Honey Garlic Takeout Chicken

About

This easy ultimate Keto chicken recipe is good for adding to a simply prepared side dish or to any meal prep recipes. Chunks of white breast meat chicken are fried up quickly and coated in a thickened, buttery honey garlic sauce. The honey garlic sauce has pretty mild flavors and gives the chicken a glossy coating of sweet and savory. Some suggestions for meals are eating the honey garlic chicken with a bed of steamed cauliflower rice or over a mix of stir-fried Keto vegetables. Bok choy, julienned peppers and zucchini, and mushrooms are all Keto stir-fry vegetables you can include with your chicken. If you like spicy dishes, just add a little crushed red pepper on top of your meal for serving. Other garnishes can include sesame seeds, chopped green onion, chopped parsley, or a pinch of freshly grated ginger root.

How To Make ‘Sticky’ Keto Sauces

Chinese takeout dishes are beloved for their thickened sweet and sticky sauces. When making a Keto copycat version of anything sweet and sticky, you have to understand a little bit of food science. Normal sticky sauces are made with added white or brown sugar, which is hygroscopic (the ability to absorb and retain moisture from the surroundings). To mimic this effect, you’ll need to rely on any sugars that exist naturally in your sauce ingredients, such as the soy sauce, lemon juice, and honey used in this recipe. A non-clumping Keto flour and some butter will thicken the sauce to a velvety texture, and you can add as much liquid stevia to sweeten the sauce to your taste.

Using Other Cuts Of Chicken

Chicken breast is cheap, easy to cut into portions, and is low on unhealthy fats. However, you can also use thigh meat as a substitute if you like darker meat. Cuts of dark meat will add more fat to your meal. Keep in mind that chicken breast has about 4 grams of fat per 100 grams of meat, and chicken thighs have about 8 grams of fat. You’ll incorporate more fat into your meal by adding butter to the sauce, and you can include healthy fats and oils in the other components of your meal as well.

Ingredients

½ cup beef broth
½ tablespoon sauce soy
½ teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon honey
¼ teaspoon ginger
1 tsp, chopped garlic
10 drops liquid stevia
1 tsp, whole pieces sesame seeds
1 tbsp, chopped scallions
1 teaspoon paleo baking flour
½ tablespoon butter, unsalted
12 oz chicken breast boneless skinless raw
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
⅛ teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon olive or extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

In a small pot, combine the beef broth, soy sauce, lemon juice, honey, ground ginger, minced garlic, liquid stevia, sesame seeds, chopped green onion, and paleo flour. Whisk the ingredients together until the flour dissolves, and heat the liquid over low heat. When the pot reaches a simmer, add the butter to the sauce. Reduce the heat until the sauce is bubbling and the butter melts. Stir the sauce and allow it to reduce until it is thickened.
Set the sauce aside to cool for the remainder of the recipe. Cut chicken breast into 1-bite or 2-bite pieces – about 4 pieces per serving. Add the chicken bites to a mixing bowl and toss them with salt, pepper, onion powder, and olive oil. Meanwhile, heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat on the stove. Once the pan is hot, pour the seasoned chicken into the pan.
Cook the chicken bites until they’re cooked through and golden brown on all sides. Once the chicken is cooked, add the hot pieces to a larger, clean mixing bowl. Pour the thickened sauce from Step 1 over the chicken, and fold the chicken over in the sauce until it’s all coated. Allow the honey garlic chicken to cool for a few more minutes as the sauce re-thickens before serving.