Howdy low-carbers! I hope you all are doing well. The weather is finally warming up here in beautiful Montreal and I could not be any happier about it. Today’s recipe is a spin on a classic from my childhood. It’s warm, cozy, low-carb and full of love. You know what I’m talking about right? Keto Chicken Parmesan!
I can’t tell you how much I love this recipe.
Keto Chicken Parmesan
To make this low-carb chicken parmesan we are going to skip breading. The reason for that is pretty simple, we want to keep a low carb-count and most importantly we want to make this recipe in under 30 minutes.
However, if you absolutely want a crispy crust for you chicken breasts, you might want to take a look at my keto breading recipe right here.
Seing how regular Chicken Parmesan is not keto/low-carb, a few modifications had to be made to make it work. Here are the main components of this dish:
- Chicken breasts: as it is almost always the case, using good quality meats is highly recommended. Check out Butcherbox.com for great
- Passata: great for keto recipes since it does not need to be cooked for very long and doesn’t have any added sugar.
- Mozzarella: if you’re into chicken parm for the ooey gooey cheese, you’re going to want to use mozzarella. It has a neutral flavour and is perfect for italian dishes.
- Parmesan: the co-star of this dish, for a reason. Try to use Parmigiano-Regiano or Pecorino Romano in this case, they have a sharp flavour and complement the mozzarella perfectly. Whatever you do, stay away from the off the shelf crap. It’s full of additives and does not even come close to real cheese
- Basil: add a few leaves on top to add a load of freshness to your Keto Chicken Parm.
- Dried oregano: Crucial for every sauce, it adds a very subtle flavour and gives it that authentic Italian homey feel. I also used dried thyme in this recipe.
How to make This Low-Carb Chicken Parmesan
Follow these 6 steps and you will get your dinner ready in under 30 minutes:
- Sear your chicken breasts on high heat (with olive oil). As soon as you get a golden color on your chicken breasts, remove and put aside.
- Add your passata, dried oregano, minced garlic, salt and pepper. Lower the heat and let simmer for 5 minutes.
- Place your seard chicken breasts in the skillet and remove from heat.
- Add your grated mozzarella, parmesan and a little bit more seasoning (pepper and dried oregano)
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese bubbles and gets golden brown.
- Break a few fresh basil leaves and throw them on top of your ready to enjoy keto chicken parm.
3 Thing to remember
If your aim is to make the most tender & juicy keto chicken parmesan, you should make sure to respect these 3 things:
- Don’t slice your chicken into cutlets. They will overcook pretty quickly. Leave the chicken breasts whole
- Sear your chicken breast first on high heat for 2-4 minutes on each side, or just until you get some colour on it.
- Don’t cook it through the first time as it will continue cooking in the oven. If you don’t respect this, you chicken breasts will be dry and rubbery and you will hate it. This leads to another home chef tip: always read the recipe through from start to finish before starting your recipe to make sure that you won’t miss anything or so at least the steps of the recipe make sense as you go.
When you’re on a Keto diet, you want to make sure that you keep your carb intake low. Onions will get in the way of that.
Advice for Ketoers: If you find that the protein intake is much too high for you, and you prefer to have a higher fat intake, swap the chicken breast for deboned skinless chicken thighs. You will have to cook them a bit longer though, but they will stay very moist and tender.
F.A.Q.
I like to have a crust in Chicken Parm. What to do? Check out this keto breading recipe or simply coat your chicken breasts with crushed pork rinds. It works very well!
Can I make this recipe in a Baking Sheet? Absolutely, just sear you chicken first, and bake in a baking sheet or other oven-safe dish.
Can I use Italian Seasoning? You can use any seasoning mix you like. Just make sure that it does not have any added sugar.
Can another kind of tomato sauce beside passata? You can use anything from diced tomatoes to fresh tomatoes. However, if you are going to use a pre-made sauce, make sure it doesn’t have any added sugar (read the ingredients).
Keto Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 Cup passata
- 1 Cup shredded mozzarella.
- 1/2 Cup grated Parmigiano-Regiano or pecorino romano
- 3 Tbsp olive oil. extra virgin. You can add more if you're a big fan.
- 1 minced garlic clove
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp smoked paprika for extra flavour
- salt & pepper to taste
You can also use Italian Seasoning if you like
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F.
- Warm up a skillet on high heat and add 1 Tbsp of olive oil to it. Sear your chicken breasts on high heat for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until you get a little color on them. Transfer to a baking sheet covered with parchemin paper.
- Warm up a sauce pan on medium heat and add your diced tomatoes and olive oil. Finely mince your garlic and add it to the sauce. Add Salt & Pepper and taste your sauce to see if it is to your liking.
- Scoop one tbsp of sauce on top of each chicken cutlet, sprinkle some shredded cheese and your dried herbs. Repeat until all the chicken is coated and ready to bake.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese bubbles and turns a little golden. The more you leave it in the oven, the crispier it's going to get. Take out and let it cool down for 10 minutes before serving.
- Enjoy
Notes
Nutrition
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Enjoy,
Great chicken parm! I’m not a cook and I made this on the first try — very good! thanks
You’re welcome! Glad you like it!
Very delicious chicken parmesan, Idriss!! I`ve tried it two days ago and I really love the fact it`s a keto recipe and it`s very very yummy!!
That’s awesome! I’m glad you liked it, Vicki 🙂
Just made this and it was wonderful
Glad you liked it, Tonya!
Hello,
This may be late. Not sure if you are still watching this post or not.
But on off chance you are.
I just recently started keto and found this recipe extremely good.
But one sugge, if you would like to try, or haven’t. Is to use pork rinds also
Crunch em up as small u can into a fine breading.
And use a few eggs in separate bowl
Coat the chicken in egg
Then dunk and cover in pork rinds
Makes for a great substitute breading and delicious!!
Everything else was followed to the T.
Excellent work 🙂
Thanks a lot Ken!
That is a fantastic idea. As I was making this recipe, I did not think of breading the chicken because my main objective was to make something very very simple.
I do love your idea and I will probably use it in a future recipe 🙂
Thanks again!
Thanks for sharing! This looks so delicious!
My pleasure Karly! Glad you like it