Dedicated to Rob Nixon at Nicko’s Kitchen
Keto Chicken Parmigiana
Low carb chicken schnitzel with sous vide mashed cauliflower and a side of wilted silverbeet and cabbage.
Low carb chicken schnitzel
Living this low carb life means bread crumbs are not on the menu. I’ve been craving a schnitty to make and cook myself, especially when I broke out during the week and had one with chips and mushroom sauce.
Tonight I made a delicious alternative which satisfied my cravings and I hope it satisfies yours if you’re after a low carb alternative.
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I bought all the ingredients from Coles.
Yummy Lummy is not sponsored by anyone.
Recipe
- Chicken thigh fillet
- Almond flour
- Parmesan cheese
- Parsley
- Streaky bacon
- Tomato
- Coon cheese
- Butter
- Rice bran oil
- Cauliflower florets
- Cream cheese
- Butter
- Cream
- Iodised salt
- White pepper
- Silverbeet leaves
- Cabbage leaves
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Buy a chicken thigh fillet from your favourite shop. I had a choice today. I could have gone to Belconnen Chicken or Coles. I went with Coles.
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Remove the chicken thigh fillet from the environmentally damaging, yet practically convenient plastic bag and place it gently on to your cutting board.
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I always wonder why you see TV and YouTube cooks slapping their meat down on their boards. I like to treat my meat with tender loving care. That’s why what I do next may seem contrary to the treat your meat gently philosophy I always try to maintain.
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You now need to find an implement to flatten your meat. You could use a rolling pin. I know people who use the bottom of an empty wine bottle (these people rarely have full wine bottles). I have used the bottom of an oil bottle before. My favoured tool though is a weighty stainless steel coffee tamper. It feels good in my hand. It comes down with a good amount of force. It’s quite a satisfying tool.
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So go ahead and flatten your meat. Be careful though not to tear your meat apart and create lacunae.
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In a container with a lid add some almond meal or almond flour as your low carb alternative to bread crumbs. Just note that almond meal is not devoid of carbohydrates (carbs, CHO) and almond meal is fatty with nut oils. To the almond meal add some coarsely chopped parsley (I use flat leaf ‘continental’ parsley), plus some finely grated or shredded parmesan cheese. I don’t buy fancy expensive parmesan cheese. To piss off the Italians because Marco Polo stole all the good cooking ideas from the Chinese, I use Coles brand shredded Parmesan cheese in a resealable bag. Yep, that’s how I roll. Mix everything up by shaking it. If you watch Nicko’s video on YouTube, he gets all fancy and uses a fork on a plate. I haven’t got time for that and I don’t mind washing and drying the container and its lid.
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Put the ‘crumb’ mix or what our American friends call ‘breading’ mix on a plate.
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On another plate add one beaten egg. I don’t care how you apply the violence to the egg, you just need the yolk and white to be mixed together so it acts as a mordant for the almond meal/parsley/parmesan cheese mixture.
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Coat the flattened chicken thigh fillet with the beaten egg.
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Then coat the egged chook meat with the almond meal mixture.
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Put the ‘crumbed’ chook fillet onto a plate and put that into the refrigerator for about half an hour to better fix the ‘crumb’ to the meat.
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In a frypan add a knob of butter and a good squirt of rice bran oil. Yes, I know Nicko uses olive oil, but I prefer not to heat my olive oil. Don’t ask me why. The thing is, it’s your choice what you do. I don’t particularly think it matters in the big scheme of things.
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When the butter and oil start to get hot, gently lay your flattened and ‘crumbed’ chicken thigh fillet into the shallow bath of tasty lubricant.
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Cook both sides for a couple of minutes and then place your meat onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
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On the chicken schnitty, add some slices of tomato. I know Nicko uses tomato paste or purée, but that’s because he’s a fancy successful YouTube cook. I’m not so I do things my way. Besides, I like tomato like this.
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Then lay on a slice of streaky bacon. Yes, again I know that Nicko uses a couple of slices of ham. Look, ham is okay. I don't mind ham, but guess what? I've used butter so I need to use the other thing that makes everything better, yes, that's right, bacon.
