Keto Chicken Carbonara

This year, because it was just my husband and I, we decided to forego the usual ham for Easter dinner. Instead, I whipped up a Keto Chicken Carbonara, which I have been craving this meal for weeks. The recipe did not disappoint, so I thought I would share it. Enjoy!

Keto Chicken Carbonara

Ingredients:

4 Chicken breasts (6 oz chicken breasts)

1 ¼ cup Heavy whipping cream

¼ cup Mayonnaise

½ lb Thick sliced bacon

1 can Mushrooms (8 oz) 

½ tsp Xantham Gum (thickening agent)

1 cup Shredded parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp Minced garlic

½ tsp Onion Powder

Sea salt & Black pepper to taste

2-3 Tbsp Bacon Grease

12 oz Spiral Zucchini noodles (I like to use the frozen Green Giant family size zucchini veggie spirals)

Optional Ingredients: 

Peas (I don't usually add these because they are NOT Keto, but sometimes I add when I'm having a craving. I cook separately and then add in to individual servings so that I can make sure I'm controlling the portion size.) 

4 Eggs (I don’t like egg in my carbonara so I don’t add any, but you totally can if you like the egg.) 

Directions:

1.    Pre-heat oven to 375°. Lay bacon out on a baking sheet (I like to first put down tinfoil to save my baking sheets). When oven is heated, cook bacon for 10 minutes and then flip bacon over and cook for another 10 minutes or until bacon is crispy. Set aside 2-3 tablespoon bacon grease.

2.    Over medium heat, add 1-2 tablespoon bacon grease to large skillet. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and cook until temp reaches 165°F. Pull chicken out of pan and slice into strips.

3.    Add 1 tablespoon bacon grease to pan (if needed). Then add 1 tablespoon minced garlic and cook for 1 minute (or until fragrant), then add canned mushrooms and cook on medium heat until warmed through. Add sliced chicken back into pan and mix with mushrooms and garlic.

4.    Mix together 1 ¼ cup heavy whipping cream, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 2/3 cup parmesan cheese, and Xanthan gum and then pour into pan. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 5 minutes (Stir so mixture does not stick to pan). 

5.    Break up bacon into small pieces and add bacon to pan. 

6.    Put frozen zoodles into microwave and heat for 3 -4 minutes (until zoodles are no longer frozen, but are not fully cooked through). Drain zoodles of excess water and then add to pan and stir until all ingredients fully mixed. Let simmer 5 additional minutes or until zoodles are warmed through.

Note: If using fresh zucchini noodles, I would not cook the noodles at all before adding to mixture. I would add raw and let simmer in mixture until warmed through.

7.    Add remaining 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese over the top of the carbonara and serve. 

We got two meals out of this between the two of us.

Keto Pizza Recipe

For health reasons, I switched over to the Ketogenic diet about 9 months ago. One thing I really missed was pizza so I searched high and low for the perfect recipe that gave me the flavors and crunch that I was missing without the carbs. I couldn't find a recipe that I absolutely loved, so I tweaked a basic fathead dough recipe (you can find these all over the internet) and added in my favorite toppings and voila! Yumminess galore! I posted a picture on Instagram and a few people asked for the recipe so I thought I would share it here!

Ingredients:

Fathead Dough Recipe:

1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese

2 tbsp cream cheese

1 egg

¾ cup almond flour (sifted)

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp garlic salt

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp black pepper

Pizza Toppings:

1/4 cup Great Value Organic Tomato Sauce

1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese

1 ½ cups mushrooms

8 - 10 slices sandwich pepperoni (you will need more if you use regular pepperoni, which is smaller)

To Make Dough:

1.    Heat up mozzarella cheese and cream cheese in microwave 30 seconds at a time until fully melted and thoroughly mix together.

2.    Mix egg and almond flour together until fully combined.

3.    Combine cheese mixture, spices and almond flour mixture together. 

4.    Once mixture is combined, put on parchment paper and knead together until fully combined (You may need to put back in to microwave for another 30 seconds to get cheese a little softer if you find that dough is not fully combining).

5.    Put mixture into refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill (or freezer for 5 to 10 minutes).

To Make Pizza:

1.    Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.    Spread dough out on to pizza tray (I put olive oil on my hands and then spread out  the dough with my hands, I find that it is easier to get a evenly flattened, round shape this way).

3.    Cook dough for 5 minutes at 375 degrees to stiffen dough up for toppings.

4.    Pull dough out and flatten any bubbles that have risen in the dough.

5.    Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees

6.    Add toppings as desired.

7.    Cook pizza for 20 additional minutes – dough should have a nice golden bottom and crunchy edges.

Note: I have an electric stove and live in Florida that has higher humidity levels so you may have to adjust your oven temperature or bake times to get the same results.