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    Home » Snacks

    Author: Emily Krill | Published: Feb 8, 2022 | Modified: Feb 8, 2022

    Zero-Carb Keto Fried Pickles

    Jump to Recipe

    These Keto Fried Pickles are sure to win you over.  It's a zero-carb snack or appetizer that will please dieters and non-dieters alike.

    a hand holds a Keto Fried Pickle
    Jump to:
    • 🐖 Pork rinds?
    • 🥣 Ingredients
    • 📖 Instructions
    • 💬 Keto Dieters Often Ask
    • 📋 Recipe

    Greetings 👋

    Today I'm going to share my recipe for Keto Fried Pickle Spears, but first, a little dill pickle humor. For Christmas this year, I bought my 10-year-old son a t-shirt with a pickle in sunglasses that says, "DILL WITH IT", and he thought it was hilarious. So now, one of our family jokes is to tell each other to "JUST DILL WITH IT".

    (The bar for humor is, obviously, not very high in our house.)

    Annnnyhoo.

    Let's talk about the kind of pickle that doesn't wear sunglasses. I'm talking about nice, naturally low carb, dill pickle spears. Now, I'm not exactly sure what spurred this recipe, since I have never had fried pickles in my life. Never been tempted at TGI Fridays. But a few days ago I just got a hankering for them.

    So I've spent the last couple days experimenting with the best way to fry up pickles.

    a baking sheet with Paleo Fried Pickles

    And honestly, making fried pickles is very easy.

    All you need to do is bread some dill pickle spears and cook them up. But what to bread them with? You've got several breading options when you are eating low carb. You can use almond flour, coconut flour, oat fiber, flaxseeds, parmesan cheese, or pork rinds. Or some mixture thereof.

    🐖 Pork rinds?

    Yes, pork rinds, good old chicharrones. These salty snacks actually make great zero-carb breading. They have crispiness that you can't get from other Keto ingredients. You can grind up some pork rinds or buy already ground "pork panko". I use them in my recipes for Chicken Tenders, Fish & Chips, and Buffalo Cauliflower.

    So yes, I am there for pork rinds.

    a bag of Utz Pork RInds

    🥣 Ingredients

    • Dill Pickle Spears- Make sure that your pickles are made without sugar, if possible. You can use dill pickle spears or dill pickle chips in this recipe.
    • Crushed Pork Rinds- You can buy pre-ground "pork panko" but it's much cheaper to buy pork rinds and pulse them a few times in the blender.
    • Grated Parmesan Cheese- You can get as fancy with the cheese as you like. The plain old shakey cheese that comes in the can is absolutely fine though.
    • Oat Fiber- Oat Fiber comes from the husk of the oat grain, which is almost all fiber. So oat fiber might sound like high-carb oat flour, but is actually very different.
    • Eggs- This will act as a binder to keep the breading on the pickles.
    • Heavy Whipping Cream- This also helps bind the breading, but you can skip it if you need to.

    For more great air fryer recipes, check out my round-up of 50 Quick Keto Air Fryer Recipes.

    close up of low carb fried dill pickles

    📖 Instructions

    1. You start with some dill pickle spears. In order to bread the pickles, you'll need to set up an assembly line. First, you coat the pickles in oat fiber, then you dip them in an egg wash, and finally, you press them into a crunchy mixture of crushed pork rinds and parmesan cheese.
    2. At this point, you are at a crossroads. You can either fry the breaded pickles in oil, bake them in the oven or cook them in an air fryer. I wouldn't wish oil frying on my worst enemy, so I don't recommend that you do that. Baking is less messy, but the pickles won't come out quite as crispy as frying. So my recommendation is that you cook them in an air fryer. It's the quickest method with the best results.
    3. AIR FRY:  Place 4 pickles in the basket of an air fryer.  Fry at 320 degrees F for 8-9 minutes until browned.  Repeat with the remaining 4 spears.
    4. OIL FRY:  Add coconut or avocado oil to a large skillet so that will just cover the pickles.  Bring the temperature up to 375 degrees F and fry the pickles, 4 at a time, for 2-3 minutes, turning once.  Remove pickles to a paper towel-covered plate to drain.  
    5. BAKE:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray.  Place all pickles on the cookie sheet and spray them with the cooking spray.  Bake for 15 minutes, carefully flip the pickles and bake for 5 minutes more.  If the pickles haven't browned enough, then broil for 1 minute, watching carefully so that they don't burn.
    recipe in the basket of an air fryer