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Then top with shredded Coon cheese. I’m a fairly basic person, so I just go with Coon. I think I may eat something like half a kilogram of Coon every week. If you’re worried about my cholesterol, well, yes, it’s not perfect.
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Put the crumbed meat topped with tomato, bacon, and cheese into the oven at 180 °C (350 °F) for about five minutes.
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In a large vacuum bag add a bag of frozen (thawed) cauliflower florets plus a good knob of butter, and an equally good knob of cream cheese. I know what you're thinking, WTF is a good knob?
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I’m not baking a cake, so this isn’t like a chemistry experiment or making media in a media kitchen. What I’m expressing here is the art of cooking. Where feelings are more important that measurements.
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In your mind you need to visualise what you hope to achieve. My aim is to get a cauliflower mash that isn’t a cauliflower slurry. I don’t feel the need for something smooth and fine, I like the mouthfeel of something a bit gnarly and lumpy.
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Don’t forget to season your cauliflower well. If you want a bit of colour you could use some curry powder or turmeric. Because I don’t worship the god of Supplements Complementary and Alternative Mantras (SCAM) of wellness ideology I have turmeric in my cupboard for colour and nothing else.
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I season my cauliflower sac with iodised salt and white pepper. I use iodised salt because the evidence for the benefits to society using iodine supplementation of salt is overwhelming.
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I fill up my water bath with cold water.
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Suck the air out of the bag with a vacuum and heat seal the bag.
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Turn on the precision cooker (water heater and circulatoand set the controls for 80 °C (180 °F) for two (2) hours.
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When the cooking time is complete, remove the bag and place it on a bath towel and cover with another hand towel and gently pummel the bag with your fists (of fury). You need to be careful not to apply sufficient force which will exceed the seal limits of the heated seal. If you do you will make a mess of epic proportions and begin to feel a sadness in the pit of your abdomen because you know that unless you're a dirty filthy animal, you've wasted a cauliflower, some cream cheese, some butter, and some cream. Of course, if you're a dirty filthy animal you could scoop up everything and put it in a bowl and serve it.
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Empty the mashed cauliflower into a bowl and keep it warm in a bain-marie.
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Strip the leaves from the chewy tough stalks.
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Cut a wedge off a cabbage and shred it with a mandolin being careful to use a safety glove or a safety guard.
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Heat up a frypan and squirt in some rice bran oil.
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Wilt the silverbeet leaves and cabbage until they are soft.
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Spoon some mashed cauliflower onto a plate.
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Lay the ‘crumbed’ chicken on top of the mashed cauliflower.
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Place the wilted silverbeet and cabbage next to the chicken.
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Shoot a photograph and a short video because Google now wants video on recipe cards.
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Eat the meal.
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Wash the dishes (hint, wash as you cook, it makes life easier).
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Write the recipe.
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Write the blog post.
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Hit publish and hope this blog post gets shared on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.
Recipe Video
Disclaimer
I have no culinary training nor qualifications. This post is not intended to convey any health or medical advice. If you have any health concerns about anything you read, please contact your registered medical practitioner. The quantities are indicative. Feel free to vary the quantities to suit your taste. I deliberately do not calculate energy for dishes. I deliberately default to 500 Calories or 500,000 calories because I do not make these calculations.
Photographs
This is a gallery of photographs of Low carb chicken schnitzel on sous vide mashed cauliflower with wilted silverbeet and red cabbage. Click on one image and then scroll through the photographs.
Cauliflower, cream cheese, and butter 
Cauliflower, cream cheese, and butter 
Anova Culinary Precision Cooker 
Sous vide water bath 
Almond meal, parsley, and parmesan 
Chicken thigh fillet and a coffee tamper 
Mashed cauliflower 
Chicken schnitzel 
Chicken schnitzel with tomato 
Chicken schnitzel with tomato and streaky bacon 
Chicken schnitzel with tomato and streaky bacon topped with Coon cheese 
Mashed cauliflower 
Chicken schnitzel and mashed cauliflower 
Low carb chicken schnitzel on mashed cauliflower with wilted silverbeet and red cabbage 
Low carb chicken schnitzel on mashed cauliflower with wilted silverbeet and red cabbage 
Low carb chicken schnitzel on mashed cauliflower with wilted silverbeet and red cabbage 
Questions and answers
What was the inspiration for cooking low carb chicken schnitzel this week?
