We’re back at it with keto versions of our favorite Asian recipes, and this time we have our Easy Lemon Chicken for you!
From breading the chicken, to making the lemon sauce coating, you’ll find this dish extremely easy to replicate in no time at all. It’s great for family dinner any night of the week, and classy enough to impressive friends at your next dinner party. No one will even know it’s low carb, sugar-free and keto-friendly.
Why Lemon Chicken?
I’m always in the market for Asian recipes to keto-fy and I had never had lemon chicken until this recipe. We’ve replicated Orange Chicken but I was up for something new. As soon as I had made the dish, even before trying it, I knew I had made the right choice. Matt agreed.
We took pictures, snaps, Instagram story pictures, and dug in. It hit the sweet, lemony, spot I had been needing to fill with something.
During the breading process, I was contemplating doing a double coating, but I’m glad I didn’t. I think it would have weighed down the chicken instead of producing this light, zesty recipe.
Breaded Chicken
For the breading, we did a light coating of coconut flour. No need for an egg wash or to add pork rinds or Parmesan cheese to the coconut flour. A simple, light layer of coconut flour creates the perfect fried, yet moist, chicken for this dish.
In my opinion, it even trumps almond flour. The taste of the coconut flour doesn’t come through too strong and it easily absorbs any sauce or flavoring you cover it in, which is essential for this recipe.
Easy Lemon Chicken
Usually a recipe like this would be served alongside some rice to soak up the lemon sauce, but we have something even better, our Cauliflower Fried Rice. It is the perfect bed for this chicken, replacing all your favorite take-out restaurants.
You could even do a family style Asian food night and cook up a big portion of our Easy Cashew Chicken for some variety! To make our Easy Lemon Chicken, you only need a few essential ingredients, so why not make it for dinner tonight?
Recipe can be quickly added to MyFitnessPal – Search “KetoConnect – Easy Lemon Chicken”
Low Carb Easy Lemon Chicken
Ingredients:
Chicken
- 8 oz Boneless/Skinless Chicken Thighs
- 6 tbsp Coconut flour
- 4 tbsp coconut oil
Sauce
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 lemon juice of lemon
- 2 tbsp swerve confectioner
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 tsp xanthan Gum
Instructions:
Chicken
- Cut you thighs into bite sized chunks and set aside.
- Add coconut flour to a bowl and in small batches add the chopped chicken pieces into the flour fully coating them.
- Add coconut oil to medium-high heat pan. Once it is hot add the chicken pieces in batches until all are fully cooked through.
Sauce
- Add lemon zest to a pan and turn it onto high heat.
- Add broth and swerve to a high heat sauce pan and combine until swerve is fully dissolved (erythritol may not full dissolve).
- Add the lemon juice and xanthan gum and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer and allow to reduce until desired thickness.
- Once thickened to liking, add chicken into sauce and coat.
- Serve warm with cauliflower rice and enjoy!
Notes
Written by
Megha Barot
Megha has always been a passionate cook, but she took this to a new level after starting her keo journey in 2015. She loves creating new recipes and producing educational content for KetoConnect, which she co-founded in 2016 with Matt. Her passion for healthy eating and personal development continues to thrive. She's the proud mom of two awesome kids.
I dont cook asian very much. This came out amazing! Added a little soy sauce and Siracha to the sauce and it cut the sweet/sour from the lemon juice perfectly.
Fast, easy and delicious! It has a nice kick from the spices. The creaminess of the sauce and tender chicken chunks are so satisfying! This is comfort food for a cold, winter day and definitely a keeper!
Fabulous recipe! After a disastrous attempt at a keto lemon chicken from an alternate recipe book, this was JUST what we wanted & needed. Even the other half; who isn’t the biggest keto fan loved this recipe!
Zero stars follow this recipe to the T for my wife and I anniversary dinner. Bought all the expensive ingredients for it as well. The chicken appeared to be crispy and smell good but the coconut flour was not a good fit it tasted grainy it was very unbearable And the sauce had no flavor mixed with the chicken the coating of the chicken fell off a little bit absolutely disgusting. The wife and I ate salad after the dissatisfaction.
I wanted to love this but it was really SWEET for us. There was a distinct coconut flavor and the sauce tasted like lemon pie filling. Not sure if will make
again.
It would be nice if I could share it to Pinterest to refer back to later
What do you do when you don’t have xanthan gum?
this recipe was yummy, I seasoned the chicken with garlic, salt and pepper; I didn’t have swerve confectioner sugar for the sauce, I did however have monk fruit I used the same quantity and it came out great. It makes me want to try an orange chicken version. Thanks
This recipe is amazing
Can you use chicken breasts instead of thighs?
I cannot use anything with any alcohol sugars. Have a very bad reaction to them. I have pure Monk fruit and then also have exanthem gum for thickening. Would love to make this recipe but I don’t know how much pure powdered Monk fruit to use. Hoping you can help.Thank you very much
Love this recipe however I’m allergic to coconut. Can this be substituted with almond flour and avocado oil?
Should be able to substitute, yes – it may alter the texture some.