    💬 Keto Dieters Often Ask

    Can you eat pickles on Keto?

    Yes, pickles are not only allowed, they are encouraged! Just try and find pickles that are made without sugar. Brands with Keto-friendly pickles are Claussen, Bubbles, and McClure's. You can also make your own sugar-free Keto dill pickles spears at home.

    What are the carbs in dill pickles?

    A standard dill pickle spear has zero fat, 4.2 calories, .2g protein, .9g carbs, and .4g fiber. So the total amount of net carbs in a dill pickle spear is .5 grams.

    How many carbs are in a fried pickle spear?

    It really depends on how the fried pickles are breaded. Classic breadcrumb-covered fried pickles have anywhere from 30-60 grams of carbohydrate per serving, so they are very high in carbs. But the pork rind-covered Keto Fried Pickles we are making have less than 1 gram of net carbohydrates.

    a hand holds a paleo fried pickle

    Soon you'll be munching on a crunchy fried pickle with only 30 calories and zero net carbs.

    Your only problem will be all the friends who'll want to come over and eat all your pickles.

    But whatever, you'll just have to DILL WITH IT.

    Big-Chef-Orange-Square

    Ok, chow for now!

    Big-Chef-Orange-Square
    (But let's keep in touch.)

    Print

    📋 Recipe

    Zero-Carb Keto Fried Pickles

    Keto fried pickles on a cookie sheet.
    Print Recipe

    ★★★★★

    5 from 5 reviews

    This is an easy recipe for Keto Fried Pickles.  It's a zero carb snack or appetizer that will please dieters and non-dieters alike.

    • Author: Emily Krill
    • Prep Time: 10
    • Cook Time: 9
    • Total Time: 19 minutes
    • Yield: 8 fried pickle spears 1x
    • Category: Appetizer
    • Method: Air Fried
    • Cuisine: American
    • Diet: Gluten Free

    Ingredients

    Units Scale

    Fried Pickles:

    • 8 no sugar dill pickle spears
    • ½ cup (½ of a 3.5 oz bag) crushed pork rinds
    • ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
    • 2 tablespoons oat fiber
    • 1 large egg, beaten
    • 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream

    Dipping Sauce:

    • ½ cup mayonnaise
    • 1 teaspoon Swerve Granular
    • ¼ teaspoon ground paprika
    • ½ tablespoon butter, melted
    • 1 teaspoon tomato paste
    • ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
    • 2-3 tablespoons water as needed to thin the sauce

    Instructions

    Step 1.  Set up an assembly line with three shallow bowls.  

    Step 2.  Add oat fiber to the first bowl.

    Step 3.  Mix together the egg and cream in the second bowl.

    Step 4.  Blend pork rinds in a blender until they are the consistency of panko bread crumbs.  Mix with parmesan cheese in the third bowl.

    Step 5.  Pat the excess liquid off the pickle spears with paper towels.  

    Step 6.  Coat the outside of a pickle with oat fiber.  Dip the pickle into the egg wash so that it coats all sides.  Then press the pickle into the bowl of pork rinds and cheese until fully covered.

    Step 7.  Carefully place the breaded pickle on a large plate and repeat with the remaining pickles.  It's best to handle the pickles with tongs so that you don't rub off the breading before it's cooked and hardened around the spears.

    Step 8.  Cook the pickles by frying in oil, baking, or air frying.  

