Ahh, yes, one of my most lighthearted and easiest recipes. My keto-inclined best friend brought an $8 bag of pork rinds from Whole Foods to my house. Only to discover that this particular keto and diet-friendly product was essentially flavorless, she nearly discarded them.

HELL. NO.

Instead of getting got by Whole Foods, I decided to just bump up the flavor… from zero to 60. I used one of my most frequent spice combinations plus a little olive oil for coating to flavor these. They were a hit. Easy enough, but I wanted to put this little idea out there for her and anyone in the same boat trying to figure out what gives with pork rinds and dieting.

To answer that question – pork rinds have zero carbohydrates but are full of fat and protein. Thus, for many contemporary ‘keto’ dieters, pork rinds are a gold mine for snacking. Keto practices reduce carb intake to a minimum and consist of a moderate protein, high fat diet. This brings your body into a metabolic state of ketosis, in which you are burning more fat rather than glucose for energy. I only know this because it overlaps a bit with Whole30, where I initially learned a bit about the wight loss benefits of consuming more high-fat foods. Think more pork rinds, avocados, cheese, meat eggs etc. and less (well, zero) pasta, bread, cake, grains etc.

When you’re practicing a diet like this, pork rinds are great at face value by substituting for potato chips, crackers and rice cakes. But they can actually be used for more than that. Before or after seasoning, they can be used for:

• Breading for chicken, onion rings, avocado fries, crusted asparagus etc.
• Thickening agent in patty recipes like falafel and crabcakes etc.
• In place of croutons, crumbles for casseroles etc.
• Thickening ingredient for keto-friendly breads tortillas and pizza crusts

The common goal of everyone’s creative uses for pork rinds is this: Zero-carb substitution for gluten and grain products.

Regardless of what your diet is, this simple, spiced-up pork rind seasoning can be incorporated into additional recipes and is excellent on its own!

All you’ll need to do is measure a few easy spices and combine to get an even mixture. Coat the pork rinds in a bit of olive oil and toss it all together. Pork rinds are huge in Spain, so I’m trying different brands all of the time. I’ve certainly come across my fair share of plain, flavorless, airy pork rinds that need some dressing up. So I do, in fact, use this recipe all of the time and eat it with salsa and hummus.

Picante Seasoned Pork Rinds

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: None

Ingredients

• 200g Bag of unflavored pork rinds
• 2 tsp Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp Smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp Chipotle chili powder
• 1 tsp Garlic powder
• 1 tsp Onion powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• Dash black pepper

Instructions

• Combine seasonings.
• Toss the pork rinds in the olive oil.
• Ass the seasoning mix to the pork rinds (while in the bag) and shake well to coat.