While the world of keto recipe creators is busy authoring dishes that are either stylish, or ones that re-create carb heavy favorites, the classic meals of yesteryear are often forgotten. Chicken Parm certainly qualifies as one of those dishes, as it has long been a favorite on American dinner tables, brought over here by Italian immigrants many generations ago.
Like many dishes from this European nation, the simplicity of creating this dinner from a few fresh ingredients, prepared together slowly and with great passion, created a meal that found widespread appeal in no time flat.
While most of the elements of the old chicken parmesan recipe jive well with keto principles, the batter does present problems, as the bread crumb based coating contains far too many net carbs for the dedicated adherent to this diet.
With a few clever substitutions, this classic can continue to grace the table in your house for the foreseeable future.
- Chicken
- 3 small chicken breasts
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Coating
- 2.5 oz. pork rinds
- 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp. garlic
- 2 tsp. paprika
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 tsp. chicken broth
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Sauce
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 cup Rao’s Tomato Sauce
- 1/2 tsp. garlic
- 1/2 tsp. oregano
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Start by emptying your flaxseed meal, pork rinds, Parmesan cheese and the spices that you will use for the chicken’s coating into your food processor. Pulse it until it is sufficiently broken down to the point where you use it as a keto-friendly batter that will bring this classic Italian dish into the good graces of this diet’s constraints.
- After pulverizing the coating ingredients to a consistency that will make it usable as the breading for this dish, it’s time to prepare the chicken breasts. Cut them into as many pieces as you like, and then take them and pound them flat with a meat tenderizer. Once ready, dust each side with salt and pepper.
- Empty the breading powder from your food processor into a container or bowl, getting a second separate container/bowl for the egg wash. Crack your eggs into this second receptacle and whisk it with the chicken broth for a couple minutes, or until well blended.
- Now that we have the chicken breasts flattened, the breading ground down, and the egg wash ready to rock and roll, it’s time to create the marinara sauce that serve as a marvelous finishing touch to this simple but amazing recipe.
- Dump all the ingredients for the sauce into a saucepan and combine them until they are fully incorporated with each other. Cook on the range top at medium low heat for 20 minutes, finding time to stir occasionally while you prepare the chicken.
- Take your flattened chicken and dunk them one at a time into the egg wash, and then roll them around in the breading until fully coated. Place them on a baking sheet as you coat the others (we won’t be putting them in the oven though … not yet anyways!).
- Once all the chicken breasts have their keto-friendly coast, place them in a preheated pan of olive oil, frying them until they all have taken on a nice golden hue. Take care not to overload the pan … go two or three at a time, ensuring each gets the same amount of heat as the others.
- As you cook the chicken cutlets, place the completed ones into a casserole dish, and once they have all been completed, take the completed marinara sauce (you didn’t neglect to stir it, did you? If you did, all the Italian grandmothers out there will be shaking their heads in disappointment) and pour it over the glistening chicken breasts.
- Coat the sauced chicken with a generous coating of mozzarella cheese and place the whole dish in a preheated oven (400 degrees) for ten minutes, or until the cheese is an oozing, bubbly mess. Serve with garden vegetables like broccoli … and enjoy!
Vital Stats:
Serving Size: 230 grams
Total Number of Servings: 4
Total Calories: 2588
Protein (per serving) = 49 grams
Fat (per serving) = 47 grams
Carbs (net) (per serving) = 4 grams
Fibre (per serving) = 3 grams
