These crispy paleo chicken nuggets are made with almond flour and simple seasonings, then pan fried until golden and crunchy. Gluten free, dairy free, and Whole30 compliant, plus an easy air fryer option!
*This recipes was updated February 2026 with new photos, a tweak to the ingredients for maximum crispiness and an air fryer option too! My youngest son is now almost 15 and still absolutely loves these! P.S. Links have also been updated since I did wind up creating recipes for paleo pizza, mac and cheese (no cauliflower!) and even chicken parmesan 🙂
Even now that my kids have been eating mostly paleo at home for over a year, when I ask them for dinner ideas they’ll still come back with things like “baked mac and cheese” “chicken parm” “pizza” “baked ziti” and “chicken nuggets.”
I think they all figure that since I can make a paleo version of a lot of old favorites, that I can make anything paleo.
As in say a blessing and BAM, paleo mac and cheese.
And yes, I realize that there are people that DO make all these things paleo (I hang around Pinterest now after all), but realistically on a weeknight making these a paleo pizza worth eating would be quite the stretch. Remember my Taco Salad from Tuesday? Easy is the rule lately.
Truth is, I’m pretty certain they’d want no part of ACTUAL paleo mac and cheese, like with cauliflower or something.
Not bashing it for anyone, but I know my family and they would not stand for it. Gluten free we could all handle I think, but that’s for another day and now I’m off topic.
The chicken nuggets I knew I could pull off though.
If I’ve made crispy paleo breaded chicken before, I can certainly make it in nugget form.
I wanted to simplify it though to the best of my ability, and with this recipe it all came together.
While it does get messy, there are only a few ingredients and a simple method – the same that many people use to make breaded chicken cutlets.
I whipped these up for lunch while my girls were home last week in under 20 minutes and we all absolutely loved them!
What You Need to Make These Gluten Free & Paleo Chicken Nuggets
Super simple ingredients are all you need for these gluten free dairy free nuggets!
- chicken tenderloins
- almond flour
- tapioca flour or arrowroot
- fine grain sea salt
- smoked paprika
- onion powder
- black pepper
- large egg
- light olive oil ghee refined coconut oil or avocado oil, for frying
How to Make These Paleo Chicken Nuggets in a Skillet
Cut the chicken tenderloins into 1-2 inch bites sized pieces and set aside
In a shallow dish, combine the almond flour, tapioca, salt, smoked paprika, onion powder, and black pepper and mix well to combine the flavors
In another shallow dish, whisk the egg with 2 teaspoons water. Heat a large skillet over medium to medium heat and add the oil or ghee.
You should have about 1/4” of oil in the skillet. Before adding the chicken, make sure the oil is hot enough by dropping a bit of almond flour in the pan to see if it sizzles.
Since the chicken bites are small, you can dredge several at a time and it will come out fine.
Take the chicken and coat lightly in the egg, then coat with the almond flour mixture, shaking off extra. Immediately add to the hot skillet.
Let the chicken cook about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until just cooked through. You will have to fry in 2 batches most likely. Adjust the heat to avoid burning the outside and add more oil or ghee to the pan if you need to for the second batch.
Transfer to a paper towel lined dish to drain excess oil, then serve hot! These are great dipped in ranch, ketchup or honey mustard!
How to Make These Paleo Chicken Nuggets in the Air Fryer
Preheat the air fryer to 400°F.Preheating helps the coating crisp immediately instead of drying out.
Lightly spray the basket with avocado oil.
Arrange the coated chicken nuggets in a single layer, leaving space between each piece, cook in batches if needed.
Lightly spray the tops of the nuggets with avocado oil spray. This step is key for golden color and crispiness.
Air fry at 400°F for 9–12 minutes, flipping halfway through, until golden brown, crisp on the outside, internal temperature reaches 165°F
Let rest 2–3 minutes before serving to allow the coating to set, then enjoy!
Crispy Paleo Chicken Nuggets (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken tenderloins
- 1 1/4 almond flour
- 1/2 tapioca flour or arrowroot
- 1 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 large egg whisked
- 1/4 cup light olive oil or ghee or refined coconut oil, or avocado oil for frying - you may need a bit more as you fry
Instructions
-
Cut the chicken tenderloins into 1-2 inch bites sized pieces and set aside
-
In a shallow dish, combine the almond flour, tapioca, salt, smoked paprika, onion powder, and black pepper and mix well to combine the flavors
-
In another shallow dish, whisk the egg with 2 teaspoons water. Heat a large skillet over medium to medium heat and add the oil or ghee. You should have about 1/4” of oil in the skillet. Before adding the chicken, make sure the oil is hot enough by dropping a bit of almond flour in the pan to see if it sizzles.
