There are foods that we simply enjoy no matter what age we are and have become our comfort food for those days. One familiar dish that comes to mind is fried chicken. Children adore it whilst adults tend to enjoy it especially on days when things didn’t go all too well.
There will be days when all you want is a dinner that can satisfy your hunger despite a very disappointing or tiring day. On days like this, you crave a dinner that is easy to do, heavy on the stomach and provides a certain feeling of comfort. Comfort food, as many would call it, still extends its “power” even to the Paleo diet. And what better way to comfort yourself than with a superb serving of fried chicken?
Kids love this so you will not have much problem in making them eat this. And as an adult, you can find the comfort of knowing that Paleo fried chicken does not pose any harmful effects on your body. The Paleo recipe featured here has all the goodness of Paleo – meat, gluten free and grain free. You cannot ask for a fried chicken recipe that is better than this, and you’ll find yourself craving more of this comfort food compared to its traditional counterpart. It provides the flavor, the crispness and the kind of satisfaction you get from “real” fried chicken.
Paleo Fried Chicken
Recipe type: Lunch/Dinner
Cuisine: Baked
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
- 6 Chicken Breasts (Organic/Free Roaming if possible)
- ½ Cup (120 g) Lard, Shortening or Oil of your choice
- 1 Cup (240 g) Tapioca Flour
- 1 ¾ Teaspoons (10 g) Sea Salt
- ¼ Teaspoon (1.25 g) Ground Black Pepper
- ¼ Teaspoon (1.25 g) Sage - Dried
- ⅛ Teaspoon (0.75 g) Turmeric or Paprika
- ⅛ Teaspoon (0.75 g) Garlic Powder (This is optional and you can add more if you want)
- Leaves from 3 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme (Optional)
- • You will be using your oven for this recipe, so make sure you preheat it to 350°F (180°C).
- • Prepare the chicken, by drying each one with a paper towel. This will help in making the chicken become crispier, and leave the skin intact (it is the best part of fried chicken and you know it)!
- • In a Ziplock bag or a plastic big enough to hold the chicken, put the tapioca flour, salt, pepper, turmeric or paprika, sage and garlic powder. Combine everything well.
- • Add two pieces of chicken at a time into the bag with the breading mix you made. Seal and shake the bag, making sure you coat each chicken well.
- • Remove excess breading from your chicken by shaking each one gently over the bag.
- • Set a large cast-iron skillet over medium to high heat and put the lard, shortening or oil of your choice into it. Check the heat of the lard/shortening/oil by putting a drop or two of water on the skillet. If the drop of water splatters, then you can fry your coated chicken.
- • Using tongs, add the chicken one piece at a time. Do not crowd the skillet. If your skillet can only hold three, just put in three.
- • Cook the chicken until golden brown, for about 3 minutes on each side.
- • Get a wire rack and place it on a baking sheet. It might also be a good idea to line the baking sheet with some foil to collect any oil or fat that drips from the chicken as it cooks.
- • Place the fried chicken on the wire rack and put them in the oven. Bake the chicken for about 20-30 minutes. This should cook the chicken through and make the skin and the coating crispier.
- • Remove the chicken from the rack when cooked and sprinkle with thyme. Make sure you wear mitts when removing the baking sheet with the rack because it will be extremely hot.
- • Serve the chicken warm and enjoy!
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If you have kids, they won’t be able to tell the difference between this Paleo fried chicken and traditional fried chicken. You simply cannot go wrong with this recipe, except if you remove the skin of the chicken. A fried chicken is not a fried chicken without the skin. You must have heard a lot of things regarding the chicken skin such as it being notorious when it comes to having unhealthy effects on the human body. Yet everyone who loves chicken knows it just isn’t complete without the skin.
Yet despite these claims there are many experts who are not convinced about the bad effects of chicken skin, so they carried out further studies. The studies they carried out finally shed light on why you don’t have to remove the best part of the fried chicken. Here are some of the benefits that experts found in chicken skin.
Chicken Skin Fat Is Healthy For The Heart
You read that right, the fats in chicken skin do not directly make you fat, unless you eat more skin than the meat. The fats in chicken skin contain oleic acid which boost the production of high density lipoprotein or HDL, also known as the “good” cholesterol. This cholesterol keeps the heart and the vessels healthy and fights off the low density lipoprotein or LDL or the “bad” cholesterol. The saturated fats also found in chicken skin help bone density as well as the regulation of the immune system and the body’s hormones.
There Is Not Much Difference On The Calorie Count
There are calories that help the body and there are also those, which are empty and only make the body gain weight. Skinless chicken and chicken with skin doesn’t have much difference, only 50 calories to be exact. And this type of calorie is not the type that will make you fat but the type that can help you have a steady source of energy.
Helps The Chicken To Stay Moist
The Paleo diet puts a lot of emphasis on whole foods, so eating chicken without the skin doesn’t make much sense. If you can’t imagine cavemen eating skinless fowl, then you know removing the skin from chicken cannot be considered Paleo. Keeping the skin on also helps when you cook the chicken. The skin keeps the juice and moisture inside the chicken, making the chicken more flavorful. The skin also helps prevent the chicken meat from absorbing excess oil that you cook it with by creating a barrier.
Satisfies You More Than Skinless Chicken
Since you get all the moisture and flavor of the chicken, you feel more satisfied with what you eat, lessening the cravings you might get. Admit it or not, it’s just not the same without the crispy or juicy chicken skin.
The benefits of eating chicken skin are great, but this does not mean you can eat it all the time. With any food, even with Paleo, the rule of moderation is still applicable. The benefits of chicken skin can be turned around to danger when you eat more than you must. If you also have some health complications and you are unsure as to whether you can eat chicken skin or not, asking your doctor for advice is never a bad idea. If you have no issues regarding chicken, you can savor each bite of this Paleo chicken recipe knowing you are benefitting from it.
