As many of you know, I was contacted by the Dr. Oz Show last weekend about participating in a healthy recipes challenge. They assigned us a regional favorite from the area we live in and asked us to make over a “healthier” version. I was assigned fried chicken since I live in SC. It was a no brainer as I already have a recipe in the IBIH Summer Recipes Ezine.
I wasn’t thrilled about making Southern fried chicken for the show because it’s so hard to get creative with it (especially when the video submission is due in just over 24 hours.) I wanted to wrap it in bacon and fry it, which would according to Paleo and Keto be perfectly healthy (and also AWESOME.)
I figured that would go over like a lead balloon with the low fat crowd though, so I nixed it. I’m definitely doing it soon for the rest of us though, since we know FAT IS WHERE IT’S AT!
For the video segment though, I followed my usual recipe using seasoned coconut flour as the coating – but I caved (read: sold out) and baked it instead of frying it so it would have wider appeal for the masses who still think fat is evil (poor souls.)
Even so, I wasn’t surprised when I got the email a few days ago that they didn’t choose my “fried” chicken as one of the 3 finalists. They never did ask for my actual recipe – just the video of the finished product, so they may have had a different criteria altogether. I’ll never know! But it was a fun experience, and I got to meet some other great bloggers because of it.
We all got the same email saying we’d be featured on the show (which airs today, Monday January 27th), but hadn’t made the finals. Jeanette from Jeanette’s Healthy Living reached out to us all and suggested we link up today with our different recipes from the show, and introduce our readers to each other. I loved that idea!
If you’re new here just coming over from one of the other blogger’s: Welcome to the dark side – we eat bacon!!!
To find out more about losing weight on the Keto (low carb) diet, check out my 3 day Keto Kickstart and Menu Plan to get started!
You can also hang out with us on Facebook where we yuk it up all day long.
Southern Fried Chicken Recipe (Low Carb and Gluten Free)
A low carb and gluten free recipe for Southern fried chicken.
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 5lbs chicken leg quarters
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 cup coconut flour
- oil for frying
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the chicken, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. Using your hands, massage the spices into the chicken and be sure it’s well coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- To prepare: Add the coconut flour to the seasoned chicken and toss well to coat. Heat oil about 2 inches deep in a large, heavy bottomed pan (cast iron is ideal or use a deep fryer if you have one) to 375 degrees (F). Add chicken in batches. Don’t overcrowd the pan or it won’t get crisp. Cook for about 8 minutes per side, or until a rich, golden brown.
- Test with a meat thermometer to ensure that the internal temperature of the meat reaches 165 degrees. If you don’t have one, cut into a piece and make sure the meat isn’t pink before serving.
Notes
Approx nutrition info per serving: 425 calories, 32g fat, 1g net carbs, 34g protein
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Approximately 2 pieces
Update:
After watching the show it appears that only 3 words of my video (“the Palmetto State”) actually made it onto the intro to the Healthy Recipes Challenge segment – and none of the endless B-roll they made me shoot of the fried chicken being made, plated, eaten, etc. was shown at all. So I figured I might as well post at least some of the video I sent in here on the blog. After all, I went to the trouble to iron my shirt and put makeup on and everything…
In other news, since it’s been so popular I’m continuing to bundle my Amazon best-selling e-book The Gluten Free Low Carber with my first two issues of the IBIH ezine for only $9.99 – that’s a discount of over 50%!
You’ll get over 75 original recipes that can’t be found here on the blog for less than 15 cents each! And it’s some of my best work yet if I do say so! Bored with the same old low carb recipes? Looking for some new and delicious ways to keto on? I’VE GOT YOU COVERED!
Get more information on the books here, or simply click the Add to Cart button to download now!
All three for just $9.99!
Made this tonight for dinner…will be making this, or some version of this again very soon! I can easily see chicken wings fried using this method. Hubby loved it!
Thanks so much!