    AIR FRY:  Place 4 pickles in the basket of an air fryer.  Fry at 320 degrees F for 8-9 minutes until browned.  Repeat with the remaining 4 spears.

    OIL FRY:  Add coconut or avocado oil to a large skillet so that will just cover the pickles.  Bring the temperature up to 375 degrees F and fry the pickles, 4 at a time, for 2-3 minutes, turning once.  Remove pickles to a paper towel-covered plate to drain.  

    BAKE:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray.  Place all pickles on the cookie sheet and spray them with the cooking spray.  Bake for 15 minutes, carefully flip the pickles and bake for 5 minutes more.  If the pickles haven't browned enough, then broil for 1 minute, watching carefully so that they don't burn.

    Step 9.  Mix together all dipping sauce ingredients and serve with the fried pickles.

    Notes

    Nutritional info is for air fried pickles.

    Nutrition

    • Serving Size: 1 pickle spear
    • Calories: 30
    • Fat: 2
    • Carbohydrates: 2
    • Fiber: 2
    • Protein: 3

    Keywords: Low Carb Fried Pickles, Keto Fried Pickles, Paleo Fried Pickles

    If you liked this low carb appetizer, then you might like my recipes for Bacon and Onion Mini Poppers, Onion Rings, Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower, or Antipasto Skewers.

    « 50 Quick Keto Air Fryer Recipes
    Keto French Toast »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. KWG says

      April 12, 2019 at 8:49 pm

      Can you use almond flour instead of oat fiber?

      Reply
      • EmilyKrill says

        April 12, 2019 at 9:14 pm

        Yes, that would be fine.

        Reply
    2. Heidy L. McCallum says

      February 20, 2019 at 2:59 pm

      Being a Southerner Fried Pickles are a favorite of mine. We make them all the time to snack on. I can't wait to try your version!

      Reply
    3. Kelly Anthony says

      February 20, 2019 at 2:51 pm

      These fried pickles look like they are cooked perfectly. I can't wait to give these a try.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • EmilyKrill says

        February 20, 2019 at 2:56 pm

        Thanks! Thank goodness for air fryers.

        Reply
    4. Noelle says

      February 20, 2019 at 1:55 pm

      I love these! Never have made them at home so I am excited to try this, and it's a healthy version, perfect!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • EmilyKrill says

        February 20, 2019 at 2:28 pm

        I love them now too. FYI, you can make an un-low carb version of these fried pickles by substituting white flour for the oat fiber and Panko bread crumbs for the pork rinds.

        Reply
    5. Sandi says

      February 20, 2019 at 1:49 pm

      We LOVE pickles and the thought of frying them sounds so good!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • EmilyKrill says

        February 20, 2019 at 2:29 pm

        It's quite a treat.

        Reply
    6. Luci says

      February 20, 2019 at 1:48 pm

      I'm not a big pickle fan but my family is. I know this would be a huge hit.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • EmilyKrill says

        February 20, 2019 at 2:29 pm

        I was leery of fried pickles before I tried them, but now I'm a convert.

        Reply
    7. Courtney says

      February 20, 2019 at 1:25 pm

      Fried pickles are one of my most favourite treats when I'm out to eat. Thanks for sharing!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • EmilyKrill says

        February 20, 2019 at 1:40 pm

        Sure thing!

        Reply

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    I'm Emily, the diabetic behind Resolution Eats. Many years ago, I made a New Year's resolution to switch to a low carb diet. It improved both my health and my outlook on life. Since then, I've come up with hundreds of Keto recipes for everything from soup to nuts. And this blog is a way for me to share the low carb love. Cheers!

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    DISCLAIMER: I'm a home cook, not a nutritionist, so please take my advice with a grain of salt.  I calculate the nutritional information using the Lose It app, which sometimes contains errors.  You should also know that there are affiliate links on my website, so if you follow them, I'll receive a small commission. 

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