I live in the south, I grew up in the south, I have lived in the south all but 5 years of my life, I consider myself a southerner and as if there was any question my family loves southern food. The problem with southern food is so many foods I grew up with and love are either not the healthiest or they are full of gluten that I can no longer eat. Well I can, I will just get pretty sick. So what’s a girl to do when craving her favorite foods or when her kid’s are begging for their favorites? I was tired of cooking 2 different meals so I started figuring out how to make versions of the foods that I could eat also.
My kids love fried chicken, breaded chicken strips along with good ole chicken nuggets. They ask for it on a regular basis. Fried chicken is one of the many foods of the south. Right down the road from my house there is not just one but 4 fast food restaurants that sell fried chicken. I knew I needed to figure out how to make it and that I had my work cut out for me. Through some trail and error I created my spicy almond crusted chicken. It is an oven fried chicken and works in a pinch as a replacement for breaded chicken. I know my family loves it! What is even better about this recipe is it is not just gluten free but it is completely grain free making it paleo. So this recipes gets double points for not only being gluten free but being grain free and using almond meal makes it heart healthy. Hooray for making classic southern food even better! Try it for yourself and see just how good it is!
- 2lbs chicken breast
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1TB season salt
- 1tsp chili powder
- ¼-1/2tsp cayenne pepper
- 1tsp fresh ground pepper
- 1TB parsley
- Place the chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound the chicken with the smooth side of a meat mallet to a thickness of about ½-1/4 inch or use a heavy frying pan
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.
- Combine almond flour, black pepper, parsley, chili powder, ground cayenne pepper and season salt. I like to use a pie plate
- Coat both sides of chicken breast with almond flour mixture.
- Place chicken on pan and bake for 35-45 minutes, until golden brown and the meat is no longer pink in the center.
