Pork panko breading wraps this crispy keto bang bang chicken in a crust that actually crunches, with 3.8g net carbs and 40.7g protein. The creamy sauce takes just four ingredients with no sugar.
Bang Bang Shrimp has been one of my go-to appetizers at Chinese restaurants for years, right up there with hunan chicken and chicken stir fry. The problem is the original sauce and breading are loaded with sugar. I spent a few weeks testing a low carb version at home, and what I landed on is a four-ingredient sauce with zero sugar that tastes close to what you’d get at a restaurant.
I went with chicken instead of shrimp for two reasons: it’s cheaper, and my kids will actually eat it. Shrimp works too (the sauce is really the star), but chicken thighs give you more to work with and they stay juicy inside that crispy shell. At 3.8 net carbs per serving, this has become one of my regular weeknight dinners.
How to make sugar-free bang bang sauce
The sauce is mayonnaise, garlic chili sauce, sriracha, and a little sugar-free sweetener. That’s it. I tested a few other combinations (sweet chili sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil), but this four-ingredient version has the best balance of creamy, spicy, and slightly sweet without any added sugar. The sauce keeps in the fridge for 10-14 days, so I usually make extra and use it on other things during the week.
For the breading, I use pork panko mixed with almond flour. I tried almond flour alone early on and it browns too fast before the chicken cooks through. Pork panko gives you that real crunch, the kind that holds up even after you toss everything in sauce. One of my readers went all pork panko (skipped the almond flour entirely) and said the crust came out even crunchier, so that works if you want maximum crispiness. If you like breaded chicken, my chicken katsu and breaded chicken cutlets use a similar pork panko technique.
The dipping liquid is heavy cream, water, and apple cider vinegar, which acts like a buttermilk wash and helps the breading stick to each piece. I dip, press into the pork panko mixture, and fry in avocado oil at 325-350 degrees. Oil temperature is the whole game here. If your oil runs too hot, the outside browns before the inside cooks. Too cool and the breading soaks up oil and goes soggy. I keep a thermometer in the pot the entire time and adjust the burner as needed. The chicken is done when the center of a piece reads 165 degrees.
Once everything is fried and drained, I toss it in a bowl with just enough sauce to coat (not drown). Serve it over cauliflower rice with cucumber, red pepper, green onion, and sesame seeds. I’ve also put these on skewers for parties, which makes them easier to grab and keeps fingers cleaner. It works as a keto weeknight dinner or as an appetizer when friends come over. If you’re into Asian-inspired dinners, my teriyaki chicken and beef and broccoli are good next picks.
How I make this in the air fryer
I’ve made these in the air fryer and they come out good, but not quite as crispy as shallow frying. The pork panko coating doesn’t get that same deep golden crunch without direct oil contact. Still, it’s faster and less messy when I don’t feel like dealing with a pot of hot oil.
Here’s how I do it in the air fryer: I spray the basket with non-stick cooking spray and preheat to 400 degrees. I place about 8-10 breaded pieces in a single layer (no crowding). Cook for 8-10 minutes, turning halfway through. I usually check the biggest piece at 8 minutes to make sure it’s cooked through and the center reads 165 degrees. This is my go-to keto method when it’s too hot to stand over a pot of oil on the stove.
How I prep this ahead
I prep parts of this recipe ahead of time to make weeknight cooking faster.
The sauce keeps in the fridge for 10-14 days, so I make it over the weekend and it’s ready when I need it.
I cube the chicken and mix the dry breading ahead of time too. When dinner rolls around, I just dip, bread, and fry. The whole active cooking part takes about 15 minutes.
One thing I learned the hard way: don’t bread the chicken until you’re ready to fry. Moisture from the raw chicken makes the pork panko coating soggy if it sits. Dip and dredge right before the oil is hot.
How I store leftovers
I always eat this right after frying for the best texture. The breading starts losing its crunch within an hour once the sauce is on.
If I have leftovers, I store the sauced chicken in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 days. I reheat mine in the air fryer at 375 for 3-4 minutes to bring back some crispiness. The microwave works in a pinch but the coating goes soft.
I don’t freeze the chicken with sauce on it. The breading breaks down completely. I freeze plain fried pieces without sauce and make a fresh batch when I reheat them.
In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, chili garlic sauce, sriracha, and sugar-free sweetener until well combined. Taste the sauce. If you like it spicier, add 1/2 teaspoon additional sriracha and mix again. Cover and refrigerate for later use.
