Easy Keto Chicken Tenders – Smoosh, Cook, Eat
Video | Recipe Steps | Jump to Recipe | Cooking Tricks | Side Dish Ideas
This comment was posted under one of my YouTube videos, “I hate cooking. This is why I can’t ever stick to a healthy diet because a lot requires some type of cooking. ugh”
Can you relate?
I want to show you that cooking does not need to be time-consuming, difficult, or include a bunch of ingredients that you’ve never heard of before.
In fact, if you can smoosh ingredients together and stick them in the oven, you can be eating a healthy meal in less than 30 minutes that is keto and kid-friendly. Here we go.
Easy Keto Chicken Tenders – Smoosh, Cook, Eat [Video]
In this video, you’ll learn…
- The recipe for Keto Chicken Tenders.
- How to make a Cheesy Broccoli side dish.
- A few cooking tips and tricks to level up in the kitchen.
4 Easy Recipe Steps: Smoosh, Dump, Cook, Eat
If cooking your own meals intimidates you, start with these Keto Chicken Tenders.
There are four steps.
- Smoosh
- Dump
- Cook
- Eat
First things first, get your oven heating up to the cooking temperature, which is 400°F or 200°C.
Step #1: Smoosh
Grab a large zip-top bag. You will be putting all of your ingredients in it.
To start, lay the bag open and put in the juice of a small lime, which is about one and a half tablespoons. I start with the lime juice because I can squeeze it directly into the bag and easily scoop out any seeds that might fall into the bag.
Next, add one and a half tablespoons of a heat-resistant oil. I used avocado oil.
Follow that with your spices. Spices can be intimidating, but this recipe calls for standard ones you may already have in your home, specifically chili powder, paprika, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.
As for amounts, I added one-half tablespoon of chili powder and paprika. I used smoked paprika, but you can use the regular type if that is what you have on hand.
I then added half a teaspoon of salt and a quarter teaspoon each of pepper and cayenne pepper.
You can give the bag an early smooshing to get those ingredients blended and then put in one pound (454g) of chicken tenders.
If you don’t have chicken tenders, you can simply cut a chicken breast into bite-size pieces. Smoosh again, and you are ready for step two.
Step #2 Dump
For easy clean-up, line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray it with non-stick cooking spray. Then dump the contents of the plastic bag onto the foil and spread the pieces so they are not overlapping.
Step #3 Cook
Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. You’ll know chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F, which is 74°C.
Step #4 Eat
Step four – eat. If you ate the entire pound of chicken, your total carbs consumed would only be 6.3 grams (a serving has less than 2 grams.)
The tenders taste great on their own, but you can dip them in blue cheese or ranch dressing, just like you might do when ordering chicken wings out at a restaurant.
Easy Keto Chicken Tenders Recipe
Keto Chicken Tenders
courtesy of Dr. Becky Fitness
Servings: 4Calories: 249kcalIngredients
- 1.5 tablespoon Lime Juice
- 1.5 tablespoon Avocado Oil
- 1/2 tablespoon Chili Powder
- 1/2 tablespoon Smoked Paprika substitute regular paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- 1 pound Chicken Tenders substitute chicken breast cut into strips
Instructions
Notes
You can marinate the chicken overnight by placing all of the ingredients in the zip-top bag and placing it in the refrigerator. If desired, serve with blue cheese or ranch dressing.–
Nutrition FactsKeto Chicken TendersAmount Per Serving (127 g)Calories 249 Calories from Fat 95% Daily Value*Fat 10.5g16%Carbohydrates 1.6g1%Fiber 0.7g3%Protein 35.4g71%* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Cooking Tricks Come with Practice
There are always little tricks to be learned with home cooking, like rolling the lime before you cut it to free up the juice or using a citrus press, which is easier on your hands.
You can also combine the ingredients the night before to marinate the chicken, which makes mealtime even quicker.
But, what I am trying to get across here is that you can cook at home and end up with a tasty meal with little fuss.
There is a lot of satisfaction that comes from doing so, and when you have a success under your belt, you will be inspired to do more. That is what you want; just get the ball rolling.
As your comfort level grows, you can experiment with fresh herbs and less processed ingredients, and different cooking methods.
Side Dish Ideas
If you are starting at square one, make your side dishes super simple. A bag of frozen broccoli has microwave instructions on the bag.
When it cooks, top it with butter, salt, and pepper. If you want more taste, add some cheese; shredded cheddar cheese or grated Parmesan work well with broccoli. The butter and cheese add flavor and fat that helps your body absorb the fat-soluble vitamins in your meal.
I can honestly say that I used to hate to cook. Now I enjoy it, but I am not fancy. I do not use hard-to-pronounce or hard-to-find ingredients. I like cooking with ingredients that I can find at my local grocery store.
If you are like me, I like to have low-carb and keto cookbooks in the house. My Family Favorites Cookbook has 35 recipes that I often make in my home.
I hope this quick and easy recipe helps you overcome that initiation barrier we all have when we start cooking at home. Give it a try tonight!
About the Author
Becky Gillaspy, DC, is the author of The Intermittent Fasting Guide and Cookbook. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with research honors from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1991.
