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Low Carb Chicken Parmesan with Chunky Garden Tomatoes — Also Gluten Free!

low-carb-chicken-parmesan

Welcome to the August 7, 2016 edition of Sunday Scratchups: Your weekly recipe from scratch around grocery sales, garden produce, and/or generally affordable ingredients. This week I was looking at a pile of shredded cheese I recently picked up on sale for $.99 each… and then I was looking at my overflowing bowl of fresh garden tomatoes. Since boneless skinless chicken breast has also been affordable lately, I decided to scratch up this low carb chicken Parmesan for MashupDad (who misses it so).

cheese-and-tomatoes

Two notes here: First, I was in a hurry and too lazy to seed the tomatoes, so my sauce turned out a bit watery. Want yours less so? De-seed away. Secondly, I deliberately ground my almonds very coarsely for a chunkier/crunchier breading. Grind yours a little finer if the chunkier texture will disturb you. 🙂

Low Carb Chicken Parmesan (also gluten free!)

Ingredients

– for the chicken

1.5-1.75 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
One large egg
3/4 cup natural unsalted whole almonds
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Black pepper, to taste
Sea salt, to taste
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp oregano

– for the chunky tomatoes

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup diced onion
12 Roma tomatoes, roughly chopped. (De-seed if desired for a less watery sauce.)
Fresh basil, to taste.
Fresh oregano, to taste
Sea salt, to taste

– to top

Around 4 oz Italian blend shredded cheese
Fresh parsley, optional

Directions

Trim chicken breast, cut into four equal pieces, and pound flatter until you have a nice even thickness. (Cover with plastic wrap first to avoid spattering.) Beat egg and set aside in separate shallow bowl.

bread-your-chicken

To make your breading, add almonds, Parmesan, and spices to food processor and grind to desired level of crumbliness. I left mine fairly coarse here, for extra crunch. Pour into a large shallow bowl. Dredge each piece of chicken in egg and then in almond-Parmesan mixture, then place on a greased rimmed cookie sheet.

browned-chicken

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then flip and cook another 10 minutes or until nicely browned and to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

add-chicken

While chicken is cooking, roughly chop your tomatoes and de-seed if desired. Saute diced onion in olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until softened, then add garlic and saute another 30 seconds or so. Add tomatoes, basil, and oregano and saute over medium heat until tomatoes are at your desired thickness, then add sea salt to taste.

melted-cheese-on-chicken

Reduce heat to medium-low. Add chicken to skillet on top of tomatoes, then top each piece of chicken with shredded Italian blend cheese. Cover skillet and cook over medium-low until cheese is melted, about four minutes. Remove cover and garnish with fresh chopped parsley (optional). Serve chicken over chunky tomatoes.

Simple, right?

gluten-free-chicken-parmesan

If you are looking for a gluten free or low carb chicken Parmesan, this fits the bill nicely! The almond-Parmesan coating gives a nice crunch and adds an extra bit of nutty flavor, while the fresh chunky garden tomatoes contain no added sugar and provide a lighter and more flavorful counterpoint than a heavier jarred sauce might.

bite-of-parmesan-chicken

If you’re not in the mood for tomatoes, this breading alternative is also fantastic for making gluten free, low carb chicken nuggets or chicken fingers — just bake in the oven as above, then serve with your dipping sauce of choice.

Low Carb Chicken Parmesan, printable recipe

Low Carb Chicken Parmesan with Chunky Garden Tomatoes -- Also Gluten Free!

Course dinner
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

- for the chicken

  • 1.5-1.75 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
  • One large egg
  • 3/4 cup natural unsalted whole almonds
  • 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • Black pepper, to taste
  • Sea salt, to taste
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp oregano

- for the chunky tomatoes

  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1/4 cup diced onion
  • 12 Roma tomatoes, roughly chopped. (De-seed if desired for a less watery sauce.)
  • Fresh basil, to taste
  • Fresh oregano, to taste
  • Sea salt, to taste

- to top

  • Around 4 oz Italian blend shredded cheese
  • Fresh parsley (optional)

Instructions

  • Trim chicken breast, cut into four equal pieces, and pound flatter until you have a nice even thickness. (Cover with plastic wrap first to avoid spattering.)
  • Beat egg and set aside in separate shallow bowl.
  • To make your breading, add almonds, Parmesan, and spices to food processor and grind to desired level of crumbliness. I left mine fairly coarse here, for extra crunch.
  • Pour into a large shallow bowl.
  • Dredge each piece of chicken in egg and then in almond-Parmesan mixture, then place on a greased rimmed cookie sheet.
  • Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then flip and cook another 10 minutes or until nicely browned and to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
  • While chicken is cooking, roughly chop your tomatoes and de-seed if desired.
  • Saute diced onion in olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until softened, then add garlic and saute another 30 seconds or so.
  • Add tomatoes, basil, and oregano and saute over medium heat until tomatoes are at your desired thickness, then add sea salt to taste.
  • Reduce heat to medium-low.
  • Add chicken to skillet on top of tomatoes, then top each piece of chicken with shredded Italian blend cheese.
  • Cover skillet and cook over medium-low until cheese is melted, about four minutes.
  • Remove cover and garnish with fresh chopped parsley (optional).
  • Serve chicken over chunky tomatoes.

Notes

If you’re not in the mood for tomatoes, this breading alternative is also fantastic for making gluten free, low carb chicken nuggets or chicken fingers — just bake in the oven as above, then serve with your dipping sauce of choice. Also: I was in a hurry and too lazy to seed the tomatoes, so my sauce turned out a bit watery. Want yours less so? De-seed away. Secondly, I deliberately ground my almonds very coarsely for a chunkier/crunchier breading. Grind yours a little longer if the chunkier texture will disturb you. ?

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Recipe Rating




christine

Sunday 7th of August 2016

I am curious if you can taste almonds in this dish or a sweet flavor due to the almonds. It looks like it might be masked by all of the garlic sauce and cheese and just give a great crunchy texture like bread crumbs.

rachel

Sunday 7th of August 2016

You can taste the almonds -- they add a little nuttiness but it's mild under all of the other flavors.

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