For this step
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
2 teaspoons sriracha
1/2 teaspoon sugar-free sweetener
2
Breading mixture
In a medium-sized shallow bowl, mix the pork panko, almond flour, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Set it aside.
For this step
1 cup pork panko
1/2 cup almond flour
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
3
Dipping mixture
In a separate shallow dish, mix heavy cream, water, apple cider vinegar, and remaining salt and pepper.
For this step
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4
Bread the chicken
In a heavy-bottomed pot or fryer, heat about 1 to 3 inches of oil to 325 to 350 degrees. While the oil is heating, lightly toss the chicken pieces into the cream mixture to coat all sides. Then, move each piece to the flour mixture, gently pressing to coat all sides of each piece. Move the breaded pieces to a small tray.
5
Fry time
Working in batches, place about 8-10 pieces of chicken in the hot oil for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown and the center of the largest piece reaches 165 degrees F on a meat thermometer. Remove the cooked pieces from the oil and drain on a paper towel-lined plate to remove excess oil.
6
Toss and serve
Add all the cooked chicken to a glass bowl and drizzle with the bang bang sauce. Toss the chicken to coat slightly. Serve over cauliflower rice. Top with cucumber, red pepper, green onion, avocado, sesame seeds and cilantro if desired.
Nutrition
Per serving: 1/4 of recipe
Calories
575
Fat
41.8g
Protein
40.7g
Total carbs
5.7g
Net carbs
3.8g
Nutrition is an estimate calculated from the ingredients listed. Brands vary, so check labels if you track closely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is bang bang chicken?
It's a Chinese restaurant dish where crispy chicken (or shrimp) gets tossed in a creamy, spicy sauce. I fell in love with the shrimp version years ago and started making it at home with chicken because it's cheaper and feeds my family better. My version uses a sugar-free sauce and pork panko breading to keep it keto friendly.
Can I make the sauce less spicy without losing the flavor?
I've dialed it back a few times for people who don't like heat, and the sauce still tastes good. Cut the sriracha in half and drop the chili garlic sauce to about a teaspoon. You lose some kick, but the creamy, slightly sweet base carries the flavor on its own. If you want zero spice, skip the sriracha entirely and just use the chili garlic sauce at half the amount. I've served it both ways and people still go back for seconds.
What happens if I skip the almond flour and use all pork panko?
I've tested both ratios. All pork panko gives you a more audible, shattery crunch. One of my readers made it that way by accident and said the texture startled her on the first bite. The trade-off is the coating is a little more fragile when you toss it in sauce. I like the blend because the almond flour creates a denser layer that holds together after saucing. But if you're eating these dry with sauce on the side, all pork panko is the way to go.
How many net carbs are in this?
When I calculate with my usual brands, this recipe comes out to 3.8 net carbs per serving for a batch that feeds four. Most of the carbs come from the almond flour. If you skip the almond flour and go all pork panko, the count drops even lower. I always check the label on my chili garlic sauce because some brands sneak in sugar that bumps the numbers up.
Can I freeze this?
I don't recommend freezing the chicken once the sauce is on it. The moisture breaks down the breading and the texture goes completely off. What I do instead is fry a bigger batch without sauce, freeze the plain pieces flat on a sheet pan, then bag them once they're solid. When I'm ready to eat, I reheat from frozen in the air fryer at 375 for 5-6 minutes and make fresh sauce. That works so much better.
Can I make this as skewers or on the grill?
I've served these on skewers at parties and it's the easiest way to feed a group. I fry the pieces first, then thread 3-4 on each skewer while they're still warm. I put the sauce in a bowl on the side so people can dip instead of tossing. As for grilling, I've brushed the breaded pieces with avocado oil and grilled them over medium-high heat for about 4-5 minutes per side, until the center of a piece reads 165 degrees. The pork panko crust doesn't get as crispy without the oil, but you still get good flavor and the char marks look great on a platter.
Can I bake this instead of frying?
I've tried baking at 425 degrees on a wire rack and the results are OK but not the same. The coating gets crunchy on top but the bottom stays a little soft where it touches the rack. If you want to skip frying, I'd go with the air fryer method instead, similar to how I cook my air fryer pork chops. You get better air circulation and more even browning.
How long does the sauce last?
I keep leftover sauce in a sealed jar in the fridge and it stays good for 10-14 days. It's just mayo, chili garlic sauce, sriracha, and sweetener, so nothing in there spoils quickly. I usually make a double batch because I use it as a dipping sauce for other keto recipes during the week, like air fryer steak bites or plain grilled chicken.
What is Bang Bang Chicken sauce made from?
