Selling the most amazing fast-food breaded chicken, almost all of the restaurant’s food is full of carbs and fats. This makes the diner an unsuitable choice for anyone on a keto diet.
However, if there isn’t anything else available or all your friends have their minds set on KFC, it is possible to get it right.
By customizing the options and by ordering the lowest-carb options on the menu, you can cut down the damage KFC will do to your diet.
In this post, we’re going to show you exactly what to order if you want to try your best to visit KFC and still stick to your keto diet.
Here are KFC’s top 10 low-carb options, starting with the lowest and ending with the highest. We have based our information on the nutrition calculator.
We’ll also tell you exactly what to say when making your order.
KFC Grilled Chicken – Breast
Just one grilled chicken breast at KFC has 7 g of fat, 38 g of protein, and 210 calories. However, the grilled chicken also contains 0 g of carbs which is pretty great for anyone on a keto diet.
The only downside is that you will have to cut back on the starchy dishes on the side and sauces if you want to stick to your keto diet.
KFC has plenty of grilled chicken items on the menu, so you need to take advantage of them. There is even a KFC keto option.
To enjoy the chicken breast, have it with a ranch sauce as this will keep carbs at 0.
What To Ask For: Ask for the number of chicken breasts you want without any sides and the ranch sauce.
KFC Grilled Chicken – Drumstick
Kentucky Fried Chicken’s grilled drumsticks also contain no carbohydrates whatsoever. They are also pretty low in fat and calories which is also handy.
Each chicken drumstick you eat will contain 80 calories, 11 g of protein, and just 4 g of fat.
Thanks to the low number of calories, fat, and carbs, you could easily treat yourself to a few pieces of this chicken for a snack. Alternatively, you could order a whole bucket if you’re having a full meal.
Most people have a ranch sauce with these drumsticks, which contains roughly 2 g of carbs. The butter spread KFC sells doesn’t contain any so why not give it a try.
What To Ask For: A couple of pieces or the full bucket of grilled drumsticks. Hold back on potato salad and other sides.
While the Kentucky grilled thighs contain 0 g of carbs, they do contain more calories and fat, so if you want a healthier option, choose one of the ones above instead.
One grilled thigh has 150 calories, 17 g of protein, and 9 g of fat.
Ordering this type of chicken with lemon juice will only add 1 g of carbs. You could try the hot sauce that contains 0 carbs too.
What To Ask For: The number of grilled thighs you want, the type of sauce you would like, and a Caesar salad, preferably with green beans.
KFC Grilled Chicken – Wings
You’ll be pleased to hear that KFC’s grilled wings are also keto diet-friendly, containing no carbs whatsoever. In fact, KFC’s wings are also fairly low in fat and calories, and high in protein, making them a good choice for most diets.
One wing contains 3 g of fat, 9 g of protein, and 70 calories. These nutritional values officially make these chicken wings a good keto meal.
The KFC wings can be enjoyed with a range of different sauces, just make sure they are low in sugar. A good example would be KFC’s butter, ranch, hot, or lemon juice sauce.
What To Ask For: One bucket of grilled wings. A small salad or some green beans, and a low-sugar sauce.
Grilled Chicken Thigh Or Breast – Nashville Hot Style
Sometimes plain chicken can be a little boring so why not go for something a little spicier. The Nashville-style grilled chicken KFC offers tastes great and contains very little to no carbs.
You have two options to choose from when it comes to the Nashville-style chicken at KFC. You can choose a chicken thigh or chicken breast.
The chicken breast option contains more calories than the thighs, 80 grams more to be exact, but it does come with more protein (38 grams).
The chicken thighs contain 180 calories and just 17 g of protein. The thighs also come with no carbs while the breasts come with 1 gram.
What To Ask For: A couple of pieces of grilled chicken breast or thighs, Nashville hot style. You won’t need a dipping sauce.
Grilled Wings Or Drumsticks – Nashville Hot Style
Another way of having the Nashville hot style at KFC is with grilled chicken wings or drumsticks. Both of these options contain higher levels of fat than breasts, making this option a great choice for high-fat diets.
Nashville hot wings contain 1 g of carbs, 90 calories, 9 g of protein, and 6 g of fat. On the other hand, the drumsticks contain 0 carbs, 100 calories, and 6 g of fat.
This is the nutritional value of one piece of both types of chicken.
What To Ask For: One bucket of the Nashville hot wings or drumsticks (grilled). Getting both together is possible.
KFC’s Caesar salad, without any croutons and dressing, comes to just 40 calories and 2 g of carbs. This salad also only contains 2 g of fat, 3 g of protein, and 1 g of fiber.
While this salad is only small, if you want a healthy, quick bite to eat, it could be your best option. Adding a dressing to the salad adds 5 g of carbs to the meal.
What To Ask For: The Caesar salad (small) without the croutons. Add grilled chicken if you’re feeling peckish.
Green Beans
Want a super-easy way to eat at KFC whilst sticking to a keto diet. Check out KFC’s green beans.
KFC’s green beans are one of the safest things on the menu you can order if you don’t want any struggles when trying to order something relatively healthy.
Available as a side dish, green beans only contain 5 g of carbs and 25 calories. You can also expect there to be 0 g of fat and 1 g of protein.
Other sides contain far too many carbs for a keto diet so it only makes sense to choose green beans instead.
What To Ask For: Green beans and your choice of chicken.
Colonel’s Sandwich
KFC’s famous Colonel’s Sandwich comes filled with mouthwatering crispy chicken. As a result, you’ll need to get rid of as much breading as possible in order to try and stick to your keto diet.
You’ll also have to ask for the sandwich minus the bread.
In all honesty, even then it would be quite hard to stick to your diet.
Minus the bun, your sandwich contains chicken, pickles, and lettuce. This adds up to 340 calories, and at least 14 g of carbs. At least it comes with 20 g of protein to soften the blow.
What To Ask For: The Colonel’s Sandwich without the bun. Maybe get grilled chicken instead.
Extra Crispy Chicken Tenders
Finally, we have KFC’s chicken tenders. The only way you could have these tenders and still try and stick to your diet is to remove all the breading, which in all honesty isn’t worth it.
Just a single piece of chicken tender comes with 140 calories, 8 g of carbs, 10 g of protein, and 7 g of fat.
We recommend looking for something else if you’re eating a whole meal at KFC.
What To Ask For: Two to three pieces of chicken tenders.
Final Thoughts
While KFC generally isn’t the best place to eat if you’re on a low-carb, keto diet, there are still some good options to choose from if you want to soften the blow.
By making simple adjustments to your order and asking for grilled chicken, you can massively reduce the number of carbs you eat and still eat out with friends and family.
In this article, we have shown you the 10 best low-carb options KFC offers and told you exactly what to order.
You should now know exactly what to ask for next time you’re grabbing something quick to eat in KFC without ruining your diet.
Hi, I’m Aubrey, and I have been a chef for close to 8 years. Cooking has always been a passion of mine, as long as I can remember. I loved my play kitchen when I was a kid, and would offer my parents my own (albeit gross) cookie recipes to taste!
Here at ButterandSaltGatherings, I want to offer a wide range of ingredients, flavors, meals and recipes so that you can start living each day to the fullest, and enjoy only the best food.
