These Keto Cheddar Ranch Chicken Thighs are totally weeknight dinner-worthy and ready in just about 30 minutes. Grab a side salad and maybe some green beans and dig in!
Crispy Cheddar Ranch Chicken Thighs 🤤 Aren't those the 5 greatest words you've ever heard? We are digging this easy skillet dinner. What more could you want? We've got crispy chicken thighs, melty cheese, and the perfect ranch seasoning along with pork rind crumbs to make a deliciously crispy topping.
We love using pork rinds as a breading as they get super crispy, stick well, and also brown well. Low-carb flours like almond flour and coconut flour aren't always the greatest options since they tend to burn. Since we're broiling these thighs, we opted for pork rinds for their stability.
You can purchase pre-made pork rinds crumbs or make your own! Just place the pork rinds in a food processor and pulse until they resemble breadcrumbs or panko. Easy!
Ingredients in Ranch Chicken Thighs
- 10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- ½ cup sour cream
- 6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 batch ranch seasoning (recipe below)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced - not pre-minced
- 2 green onions, minced
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil (we like avocado oil instead of olive oil since it has a higher temp tolerance)
- 56 grams pork rind crumbs
- Fresh parsley, dill, and green onions to garnish (optional)
For the ranch seasoning:
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 teaspoon dried chives
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
Dairy-Free options
Simple! You just need to swap the sour cream for a vegan alternative and the cheddar cheese for a vegan alternative. We like Forager sour cream and Violife shredded cheddar.
How to make these Baked Chicken Thighs
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper on both sides. Set chicken thighs aside.
- In a small bowl, combine sour cream, sharp shredded cheddar cheese, and the ranch seasoning mixture, garlic, and green onions.
- Drizzle the avocado oil in a 10.25” or larger cast iron skillet. Place chicken thighs in the skillet. Cover the chicken thighs with sour cream and cheese mixture. Press the pork rind crumbs on top of the mixture to ensure they stick.
- Cook the chicken for 20-25 minutes, until the internal temperature of the thickest part reaches at least 165°F. Broil for 5-7 minutes on high to crisp the top of the chicken thighs until golden brown and crispy. Serve immediately.
Key notes
- Yes, you can use a baking dish or baking sheet in place of a cast-iron skillet.
- Yes, you can use chicken breast instead of thighs. Bone-in skin-on thighs with the skin still attached won't work well in this recipe.
Nutritional information
You can find the full nutrition info breakdown including the carb count (total carbs and net carbs) of these ranch chicken thighs at the bottom of the recipe card (listed per serving). The serving size/yield is at the top of the recipe card near the cooking time. You should always double-check your ingredients since different ingredients may have different values.
To get a specific serving size you’ll want to weigh the final dish. Next, divide the total weight by the number of servings. We can’t provide this information as your cooking style will vary from ours. Your ingredients may be different brands than ours too which can skew values.
Tools we used to make this recipe
- Cast Iron Skillet [budget option, heirloom splurge option]
- Cutting Board
- Instant Read Thermometer
- Chef’s Knife
LOVE THESE CRISPY CHEDDAR RANCH CHICKEN THIGHS? LEAVE A REVIEW AND ⭐️ RATING BELOW!
📖 Recipe
Cheddar Ranch Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 10 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- ½ cup sour cream
- 6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 batch ranch seasoning recipe below
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 green onions minced
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 56 grams pork rind crumbs
- Fresh parsley dill, and green onions to garnish (optional)
For the ranch seasoning:
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 teaspoon dried chives
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper on both sides. Set chicken thighs aside.
- In a small bowl, combine sour cream, sharp shredded cheddar cheese, and the ranch seasoning mixture, garlic, and green onions.
- Drizzle the avocado oil in a 10.25” or larger cast iron skillet. Place chicken thighs in the skillet.
- Cover the chicken thighs with sour cream and cheese mixture. Press the pork rind crumbs on top of the mixture to ensure they stick.
- Cook the chicken for 20-25 minutes, until the internal temperature of the thickest part reaches at least 165°F. Broil for 5-7 minutes on high to crisp the top of the chicken thighs until golden brown and crispy. Serve immediately.
Bean says
This was a real hit in our house! Turns out they are delicious warmed over the next day, as well. This will be a keeper on the favorites list.
Christine Callaway says
Excellent! I only broiled 3-5 min.
Peggy says
This is a delish dish and very easy. However I will say that it is to much salt. When making it again I would eliminate the salt on the chicken and only do the pepper. Also I will cut the pork rinds in half, just because they are very high in fat.
Bottom line I will make this again and again. My family loved it.
Di says
This is a keeper!! Really tasty!! Thanks for the great recipe!!
Monica V. says
My family really dug into this (including 4 y.o. twins)! I preheated our cast iron grill pan and wish I had used less EVOO, but it was still very good. Paired with mushroom gravy, sauteed broccoli and mashed roasted butternut squash and got a thumbs-up all around. I will definitely make this again!
Cari says
I'm not understanding a step. When I stick them in the skillet, do I cover the entire thing in the ranch and pork rinds and THEN put them in. Or do I put them in the skillet and only cover the top of the chicken with the ranch and pork rinds? If so, do I then flip it? Or leave it?