“Giada at home” has been one of my favorite cooking shows for years. She has a very accessible approach to cooking and her recipes were not only pretty easy to execute but so delicious! Unfortunately, she uses many ingredients I avoid on a ketogenic diet. Like pasta. And this recipe in particular, I’ve been wanting to keto-out for quite awhile. And after a little experimenting, I was able to keep it low carb and super yummy. So hold onto your hats because this one is sure to have people asking for seconds. Maybe even thirds!
The béchamel sauce calls for flour to make a roux which helps to thicken the cream sauce. To get this keto sauce just as thick, I substituted a little almond flour and cream cheese. And the result was perfect. Instead of noodles, I used the tried and true spiralized zucchini. Otherwise, I basically stayed on point with her original recipe.
Chicken Tetrazinni
Equipment
- casserole dish
- heavy bottomed pan or cast iron skillet
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs skinless
- 1 tbsp olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups mushrooms roughly chopped
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme lightly chopped
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup frozen green beans thawed
- 1/4 cup parsley roughly chopped
- 1 large zucchini spiralized
For the Béchamel Cream Sauce
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp almond flour
- 2 tbsp cream cheese
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/8 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 or 2 pinches ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 turns freshly ground pepper
For the Topping
- 1 cup ground pork rinds
- 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp butter cubed
Instructions
For the Béchamel Sauce
- Cook butter and cream cheese over medium heat, whisking constantly. The cream cheese and butter may separated at this point but don't worry, it will bind together soon. Add almond flour and whisk together, cooking for a couple of minutes. Add heavy cream, chicken broth, and seasonings. Raise the heat a bit and continue whisking together for a few minutes until it begins to thicken. Sprinkle the xanthan gum and whisk together again. You know the sauce is ready when it coats the back of a spoon. Turn the heat off and cover to keep warm.
For the Chicken
- Add butter and oil to a heavy bottomed or cast iron skillet on medium heat. Lightly season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken to skillet and cook for 5 minutes on each side. Do not move the chicken around too much during this step so it can get a lovely golden crust. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside. Add the mushrooms to the same pan and saute for a few minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon. The water from the mushrooms will begin to release and it will help to pull up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan from when you cooked the chicken. Add the onions and garlic and saute for about 5 minutes until the onions become translucent and soft, stirring often. Add fresh thyme and stir. Add the chicken stock and stir. You can splash in a little white wine instead but I do not cook with alcohol so I skip this ingredient and use the chicken stock and I promise, it will be delicious either way! Turn the heat down to low and cook for a few minutes until most of the liquid has reduced.
- Roughly chop the chicken thighs into about 2 inch pieces. Add to a large bowl (don't forget to pour in any resting juices!) and the cooked veggies. Add ALL of the cream sauce into the bowl. Add the parsley and peas. Add the spiralized zucchini. Stir together well.
- Pour ingredients into a large casserole dish.
- Stir together the pork rinds and parm cheese. Evenly distribute over chicken mixture. Dot cubed butter all around the top.
- Bake in oven at 450 degrees for 20 min.