On Wednesday I went to the Hellenic Club for lunch with friends for our annual State of Origin celebration. Most of us usually buy schnitty and chips. So even though, I’m meant to be living the low carb life, I went and enjoyed myself.
Then on Friday night I watched Nicko’s video on his keto chicken Parmigiana and thought I’d give it a go. If it tasted okay then I was on a winner with low carb chicken schnitzel.
Where did you get the idea for the sous vide mashed cauliflower?
Guga from Sous Vide Everything does a mean sous vide mashed potatoes so I thought I’d try it with cauliflower.
Was the bacon better than the ham do you reckon?
Is that a serious question? Of course, the bacon, especially being streaky bacon tasted better than ham.
The fat of the bacon and the melted Coon cheese penetrated the tomato and added a lovely flavour bomb.
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Final thoughts
- Have you ever tried low carb chicken schnitzel?
- Would you try almond meal instead of bread crumbs?
- Do you like your mashed potato (or cauliflower) smooth or rough?
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Almond meal sounds like a great alternative! When I was in junior high, I went to Disney World and stayed at one of the resorts. They served a beer-battered chicken breast that was also encrusted in almonds–and it was amazing. I guess if you’re going low carb, you can’t have the beer-battered part, but it’s so, so good. Cheers!
This sounds really tasty Gary. I have a friend that does the almond crumb with eggplant and she swears by it!
My mouth is watering thinking about it.
Never tried a low carb schnitzel. Yours looks very good. Looks like you sealed the bags well and nothing dripped out making a mess. I have never tried almond meal. Not entirely crazy about breadcrumbs either.
Definitely like mash potato smooth 😀
Sounds like you’d like those really refined potato purées served with truffles and butter in the fancy restaurants as Paris mash.
To be honest that sounds too fancy for my liking 😂
It may be worth trying paris mash in a fancy fine dining restaurant in your city. I’m sure there will be many fine dining restaurants to choose from.
I’ve got to get into this low-carb thing! Thanks for the inspiration.
Let me know how you go. It’s helped me feel better.
That’s good to know. I feel like my body doesn’t need as many carbs as I’ve been eating. I’ve just had a late lunch of scrambled eggs and wilted kale mixed into the eggs. Grated a bit of mersey valley cheese into it as well. So delicious!
Yum, Mersey Valley cheese is amazing.
Isn’t it just! Love it. Also great with crackers and wine! Maybe later…though maybe I should replace crackers with thinly sliced apple. Or maybe I could fashion a kale crisp of some sort 🙂
Now you’ve got the idea. Kale crisps and cheese. A perfect combination 😃👍
I’ve had chicken schnitzel with almond meal a few times Gary, and it’s nice – has a different crunch to breadcrumbs, and obviously a nice nutty flavour.
Thanks, Beck. When I was looking for almond meal yesterday, I noticed that flaxseed flour is relatively low in carbs and I’m thinking that might work too.
I really enjoyed this meal. I’ll be doing it again for sure.
This dinner looks delicious, Gary 🙂
I do often use almonds instead of breadcrumb. I try to vary between almonds, cornflour, breadcrumb and chickpeas flour, which is healthy and gives a good taste too.
Thanks, Irene. I’ve still got quite a lot of almond meal left and I will do this again.
I use this for chicken, turkey and some fish too.
Sounds good Irene 😃
Looks delicious! I’ve never tried a low-carb chicken schnitzel, but I’ve used ground almonds as a breadcrumb substitute before.
This was a winner for me Emma. I really lot a bit of ‘crumbed’ meat.
This looks fantastic. Delicious. It can be adjusted to each individual dietary preferences and needs.
Back in the late 1970s when I was stationed in Augsburg, Germany I ate all types of tasty German dishes. It was a great culinary experience.
Thank you very much. I like to be flexible and adaptable with my meals. One day I’d like to visit Germany.