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This keto crack chicken recipe is a weeknight family staple. It features shredded chicken breasts, crispy bacon, and a creamy ranch sauce, all topped with melty cheese. Only 2 grams net carbs!
If you need more weeknight keto dinners, I guarantee you’ll love my keto stuffed peppers, keto pork chops, and keto pizza!
Table of Contents
I’ve never been someone who really plans dinners in advance. Unless I’m throwing a dinner party or hosting friends, I tend to do things on the fly.
Come 5 PM, my family can usually find me hovering around the fridge, looking for inspiration to see what I can make for dinner. If I have chicken, bacon, and cheese, you better believe I’m making crack chicken!
Why I love this recipe
- It doesn’t taste low carb. I’ve made this for just about everyone in my friend group, and none of them believe me when I say it’s low-carb.
- Easy to customize. From the cheese to the mix-ins and cuts of chicken, every ingredient can be customized.
- A weeknight staple. The two things I crave most during the week are comfort foods and easy dinners…and this casserole checks both boxes.
- Convenient. Like my keto chicken casserole, this recipe is FAST, and you can even prep it 1-2 days before you need it.
- Multiple cooking methods. While the oven is my preferred method, I also tested it using the slow cooker and pressure cooker, if that’s your preference.
Key ingredients
- Boneless skinless chicken breast fillets. Use either four small chicken breast fillets or two large ones that have been sliced in half.
- Salt and pepper. To season the chicken.
- Garlic powder. For aroma and flavor. I used powder for convenience but fresh garlic would be even better.
- Butter. To pan-fry the chicken.
- Cream cheese. Softened to room temperature.
- Spice mix. I used a mix of onion powder, garlic powder, dried dill, dried parsley, salt, and mustard powder to make a mock ranch seasoning mix. If you have a ranch packet, use that instead.
- Bacon. I prefer thick-cut bacon for maximum crispiness.
- Olive oil. To fry the bacon.
- Cheese. I used a mix of sharp cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese to cover the chicken before baking it in the oven.
How to make keto crack chicken
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Prep. Preheat the oven and grease a baking dish. Pound the chicken until they’re equal in thickness, then season each fillet.
Step 2- Cook the meat. Cook the bacon in an oiled skillet over medium-high heat until crispy, then remove the bacon, melt the butter, and cook the chicken until golden.
Step 3- Assemble. Place the chicken in the baking dish and pour the butter mixture on top. Stir together the cream cheese and spice mix in a bowl and pour on top of the chicken. Sprinkle the bacon and shredded cheddar cheese on top.
Step 4- Bake. Bake until the chicken is fully cooked, then serve warm and enjoy!
Arman’s recipe tips
- Only sear the chicken until golden. The oven will take care of fully cooking the chicken, and you don’t want it to overcook. Once it’s golden brown on both sides, you can remove it from the heat.
- Add a splash of chicken broth. Depending on the brand of cream cheese I’m using, sometimes the sauce can be pretty thick. If you prefer a thinner sauce, add a splash of chicken broth.
- Garnish with green onions or fresh chives for a pop of color.
Frequently asked questions
Crack chicken gets its name from the popular crack dip. It uses the same ingredients, with the addition of chicken, and something you’ll definitely request a second helping!
While chicken breasts are preferred, skinless chicken thighs can also be used.
Keto Crack Chicken
Video
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 4 small chicken breasts
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 4 slices bacon chopped
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 6 ounces shredded cheese
For the cream cheese filling
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon celery salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dried dill
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish and set it aside.
- Pound the four chicken breasts until ¼ inch in thickness. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Add olive oil to the non-stick pan and place over medium heat. Add the diced bacon and cook until crispy. Remove the bacon and keep the bacon grease in the pan. Add the butter and when hot, and the chicken breasts and cook 2-3 minutes per side, until golden.
- Transfer the chicken breasts into the baking dish and pour the pan juices over them.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cream cheese and spices until combined.
- Evenly distribute the cream cheese mixture on top of each chicken breast. Sprinkle half the cooked bacon on top, followed by the shredded cheese.
- Bake for 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese has melted. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Really good and flavorful.pretty easy to prep as well. We had it with brown rice and broccoli.
These recipes are fantastic. I’m hooked on the peanut butter mousse. They can be adapted for coeliacs too which means I can really enjoy my meals.
So rich and creamy! My whole family loved this recipe. I served it with cheesey cauliflower rice. Will definitely be making this over and over.
Absolutely loved it. I took it upon myself to go a bit further with some seasonings and ultimately it was a tad bit salty however, that was completely my fault and I know exactly how to fix that next time. After having gastric sleeve the need to eat mostly protein makes finding ways to dress up chicken a must and you killed it.
P.S. My dogs and I decided to snack the other half of the bacon. They enjoyed too.
Never disappoints! Can’t wait to try the slow cook variation, SO good.
I made this dish yesterday and it is amazing ! I almost couldn’t stop eating it !
It was delicious. I’ll definitely be making it again.
Oh my goodness! This was amazing. I used 1/2 pepper jack and 1/2 cheddar. The chicken was super tender too.
In the directions Arman says he makes his own version of Ranch dressing powder with the garlic and onion powders, celery salt and dried dill weed. I’m not entirely sure why HVR isn’t considered Keto (I’ve never looked at the macros on it) but I’m “dirty” keto anyway because I’ve had bariatric surgery, so I’m allowed a bit more carbs than strict keto. They DO prefer those carbs be heavy fiber items like a tiny amount of brown rice though. Looking forward to trying this.
My main comment about the InstantPot is that mine REQUIRES a minimum of 1 cup of water in the bottom or it stops and says “burning” so I’ll have to see how I can adapt this for that. Thinking I can pre-cook the chicken a bit in the IP, then transfer to a baking dish and add all the rest in. I’ll likely use some of the chicken stock at the bottom and melt the cream cheese with that and make a sauce to pour over the chicken before adding the bacon and cheese.
OMG this is delicious! I follow the recipe to a “T” and it turned out amazing.
Hi! How much a in a single serving? 1 whole chicken breast?
This hands down my favorite recipe trying to lose weight on a keto diet. I added actual onion and garlic, mushrooms and spinach and it is AMAZING. The most hilarious thing I can say after reading the recipe over many times is that half the bacon is not used in the recipe? Sooo realistic lol. However, I just use it all. <3
The description has ranch dressin but it is not in the recipe at all! I made it as shown (did not use dill) and it was good. I drizzled a TBS of ranch dressing over my piece and it was really good!
It says ranch dressing in the title but I do not see any on the recipe. Also what do I do with the other half of bacon? Thank you
I had some of the leftover ingredients and spread it over a piece of Haddock! Baked it in the oven….. the only difference is I poured the juice of one lemon on the haddock first. Then spread the “crack” on top! It’s superb!