-
Since the chicken bites are small, you can dredge several at a time and it will come out fine. Take the chicken and coat lightly in the egg, then coat with the almond flour mixture, shaking off extra. Immediately add to the hot skillet.
-
Let the chicken cook about 2-3minutes on each side, or until just cooked through. You will have to fry in 2 batches most likely. Adjust the heat to avoid burning the outside and add more oil or ghee to the pan if you need to for the second batch.
-
Transfer to a paper towel lined dish to drain excess oil, then serve hot! These are great dipped in ranch, ketchup or honey mustard!
Recipe Notes
Air Fryer Method:
Preheat the air fryer to 400°F.
Preheating helps the coating crisp immediately instead of drying out.
Lightly spray the basket with avocado oil.
Arrange the coated chicken nuggets in a single layer, leaving space between each piece, cook in batches if needed.
Lightly spray the tops of the nuggets with avocado oil spray.
This step is key for golden color and crispiness.
Air fry at 400°F for 9–12 minutes, flipping halfway through, until:
Golden brown
Crisp on the outside
Internal temperature reaches 165°F
Let rest 2–3 minutes before serving to allow the coating to set.
Nutrition
Want More Kid Friendly Paleo Dinner Recipes? Try One of These!
Easy Weeknight Meatballs in Sauce
I like this a lot for my son only I don’t use almond flour around here (afraid of my slight almond allergies) but it’s ok since I am not paleo. I make something just like this though using quinoa flakes and made a coconut chicken version too using coconut flour and shredded coconut which he liked a lot too. And I love how it comes out in the cast iron pan. Thanks for giving me next week’s dinner for him, I am so short on ideas lately! Oh, I really like bbq sauce, more than ketchup I think now.
This works so much better in cast iron than in my other old pan which I made my older recipe in! I might have to give bbq sauce another chance 🙂
Yes! I’ve been craving some chik-fil-a recently (which is so weird because I do NOT like fast food AT ALL) so this will definitely be something I pull out soon. It could be the amount of bunless burgers I’ve been eating lately from traveling all over the place. I will have to side with #teamranch here because it always makes everything so much better. Especially a spicy chipotle ranch. As far as ketchup or BBQ sauce, neither! I don’t like things too sweet 🙂
LOVE a chipotle ranch, that’s my favorite!
Chicken nuggets always over a burger. I don’t eat red meat so that was easy! Can’t wait for the honey mustard recipe. That’s my favorite!
Just had honey mustard on my lunch after taking pictures, yum 🙂
Oh. My. Goodness. Please come over and fix me the healthiest kid dinner EVER. I want allllll of it. Several years of my life were dedicated to chicken nuggets. I don’t even want to think about what went into them..
I gave up on the frozen ones long ago because the ingredients are a page long and with a bit more effort they can come out just as tasty. My kids really loved these, score!
I’m thinking my rutabaga chips need to hang out with your crispy nuggets. yes? dinner party!
How perfect would that be?! Yum!
Uhm this just made me so happy. I love chicken nuggets (becasue I’m 4) and now I REALLY want some. Can’t wait to make ’em!
Luckily my kids didn’t demand a dinosaur shape, that I don’t think I could’ve pulled off 😉
Honey mustard always wins in our house. I have never tried to make homemade chicken nuggets before. Do you think this would work with tofu? Just kidding! Even I think that would be gross.
I’ve had tofu probably twice in my life and hated it both times 😉 Honey mustard was an old favorite in my crispy chicken salad days!
These look gorgeously tasty as always! Your methods are so excellent, I have to try this method with some husband friendly protein, he’d love anything resembling a nugget 🙂 I must agree with you – cheeseburger and ketchup and ranch all the way. Sriracha ketchup is s bonus! Happy Friday!
There just something about a burger! I might have to jump on board your Sriracha train, I’m getting curious!
Honey mustard and ketchup… although my favorite condiment is horseradish sauce… is that weird? haha
Actually that sounds good, I want to try some!
I love chicken nuggets! Brings me back to my childhood. And definitely ketchup as the ultimate condiment. I don’t like ranch or BBQ much 🙂
You would fit right in at my house, but you’d have to be willing to fight for ketchup! We go through it alarmingly quickly!