Air Fried Chili Coconut Chicken w Creamy Stir Fry

About

If sweet heat is your thing, don’t pass up this delicious combo of coconut, cream, and chilis. You’ll start with chicken strips hand-breaded in a crunchy coating made with almonds and coconut flakes. Instead of turning on your oven, keep your kitchen cool by using your air fryer instead! The chicken strips can cook in under 15 minutes. Served on the side is a Keto stir fry with a little twist. You’ll cook your low-carb vegetables in avocado oil, but then you’ll finish the stir fry with a cream-based chili sauce thickened with butter. The chili powder and chili sauce in the chicken strips and stir fry are balanced out with nutty flavors and heavy cream. This is also a sneaky way to increase your fat macros. If you’d like to make only the chili coconut chicken strips, head over to the Carb Manager Keto Beginner Air Fryer Chili Coconut Chicken Strips recipe.

Can I Use Sriracha Or Another Chili Sauce?

Sriracha is one of the more well-known brands of chili sauce, which is a vinegar-based sauce made with ground chilis and salt. Most other brands of chili sauces use this combination of ingredients, so just about any brand can be used. You can also use chili ‘pastes’ that have pepper flakes visible in the sauce. If you need to adjust the spice level in your stir fry, you can simply use less or omit the chili sauce without affecting your macros.

I Don’t Own An Air Fryer

You can easily convert the chicken strip recipe into a recipe you cook in your oven. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Cook the chicken on a well-seasoned sheet tray for 15 minutes or until the chicken shows signs of doneness. If you’d like the outside of your chicken strips to be crispier, you can leave them under a broiler to darken under your supervision.

Ingredients

1 oz red pepper
2 oz celery
4 oz brown mushrooms (italian or crimini mushrooms), raw, high in vitamin d
½ oz cashews, raw
1 ½ tablespoon avocado oil
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon sesame seeds
⅛ teaspoon curry powder
1 tsp, chopped scallions
¼ oz almonds, sliced
¼ oz coconut, dried, shredded or flaked, unsweetened
2 tablespoon almond flour
¼ teaspoon chili powder
⅛ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon sesame seeds
8 oz chicken breast boneless skinless raw
½ teaspoon olive or extra virgin olive oil
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoon cream heavy whipping
1 teaspoon hot chili sauce (sriracha)
1 tablespoon butter, unsalted

Instructions

Get your stir fry started first. Thin-slice red bell pepper and celery, and add them to a mixing bowl. Quarter or chop mushrooms into small pieces, and roughly chop the cashews. Mix these ingredients all together and bring them to your stove. In a wide pan, heat avocado oil on high heat. When the oil is hot, add the cut veggies to the pan and stir them in the oil.
Let the vegetables cook in the oil until they start to brown lightly. Then, reduce your heat down to low and stir salt, pepper, sesame seeds, curry powder, and chopped green onion into the stir fry. Place a lid on your pan, and let the vegetables cook down over very low heat. Occasionally, you can stir the pot to avoid burning, but you’ll be turning your attention to the chicken strips while the stir fry cooks.
Make the crunchy coating for the chicken by crushing sliced almonds and flaked coconut. You can either use your hands to crush the ingredients or roll the ingredients inside a Ziploc bag with a rolling pin. Make sure you have a mix of larger and smaller pieces, but the largest must still be small enough to stick to the chicken later. Once crushed, mix almond flour, chili powder, onion powder, and sesame seeds into the coating. Set this aside while you prepare the chicken.
Turn on your air fryer to preheat to 360 degrees. Pat whole chicken breast dry with a paper towel, if needed, and rub the olive oil into the flesh. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Only after seasoning, slice the breast into strips that are 1 – 1 ½ ounce each. One by one, pick up a chicken strip and roll it in your chili-coconut coating. Aim for 80%-90% coverage with a mix of almond and coconut pieces on the chicken.
Arrange all the coated chicken strips on your air fryer cooking tray. Cook the chicken strips for about 12 minutes or until done. Look for a golden-brown outside with darkened edges where the almonds and coconut are. You can also use a meat thermometer to confirm your chicken has cooked to at least 165 degrees internally. Let the chicken strips cool for 1-2 minutes before enjoying.
Once you put the chicken in the air fryer, you can come back to the stir fry. With the heat still on low, pour heavy cream and chili sauce into the pan. Stir the ingredients and raise the heat slightly until a thickened spicy cream coats the vegetables. Add the butter to the pan, place the lid back on, and let the butter melt while the cream bubbles slightly. Once the butter melts, stir the ingredients together to complete your creamy stir fry. Each serving receives about 3 ¾ ounces stir fry with 3 chicken strips.