If there’s one thing most ketonians miss from their high carbohydrate days, it is crispy, crunchy, fatty, salty snacks. Chicharrones, aka pork rinds, satisfy that craving. Made from deep-fried and generously salted bite-size pieces of pigskin, they’re airy, crunchy, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious with a salt-fat satisfaction reminiscent of french fries and absolutely no carbs. Chicharrones originated in Spain more than 200 years ago. With their evolution has come a variety of fried pork skin offerings and seasonings, some of which are better than others. But leading the charge in top-quality, delicious chicharrones is San Francisco-based company 4505 Meats.
4505 Meats sources their pigskin exclusively from small family ranchers that practice sustainable and humane husbandry techniques. They don’t use preservatives or weird ingredients; they fry their pork rinds in rendered pork fat and season their chicharrones with nothing but quality seasonings (and a tiny bit of coconut palm sugar, which is apparently so small, it doesn’t register in the nutritional information on the package). Most importantly, they’re tasty.
These pillows of salt-fat-protein crunch come in three flavors: Classic Chili & Salt, Jalapeño Cheddar, and Smokehouse Barbecue. Each is available in 1 ounce or 2.5 ounce bags. (Much like potato chips, a 1-ounce serving size will likely leave you wanting more.)
Serious keto followers should note that along with traces of coconut palm sugar, these delicious snacks contain nearly twice as much protein as fat (9 g protein and 5 g of fat per serving), so it’s important to track your macros if you munch on these.
4505 Chicharrones can be eaten on their own or dipped in guacamole, Keto Crazy Cheese Dip or any other spread you’d normally dip a chip in. Equally exciting, you can grind them up or smash them, then use them as a grain free-breading like we’ve done with these delicious recipes: Crispy-Good Keto Fried Chicken, Keto Crispy Cauliflower and Ham Croquettas with Smoked Paprika Crèma, or Pork Dust-Crusted Pork Cutlets with Snap Pea Slaw!
About the Company
4505 Meats is located in San Francisco, California. Its founder, Ryan Farr, is a butcher and chef who believes in all-natural, quality ingredients sourced with care. Thus, the careful sourcing from a collective of small family ranchers that use sustainable and humane methods of husbandry and top-quality spices.
How They Taste
4505 Chicharrones are a little denser and softer than many other pork rinds on the market, so they’re not quite as light and crisp as what we’re used to. And, as we mentioned, there’s a wee bit of added sugar, which some people might taste and seems unnecessary given the deliciousness of the three flavors:
- Jalapeño Cheddar has a nice pepper kick and robust cheesy flavor.
- Smokehouse BBQ has a slight sweetness alongside the smoke.
- Classic Chili & Salt has an unexpected sweet flavor along with the chili spice.
Ingredients
Other than the trace amount of coconut palm sugar, the Classic Chili & Salt variety and the Smokehouse BBQ flavors of the 4505 Chicharrones have keto-friendly ingredients. The Jalapeño Cheddar does not fit the keto-friendly ingredient test because it includes maltodextrin, whey protein and organic sugar.
Full Ingredients List by Flavor:
Classic Chili & Salt
Ingredients: pork rinds, coconut palm sugar, salt, spices, rendered pork fat
Serving Size: 1 oz (14g)
Calories: 80
Protein: 9g
Fat: 5g
Carbohydrates: 0g
Fiber: 0g
Net Carbohydrates: 0g
Smokehouse BBQ
Ingredients: pork rinds, coconut palm sugar, salt, spices, tomato powder, paprika, citric acid, hickory flavor, rendered pork fat.
Serving Size: 1 oz (14g) Much like potato chips, 1 serving size will likely leave you wanting more.
Calories: 80
Protein: 9g
Fat: 5g
Carbohydrates: 0g
Fiber: 0g
Net Carbohydrates: 0g
Jalapeño Cheddar
Ingredients: pork rinds, jalapeno cheddar seasoning [cheddar cheese flavor (cheddar cheese [pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzyme], maltodextrin, whey powder, salt, disodium phosphate), salt, jalapeño powder, organic sugar], rendered pork fat.
Serving Size: 1 oz (14g)
Calories: 80
Protein: 9g
Fat: 5g
Carbohydrates: 0g
Fiber: 0g
Net Carbohydrates: 0g
How 4505 Chicharrones Affect Blood Sugar and Ketones
We always double-check the keto-friendliness of foods we review by testing our ketones and blood-glucose before and after eating the food in question. For this review, we tested the Classic Chili & Salt flavor.
The chart below shows that eating Chili & Salt 4505 Chicharrones resulted in an acceptable/minor elevation in glucose, and remained slightly elevated. The slow glucose decline is likely from the body’s slow absorption of coconut palm sugar, which takes longer to digest than normal cane sugar. But in general, the elevations are still within our limits of acceptable levels. It did not, however, impact our ketone readings.
Although all three flavors contain sugar, but not enough to register as a single carbohydrate, the Smokehouse BBQ ingredients are most in line with the Chili & Salt and therefore most likely to produce similar results. We would recommend testing the small bag of Jalapeño Cheddar before making a commitment to the larger bag.
The Final Word
Thumbs up for the 4505 Chicharrones from 4505 Meats. They’re made with quality ingredients, the flavors are varied and tasty, and though not all the ingredients are optimal and the protein amounts are high, if eaten in moderation or used as an ingredient (like breading) for other dishes, these crunchy treats are a great keto choice. Plus, they’re zero carb!
Shop for 4505 Chicharrones here.
