaisse and 1 tsp sriracha hot sauce and mix well.
To make the honey mustard:
- Combine equal parts honey to mustard (ex. 1/4 cup to 1/4 cup) ** not low carb
Notes
Approx nutrition info per serving: 423 calories, 30g fat, 4g net carbs, 27g protein
*doesn’t include dipping sauces
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 meatballs
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New to Keto and need help getting started?? Try following my 12 weeks of free keto menu plans, starting with the 3 Day Keto Kickstart and Keto FAQs!
Or if you’re already on keto but want to boost your results, try the wildly popular and effective IBIH 5 Day Keto Soup Diet and drop as much as 10 pounds!
Tracy says
II made these tonight and they turned out great! My family loves it and asked to have this again.
Rachel says
If I make a big batch and freeze some to finish making in the future, should I make them first and freeze them fully cooked or freeze them raw and fully cook from the freezer? My husband is a HUGE chicken nugget fan and although we’ve been LCHF for years, he will still order chicken tenders/nuggets for takeout when he gets a craving so I’d like to avoid that by having some on hand!