Chicken Francese

About

This Keto chicken recipe is made in less than 40 minutes and is a deliciously simple recipe to prepare for meal prepping or a nice meal at the dinner table. You can easily increase the serving size to accompany your meal prep needs or to have enough to share with family or friends. Whether others are Keto or not, everyone who tries it will love this fried chicken dish with a buttery lemon sauce. Thin-sliced chicken breasts are dredged in a light paleo flour and egg breading. They’re fried to a golden brown in Keto olive oil and glazed in the citrus lemon butter sauce. The butter sauce is flavored with capers and just a little savory chicken broth. Who knew such simple ingredients could pack such a powerful taste on your palette? Make sure to read the important note about using lemons in Keto recipes described below.

A Note On The Lemons

This recipe requires you to use whole lemons to flavor the sauce. Obviously, you will not be eating the lemon slices, but the whole slices are what carry such strong lemon flavor. On Carb Manager, your macros are tracked through the ingredients used in each recipe. Therefore, you’ll notice the ingredient list only mentions lemon juice. Follow the directions, and note that you are directed to use whole slices of lemon in Step 3. Following the recipe this way allows you to accurately track your macros without including additional carbs you aren’t actually consuming.

What Is Chicken Francese?

Chicken Francese (aka Chicken Française) is strangely not French at all! It is actually a dish that has Italian influences and has been ‘Americanized’ over the years. So, you likely won’t see this on the menu when you visit Paris. This Keto recipe is almost entirely authentic to the original Chicken Francese recipe minus one ingredient. The traditional sauce that is made with Chicken Francese usually includes white wine. Since wine is not Keto, that ingredient is eliminated and made up for with a strong lemon flavor with capers. If you’d like to have a hint of white wine flavor, you can incorporate white wine vinegar into the sauce at your discretion.

Ingredients

7 oz chicken breast boneless skinless raw
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoon paleo baking flour
½ large raw egg
½ teaspoon cream heavy whipping
1 teaspoon olive or extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ tablespoon butter, unsalted
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon capers
2 tablespoon chicken broth

Instructions

Prepare 3 ½-ounce thin-sliced chicken breasts by pounding them flat to no more than ½-inch thickness. Season the breasts with salt and pepper. Additionally, arrange the paleo flour on a clean plate or flat surface. You may include more flour to ensure you coat the chicken fully. In a shallow dish, whisk together an egg and the heavy cream. Set the flour and egg aside for the next step.
Heat the olive oil in either a cast-iron skillet or non-stick pan over medium-high heat. When the olive oil is hot, then you can bread the chicken. Dredge each chicken breast one-by-one in the paleo flour first. Shake the excess flour off the chicken and then dip it in the egg. Once excess egg drips off the chicken, dredge it once more in the flour. Shake loose flour off the chicken one final time, then set the breaded chicken in the hot oil.
Cook the chicken for about 5 minutes per side until the chicken is cooked through and the breading has turned golden brown on both sides. You can adjust the heat as necessary to avoid burning. Once the chicken is cooked, set the pan aside to rest. Melt the butter in a new, clean pan over low heat. Slice a lemon into about 3 slices per serving and add them to the butter. Place a lid over the pan and let the lemon slices steep in the butter over low heat for 3-4 minutes.
Add the capers and chicken broth to the pan of lemons. Return the lid and let the ingredients stew over very low heat. The liquid will begin to gently bubble and reduce slightly to a thickened glaze with a little viscosity. Once the liquid has reached this texture, transfer the chicken breasts to the lemon butter sauce. You can increase the heat slightly to help re-heat the chicken breasts in the sauce. Flip the chicken over so the sauce coats the breading. You can also spoon the sauce and lemon slices over the chicken to help distribute the flavors. Once the chicken is hot, the recipe is finished.