I’ve been gluten-free for approximately eight years now, so I’ve never actually tried the original version of Nashville Hot Chicken. My husband has, and last night he told me that this is one of the best recipes I’ve ever made. It’s definitely higher in calories than most of the things I create, but sometimes you just need to have something delicious. And I know there are a lot of people who do keto without tracking calories at all. This recipe is for you, because it’s only got 1 gram of net carbs per serving, and most of those are in the pickle chips. Fair warning, though, when it says Hot Chicken, it means it. This is a spicy recipe, so if you’re not into spicy food, stay away from this one. Or leave out all the cayenne and just call it a fried chicken sandwich. It’s also not the easiest recipe, with lots of steps and ingredients. But holy wow, is it worth it.
To begin, you’ll need four boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Using a meat tenderizer mallet, pound them out to even thickness. I just pounded out the thick part to be even with the thin part. Salt and pepper them and leave them aside for now.
In a small bowl, beat together 1/3 cup of heavy cream and two teaspoons of lemon juice. This approximates the buttermilk flavor in the original recipe, without the shocking amount of carbs that are in actual buttermilk. To this, add an egg and two tablespoons of hot sauce (I used Frank’s Red Hot because I have a ton of it around the house), then beat it all together until it’s smooth. If you have time, marinate the chicken breasts in this mixture for a few hours. If you’re like me and are doing this all on the fly, don’t bother. It’s still amazing without the marinating. Set that aside and work on your “breadcrumbs”. All you’ll need for that is a half cup of pork rind crumbs and a half cup of parmesan cheese mixed with a teaspoon of paprika and a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Toss all that together, add some black pepper to taste, and you have your breading. Put it on a plate.
Heat up a cup of avocado oil over medium-high heat in an enameled cast-iron skillet. When the oil hits about 375 degrees (you can test it with an infrared thermometer), begin breading your chicken. If you marinated it, you can just take it directly out of the bag and put it into the breading. If not, dip it into the cream and egg mixture first, then coat it with a good layer of breadcrumbs. Start with the largest piece and work your way to the smallest, placing them gently into the oil after breading. Cook for about 4-5 minutes per side, until they turn golden brown and yummy. If you’re making chaffles for the bread, you can do it while the chicken cooks. Turn the pieces carefully with a set of tongs so you don’t knock off the breading. I like these tongs with the silicone heads for breaded things, because I think they grip more gently but are still effective.
When the chicken is done, remove it to a plate. Let the cooking oil cool in the pan because you’ll be using a bit of it. In a small heat-safe bowl, mix together a tablespoon of cayenne pepper, two teaspoons of kosher salt, a teaspoon of regular paprika, a teaspoon of smoked paprika, a teaspoon of garlic powder, a teaspoon of cumin, a teaspoon of brown sugar substitute, and a half teaspoon or so of black pepper. To that bowl, use a metal spoon to add about 1/4 cup of the oil you used to fry the chicken. Stir it all together and use a heat-safe pastry or grill brush to brush the oil mixture onto each piece of chicken. You probably won’t use all of it, but you certainly can.
Serve it on your favorite bread substitute. I used the same basic chaffle recipe that I used in my Creamed Chipped Beef on Chaffle recipe, but if you want something a little more like white bread, I’d suggest the version I used for my Chaffle McMuffins, only without the flax seed meal. You could also use that Aldi keto bread that’s been going around, if you’re not gluten-free, or even Soul Bread. To serve these, spread your top slice of bread with about a half-tablespoon of mayonnaise, then the dill pickle chips. Put the chicken on the bottom chaffle, put the whole thing together, and chow down.
Keto Nashville Hot Chicken
Equipment
- Enameled cast-iron skillet
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsp hot sauce
- 1/2 cup pork rind crumbs
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 cup avocado oil for frying
For the Spicy Oil
- 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp brown sugar substitute
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup reserved cooking oil
For the Sandwiches
- 8 slices preferred bread substitute
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 16-20 dill pickle slices
Instructions
For the Chicken
- Place the chicken thighs on a cutting board and pound them to an even thickness, then sprinkle them with salt and pepper to taste.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the heavy cream and lemon juice. Beat in the egg and hot sauce. Either set the bowl aside or use this mixture to marinate the chicken for 2-8 hours in the refrigerator.
- In another medium bowl, mix together the pork rind crumbs, parmesan, paprika and cayenne. Add black pepper to taste. Spread this mixture evenly over a large plate.
- Heat the avocado oil in a large cast-iron skillet to approximately 375 degrees. If you didn't marinate the chicken, dip it in the cream mixture and then coat with breadcrumbs, and starting with the largest piece first, place the chicken gently into the oil. Continue with the next largest piece, saving the smallest piece for last. If you marinated the chicken, remove the pieces from the bag, allowing excess marinade to drip off, then coat with crumbs and proceed as above.
- Cook the chicken in the oil for 4-5 minutes per side, turning gently with tongs to avoid knocking off the breading. Remove from the pan and put on a plate to allow the chicken to rest.
For the Spicy Oil
- In a heat-proof bowl, combine the cayenne, salt, both types of paprika, garlic powder, cumin, brown sugar substitute, and black pepper. Add 1/4 cup of the cooking oil, stir together, and brush onto the cooked chicken with a silicone pastry brush. You will probably not need to use all of the oil for this.
For the Sandwich Assembly
- Spread your top slices of bread with the mayonnaise and pickle chips. Put a piece of oiled chicken on the bottom slice and top with the top slices.
- Approximate macros per serving (chicken and sandwich toppings only, no bread): 513 calories, 1 gram net carbs, 29 grams protein, 45 grams fat. This is only an approximation, as it's difficult to calculate how much oil the food absorbs while frying, and how much of the spicy oil mixture you'll use. I calculated that about three tablespoons of the oil was absorbed into the chicken, that I used approximately half of the cream mixture for coating, and that I used half of the spicy oil.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Any embedded link to a product earns me a portion of the purchase price if you click and buy it.
Recent Comments