Ways to make plain Chicken taste nonplain

(Erika Knollenberg) #1

Hi, I’m new here. Two years ago I lost 40lbs on a keto diet. The problem is I was so sick of the food I was eating that when I finished, I stopped entirely and now I need to redo the weight loss. I am having trouble getting back on because I’m so tired of plain chicken. To get into ketosis, all I could eat was plain chicken for the first week. If I had a cheat day or meal, for whatever reason, I had to redo that week. If I had my way, I would cook the chicken in a can of pineapple, but that’s a bit too high in carbs. I do not like spicy or fish. What are things you do for the first week to get into ketosis? What foods do you eat? Thank you for your help.

(John) #2

Why only chicken? Beef, pork, lamb, turkey. Eggs, avocados, cream cheese, butter, coconut oil, lots of ingredients high in good fats.

Also, there are lots of ways to season chicken or make it an ingredient in a larger dish. Many sauces and seasonings are low or no carb. Not all are spicy.

(Mike W.) #3

Slather chicken thighs in mayo, sprinkle on ground pork rinds and bake.

#4

First, I would agree with John. You really should look into incorporating different things to keep it interesting.

Plus, chicken is one of the more leaning choices too… Especially the breast. Try using legs and thighs.

But for Chicken, you can simply add Mushrooms/and or Onions with a creamy sauce. (Sauce; try 1/2 stick butter and 4 oz Heavy Whipping Cream. Cook on med until it thickens. (add to mushroom/onion while cooking)

You can fillet them open, seasoned to liking and maybe add some cream cheese or sour cream.

You can cut it up into smaller bite sized pieces, add some Rao’s Sauce, Italian seasoning and top with Cheese of your liking. Then just bake it until nice and browned on top.

Oh course, these are only a few examples, but my best advice to you would be to visit the ‘What did you Keto today’ thread, which can found via the link below.

Believe me, if you can’t find inspiration viewing all the foods in that thread, or at least get some very good ideas. I’m not sure where I could point you to help any better. … Good luck and hope you enjoy it this time better. :slight_smile:

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #5

Get your chicken with the skin on, that will add flavor. Heat up some butter, lard, tallow, or bacon grease in the pan, and sprinkle in some salt, pepper, and other spices. Tarragon, oregano, thyme, and sage are all good spices to use. Mrs. Dash and Trocomare are good commercial spice combinations, as is Bell’s poultry seasoning. Put in the meat, skin down, and sauté on high for five minutes. While the skin is crisping, sprinkle the same mix of spices on the other side. After five minutes, turn the chicken over, reduce the heat, and cover for 20 minutes. By then it should be cooked through. If it’s not, I generally turn off the heat and let the pieces continue to cook in the hot pan.

You can make gravy with the pan juices, or just pour them over the chicken and any vegetable you are eating.

(Erika Knollenberg) #6

Well, you’ve certainly given me some ideas. Many suggestions use ingredients I don’t care for. For instance, don’t like lamb or turkey, avocados, mushrooms, dark meat, pork rines, or skin on chicken. But, I have recently discovered Rao sauce.

I already have a hard-boiled egg for breakfast.

The reason for chicken is because it was the item I used for lunch since beef or sausage was for dinner.

I went to Medi Weightloss, and while it was ketogentic, it was also fat and calorie conscious (but only counted protein calories) with a max of 120 cals in dairy per day. I was allowed one vegetable and 1 fruit, or two vegetables if no fruit a day. If I cooked my meal with it, then that was the vegetable, and 1 small fat a day (sauce, dressing, etc). So, I cooked my chicken quite plain because I didn’t want to use my fat or vegetable on cooking my chicken. I wanted my 1 cup of tomatoes or the dressing for a small salad equivalent to the 1 cup of vegetables. I stayed away from fruits because the weeks I had them I didn’t lose.

(Ellen) #7

Just keep it simple, under 20g of carbs a day, medium protein and fat to satiety, when starting out don’t worry about calories etc. Check out diet doctor & the recipes sections here for ideas. Bacon, eggs & cheese are always a good place to start (at least for me).

(Ken) #8

Inject chicken with melted garlic butter, wrap it in bacon and roast.

There are also plenty of no Carb barbecue sauces out here as well as breadings for fried chicken.

(Dana) #9

Stuff chicken breasts with cream cheese and maybe garlic powder and dried basil, then wrap those babies in prosciutto and bake. Add a pat of butter on top of each for bonus points :slight_smile:

#10

Marinate in a brine solution to change the flavour of your chicken.

Treat yourself and buy a slow grown chicken from a farm.

(MelissaH) #11

I really like indian chicken recipes lately! Keto connect and headbangers kitchen have some great easy recipes.