My bang bang sauce is four ingredients: 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce, 2 teaspoons sriracha, and 1/2 teaspoon sugar-free sweetener. Restaurant versions get the sweet side from sugar. I use sweetener instead, so the sauce keeps that creamy, spicy, slightly sweet balance with zero sugar.
What breading is keto friendly?
Pork panko is the breading I use for keto frying. It is just ground pork rinds, so it skips the flour carbs and fries up crunchier than regular breadcrumbs. For this chicken I mix 1 cup pork panko with 1/2 cup almond flour. Almond flour alone browns too fast, and the blend keeps its crunch even after you toss the pieces in sauce.
Pork panko has no starch in it, so there’s nothing to soak up the sauce. I still eat mine within the hour, that’s about when it starts to soften on me.
Pork panko was completely new to me, ordered it specifically for this recipe. The coating held up through a full 5-minute fry with no falloff, which I didn’t expect on a first try. Kept the oil at 325 and worked in small batches. The chili garlic sauce does more work than the sriracha in the final flavor, worth knowing before you adjust anything. Cut the chicken close to 1 inch and the fry time was exact. Buying pork panko in bulk from here on.
don’t skip the sweetener in the sauce. sounds like nothing but it’s what makes it taste like bang bang instead of just spicy mayo. I made it without for almost two years and felt pretty dumb once I finally tried it right.
My husband has strong opinions about keto food (almost all negative), so when he scraped the bowl for more bang bang sauce after a pool day cookout, I took a picture. The pork panko crunch held up even sitting out for a bit. Already bought two more jars of Sambal.
My teenager ate half the batch standing at the counter and then asked if the sauce came from a restaurant because he was convinced I’d ordered it. Pork panko crust and four ingredients, buddy.
Tried a few keto bang bang recipes before landing here, and the pork panko is what makes this one worth keeping. That breading stays crispy even after you toss it in the sauce, which I haven’t been able to say about the almond flour-only versions. Four stars because I’d push the chili garlic sauce a bit higher, but the base method is the one I’m using going forward.
Yeah, bump the chili garlic sauce to 2 tablespoons and it gets noticeably hotter without throwing off the rest of the sauce. The pork panko ratio is exactly why almond flour-only versions lose that crunch after saucing.
New to frying? Pat the chicken completely dry before it goes in the cream mixture. First batch I made, the pork panko slid right off in the oil. Dried everything first the second time and the crust stayed on every piece. Totally different result.
I was too nervous to deep fry so I tried the air fryer at 400 for about 12 minutes, and the pork panko still got legitimately crispy. Spray the basket really well first or it will stick. The sauce is what surprised me though (I doubled the sriracha because I was sure it would be too mild) and now I can’t make it any other way.
Tried this with shrimp instead of chicken. Had a pound in the freezer and the pork panko breading was too interesting not to test on something else. The coating clings better than I expected (no sliding off, no soggy spots), and three minutes a batch in the oil was exactly right. Pushed the chili garlic sauce to two tablespoons for more punch, and the mayo still keeps everything in balance without tipping sweet. What got me was the crunch holding even after tossing everything in the sauce. I’ve made bang bang shrimp before with regular breadcrumbs and this blew that version out completely. Chicken version this weekend.
Shrimp was actually where this sauce started for me, so I knew the pork panko would hold up on it. Two tablespoons of chili garlic is bold but the mayo ratio handles it. Let me know what you think of the chicken side-by-side this weekend.
Made this twice now and the flavor is genuinely there, though the oil temp is worth watching closely. First attempt I ran too hot and the pork panko went golden before the inside was done. Dropping back to 325 sorted it out. One other thing: the sweetener pulls the heat down a bit, so if you’re using Sambal and like it with some bite, going a touch heavier on the chili garlic sauce is worth it. Four stars for the recipe as written, but those two adjustments took it the rest of the way.
325 is where I land too. Pork panko scorches fast. And yes on the sweetener, the heat drops more than you’d think. Extra chili garlic sauce is the fix.
So I swapped the almond flour for all pork panko (just ran out and figured whatever) and the crust is SO much crunchier it actually startled me on the first bite. Like, audibly crunchy. Then I pushed the chili garlic sauce to two full tablespoons and it became this perfect spicy-sweet thing I kept eating directly off the spoon before I even finished frying. Not sure I can go back to the original ratios now.
Ha, you’re literally in my FAQ now. I added the all pork panko note after a few people tried it by accident and reported back. Two tablespoons of chili garlic though, I haven’t pushed it that far yet. Next batch.
