Wondering If Chicken Feet Is Keto Friendly? [Find Out]

I remember the first time I had chicken feet; I was pretty reluctant at first because ya… chicken feet.

I was eating at a dim sum restaurant out with my parents as a child, and asked what in the world they were eating. Low and behold, I discovered chicken feet was an edible part of the bird, and to my surprise, delicious.

Is chicken feet keto friendly? Chicken feet is a keto friendly food with minimal carbohydrates. However, chicken feet at dim sum restaurants are often made with marinades and added sugars, making them not as keto friendly should you have made them at home.

In this article, I'll delve more into chicken feet, the nutrition facts, benefits, and ways to incorporate chicken feet into your ketogenic diet.

Table of Contents

Is Chicken Feet Good For A Ketogenic Diet?

I'll be first to admit, but chicken feet is an acquired taste.

Chicken feet doesn't taste like the standard muscle meat you would expect from eating a breast or a thigh. Instead, chicken feet is made of mostly skin, tendons, and bones.

While it may not be your first choice, chicken feet is a delicacy in many Asian countries, including China and the Philippines.

And yes, chicken feet is low in carbohydrates making it perfectly acceptable to enjoy while on a ketogenic diet.

The only problem is if eating out, chicken feet at restaurants are usually loaded with sauces and marinaded with added sugars.

While you may be able to enjoy small quantities when dining out, it may still be best to avoid eating chicken feet at restaurants unless you know exactly how they're prepared.

How Many Carbs In Chicken Feet?

For a 100 gram serving (3.5 oz) of boiled chicken feet, you are looking at less than 1 gram of carbohydrates, 0.2 grams to be exact. 1

The only way your chicken feet would be any significant source of carbohydrates is if eaten with a sugary sauce or marinaded with something containing sugar.

It may be best to prepare your own chicken feet at home to ensure it's keto friendly as possible.

Besides, you can prepare your chicken feet however you like and according to your exact taste.

Other Benefits Of Chicken Feet

Not only is chicken feet delicious and low carb, but chicken feet may offer a wide variety of health-related benefits you never thought of.

As it turns out, chicken feet have a variety of health benefits, thanks in part to its vital component: collagen.

Research at University in Taiwan confirmed that chicken feet make for an excellent alternative source for collagen. Most collagen sources come from beef, pig, and marine sources, which are costly to produce. 2

Some health benefits of taking collagen include:

Healthier and clearer-looking skin 3 4
Help relieve joint pain 5 6
Many people take glucosamine on a ketogenic diet to help reduce joint pain, but chicken feet and the collagen protein may be a better alternative.
May prevent bone loss 7
Can help increase muscle mass in people with sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) 8

Additional benefits, but without extensive research include:

Gut health
Brain health
Weight loss

What Does Chicken Feet Taste Like?

If you've never had chicken feet, you may be wondering what it tastes like. After all, it doesn't exactly look like a meaty part of the animal, and it isn't.

If I were to describe the texture of chicken feet, it's similar to that of eating chicken wings, though a bit chewier and with less meat.

Chicken feet would be the last bits of the chicken wing that many people tend to waste and discard after eating the muscle meat off the bone.

Since chicken feet have very little muscle meat, the majority of it will be skin and cartilage.

Where To Find Chicken Feet?

I'll assume you're not raising and butchering your own chicken, so finding chicken feet can be a little tricky.

You can't wander into your every day local grocery store and find chicken feet in the display case or packaged with all of the other meats unless your local grocery store is an Asian grocery store.

First things first, if you have access to an Asian grocery market, that would be your best bet at finding chicken feet. I've also come across chicken feet at a few Mexican grocery stores if you happen to live near one.

Other ideas to locate chicken feet include:

Asking your local butcher or the meat manager at your supermarket
Use websites like EatLocal.Org for farmers around you that raise chicken
Visit smaller non-chain “mom and pop” type grocery stores

Keto Friendly Chicken Feet Recipes

If you're looking to add chicken feet to your ketogenic diet, here are a few ideas and recipes you can use.

Bone broth

Seeing how chicken feet is an excellent source of collagen, chicken feet can be used to make a deliciously cheap bone broth rich in collagen.

Here's a video showing you an easy way to make chicken feet bone broth using an instant pot.

Curry

Here is a delicious and keto friendly Jamaican Curry using chicken feet as the star of the show. The chicken feet will make the sauce thicker and more gelatinous due to the collagen, which is a plus in my books.

Curry should be thick and not runny!

Photo and recipe courtesy of Jamaican Foods And Recipes