★★★★★
I’ve made this recipe twice and am learning from the process. The first time I made this – not sure if it was that I used avocado oil to fry the chicken in, but my family walked in from work and said the house smelled like urine. Weird I know. But my husband tasted it and loved it – go figure. So, the second time I made this, I used coconut oil. They said the house smelled weird, but not of urine this time. I actually think coconut oil tasted better, but that’s just me. Also, I used bone in thighs – because that’s what my husband likes – he just wants one bone to contend with. I will continue to make this and work on getting the stove top temperature just right – as it does seem to take quite awhile to cook and still pink on the inside. A work in progress. Delicious recipe. I am getting there.
★★★★★
I’d love to see this modified for an air fryer
I just made this recipe last night, and the chicken turned out delicious. I’ve never fried chicken before, I don’t have a deep frier , and the recipe didn’t specify what kind of oil “frying oil is” so I used Coconut oil. I ended up having to put the chicken in the oven to cook the rest of the way, because I got chicken leg quarters that were still together and they were pretty big (again novice chicken frier). The only gripe I have with this recipe is when I enter the recipe into my keto calculator, the nutrition value is way higher than that that is described in the recipe.
★★★
My fam is big fried chicken fans. I wonder how they’d feel about this. Maybe I should give it a whirl.
Hi everyone! I’m about to start the SCKC tomorrow and preparing my food today. But I don’t know if I am doing this right. I live in Switzerland and we use kg and not lbs. now I have a scale that measures in lbs and when measuring out 5lbs of chicken that comes up to about 2.2 kg chicken and right now I’m looking at 12 chicken leg quarters. If this is for 6 people then this will be 2 pieces of chicken leg quarters and a lot of chicken …. is this correct or are my conversions wrong? I wish I could take a pic to show how much chicken.
When I google chicken leg quarter I am shown a leg and a thigh joined together. Is this the same as what is meant here or just chicken legs like the pic?
I really don’t want to mess up right from the get go.
Thanks for any feedback!
Davina
Your conversion is correct. At the very bottom of the recipe it says a serving is 2 pieces, so you’ve got it right. A quarter is a thigh attached to the leg. You are good to go!
The first time I made this, my husband asked me if I had decided to eat whatever I wanted again. I had to laugh and told him to enjoy, it’s healthy. The next time I made it, I added the sauce from the Sheet Pan Burgers from IBIH as a side dipping sauce.
★★★★★
This tasted so good
★★★★★
I want to make this but I want gravy with it. I haven’t found a good keto gravy mix I like. Before keto my mom made gravy with chicken drippings
That was amazing. Just used drumsticks, but hit the mark. I have been craving fried chicken and was happy I found this recipe. Thank you!
★★★★★
Was a little wary of just using the coconut flour to coat the chicken, but I was wrong! They fried up beautifully in my deep fryer and tasted great. Might add some cayenne the next time to add a bit of heat and marinate longer then two hours – the suggested overnight sounds like a good idea, but other than that it was perfect and will be made again for sure.
★★★★★
I tried this recipe and for some reason it didn’t crisp at all…bot sure what went wrong but I hate frying. I guess I’ll stick to my original frying and that is using almond flour and parmesan cheese and cry in coconut oil.
This chicken was wonderful. Thank you so much for posting this. I have several dietary restrictions and it was great to cook something that was healthy and taste wonderful.
When you say a serving in 2 pieces, do you basically mean a leg? By the way, my Low carb is very excited to try this – he misses his breaded fried chicken and I am hoping this recipe will make him happy!
As always, Melissa always knows how to read my mind:)
Thanks Bill for the tip!
Over 20 years ago, an n old boyfriend’s brother would stir a little wheat germ into an egg batter. This eliminated the need to double dip the flour. The chicken was so crispy!
And he’s right! I learned that trick over 25 years ago. My old boyfriend’s brother (deceased now) told me to mix a little water, egg and wheat germ.
This was so delicious. I will make again. My husband and son loved it too!!