5 best keto flours for frying your delicious, low carb meals

Whether it’s a simple seasoned flour or a more elaborate three-pan process with flour, egg wash, and crumbs, most foods need a coating before they are fried. This coating seals in moisture and protects the food from the hot oil.

Fried foods are generally keto friendly and delicious when cooked in good quality oil and prepared with the right kinds of flour and/or crumbs.

Here are the five best keto flours and coatings for all your frying needs. 

What flour is keto friendly?

1. Savory Chicken Soup Keto Chow

Keto Chow’s Savory Chicken Soup and various other flavors work well as flour replacements for frying. They cling to moist foods like raw chicken and tofu, and cook in hot fat without burning. Keto Chow works best for pan frying at medium-high heat, or as the first coat in a three-pan breading process, where it will cling to the food like flour and absorb the egg wash to create a sturdy coating.

This shake or soup mix also helps make a stronger crumb coating when mixed with other keto friendly coatings like almond flour and grated cheese. 

What is Keto Chow?

Keto Chow is a meal replacement powder that has 1/3 of your daily recommended nutrients. That means you don’t have to worry about getting the protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals you need when you replace your meals with this mix.

There are over 30 flavors of Keto Chow to choose from, from sweet flavors to savory flavors (like the Savory Chicken Soup listed above). Or you could try keto-friendly supplements to help with the keto flu or dried egg white protein to add more protein to your baking!

2. Crushed pork rinds

These have become so popular for keto and paleo cooking that you can now buy prepared pork rind crumbs, pork rind dust, or pork panko! Their rough yet light texture offers a coating that insulates foods from hot oil and remains light because the pork rinds don’t absorb much oil, and they retain their crunch after frying.

Pork rinds are gluten free and very low in carbohydrates. They usually contain salt which means you will need to adjust the seasoning of the food you’re preparing—and of course they don’t suit vegetarians or anyone who avoids pork for dietary reasons. 

3. Almond flour

This is one of the most popular keto friendly flours; it’s versatile, mild in flavor, paleo and vegan friendly too. It works best as a crumb coating because the texture is too coarse to work as a traditional flour coating. Almond flour works at its best when it is mixed with another crumb like pork rind crumbs or grated cheese which will help it cling and add flavor. 

4. Grated aged cheeses

These kinds of cheese (e.g. parmesan) make a great coating for fried foods—but this isn’t the place for hand grated, artisanal cheeses.

This is the time to opt for dry, machine-grated inexpensive cheese that will cling to the food being coated and hold up to the heat of the cooking oil. Grated cheese mixed with any crumb or flour will make the coating more delicious, more golden in color, and will help the coating come together with more strength. 

5. Keto breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs

Make crumbs from your favorite keto breads, crackers, protein chips, and wraps just like you would with standard bread and crackers. Dry out breads and wraps in a low oven (about 200℉) until they are crisp to the touch, then grind in a food processor or blender. Chips and crackers can be crushed in a plastic bag or in a food processor.

Store them in an airtight container in the freezer for best results. 

One flour to avoid

One final note on a keto flour that doesn’t work well for frying: coconut flour. It’s notorious for absorbing large amounts of liquid, which means it can also absorb large amounts of cooking oil so it is not ideal for frying.

For a coconut flavor in foods like coconut shrimp use dried coconut flakes instead. They still retain their own fat so they won’t absorb the cooking oil and will give a good coconut flavor. 

Make keto easy

Looking to make keto easy? Then check out Keto Chow! (It’s already been mentioned earlier in this article, but it needed to be mentioned again.)

Keto Chow is a meal replacement shake or soup that is rich in flavor. And it’s easy to make! To make a Keto Chow shake, simply add one serving of Keto Chow, your choice of fat and around two cups of water to a BlenderBottle®. Then shake, refrigerate and enjoy!