I’M CRAVING BAKED CHICKEN
The perfect chicken recipe. That’s what I’m in search of! So I went to YouTube to see what kind of yummy recipes I could find.
I loved this video by Gordon Ramsay! Happily, most of these Top five Chicken Recipes are _mostly_ keto-friendly. I just had to make a few select adjustments so that they fit into my keto lifestyle.
Below you’ll find my written notes about each of his chicken recipes. I thought I’d save you the time and effort of rewinding to jot down the details! Along with some of my own suggestions for making these recipes more keto-friendly.
Enjoy!
#5 – Spiced Chicken Wrap
Special Recommended Tools –
Mortar and Pestle. If you don’t have one, you can use pre-powdered/ground spices to achieve approximately the same taste outcome.
Ingredients –
Chicken thighs – if from frozen, bring to room temperature first
For the marinade –
Cardomom pods or powder
Ginger – ground
Coriander
Cinnamon
Nutmeg – freshly grated or pre-ground
Garlic – cloves or minced
Fresh coriander (cilantro)
Lemon juice
Olive oil
Salt to taste
Mash together to form a paste. Pour over the chicken thighs and leave to marinate for up to 2 hours. Griddle on high heat to get nicely charred meat. He recommends serving in warm tortilla wraps…for a keto-friendly chicken recipe…choose to skip the wrap and eat with knife and fork or use a lettuce leaf (any kind that is your favorite) instead. Slice chicken, top with shredded cabbage, chopped spring onion, but skip the chili sauce and go for other low carb condiments (if desired) such as sour cream, shredded cheese, diced bell pepper, etc.
#4 Chili Chicken Recipe with Ginger and Coriander
Ingredients –
Chicken thighs – if from frozen, bring to room temperature first
Onions
Olive oil
For the marinade –
Red chilis – chopped
Fresh Ginger – chopped, or powdered
Lemon juice – fresh or bottled
Coriander and Cumin Seeds – toasted in a pan – or use powdered instead
Garlic – cloves, chopped or pre-minced
Then…
Plain yogurt (full fat)
Turmeric
Salt to taste
Chop chicken thighs in pieces. Add marinade ingredients to chicken. Then pour plain yogurt over. Add turmeric and salt. Mix and leave to marinade from 2 hours to over night.
When chicken is finished marinating…
Fry chopped onions in olive oil. Add (more) chopped garlic and ginger, ground coriander, garam masala and turmeric, tomato puree and butter. Next, add the marinated chicken and all of the marinade and cook until tender. Finally, serve topped with chopped coriander/cilantro.
#3 Hot Spicy Jerk Chicken
Ingredients –
Chicken drumsticks – if from frozen, bring to room temperature first
Small Chilis (Scotch Bonnet or other) – sliced thinly
Chopped Garlic – or pre-minced
Fresh Thyme – or powdered
Ground Cloves
Ground Cinnamon
Ground Nutmeg
Ground Allspice
Salt and Pepper
Combine above with Olive Oil to make a paste.
Score chicken legs so the hot, spicy flavors get deep inside the meat. Rub thoroughly with the jerk mix and marinade (he doesn’t say how long…at least a couple of hours, is my guess.) When chicken is ready, add olive oil to a hot pan. Brown the marinated chicken for 10 minutes. Then add Worchestershire Sauce. Cover and cook in the oven at 220 degrees for 20 minutes.
#2 Fried Chicken Recipe
Ingredients –
Chicken drumsticks – if from frozen, bring to room temperature first
Salt and Pepper
Buttermilk
Marinate the above the night before to really tenderize the chicken.
He fries this chicken using wheat flour. We can adapt this recipe to make it Keto Friendly by substituting Almond Flour or a mixture of Almond Flour and Coconut Flour. So, follow the rest of the recipe as is, but make this adaptation.
For Dredging Chicken Legs –
Almond and/or Coconut Flour
Smoked Paprika
Cayenne Pepper
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Oil for frying – Don’t use conventional “vegetable” seed oils (such as canola, sunflower, safflower, etc. or peanut oil.) They are terribly unhealthy fats. Try using Coconut Oil or even better…LARD…for pan frying.
Completely cover marinated chicken in the seasoned flour mixture.
Gently fry the chicken for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Serve.
#1 Stuffed Roast Chicken
I, personally, would entirely skip the pickled celery part of this chicken recipe. But if you want to try it you will have to eliminate the sugar for the pickling mixture and use a granulated zero-carb alternate sweetener, instead.
Ingredients For the Stuffing –
Chorizo sausage – chop and cook down in a frying pan to get all the oils out
Add a touch of olive oil in the pan.
Onions – chopped. Add to cooking chorizo and sautee together.
Add fresh garlic – chopped, and fresh thyme (or powdered)
Skip the cannalini beans. Instead use course ground almonds or nut of choice (no peanuts).
Add salt and pepper to taste. Add sun-dried tomatoes bottled in oil and mix thoroughly.
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Stuff the whole chicken and leave room to insert a whole lemon in last. Drizzle olive oil on top then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sprinkle on a teaspoon of paprika and then rub the entire outside of the chicken till completely covered.
You can skip the white wine for baking and just use water in the pan, instead. Put chicken in baking pan and add additional thyme sprigs around. Cover with foil and seal edges tightly. Bake at 180 degrees with the foil on. Remove foil then cook an additional 30 minutes to crisp the skin.
Want more keto-adapted main-dish options? Check these KETO CHILI COOKOFF choices!