Foodie Friday Recipe: Healthy & Delicious Gluten-Free Fried Chicken

Do you love fried chicken, but hate what it does to your waistline? Here’s a healthy and delicious fried chicken recipe – and it’s even gluten-free!

Who doesn’t love tender, juicy, crispy-on-the-outside fried chicken? It’s pretty much an American classic, which shows up at potlucks and barbecues across the country all summer long!

But unfortunately, this summer favorite is often loaded with tons of unhealthy trans fats, along with waistline-increasing white flour and wheat-based breading.

Did you know that the breading on fried foods can absorb 10% of the oil it’s fried in? And most frying oils are unhealthy processed vegetable oils or canola oil – which, as we’ve mentioned before, are not good for you!

But don’t worry, if you love fried chicken, we’ve got a little “hack” for you, that will help you prepare delicious fried chicken which is actually not bad for you at all! (Of course, be sure to choose organic, and if at all possible, free-range pasture-raised chicken for the healthiest meat.)

By excluding unhealthy white flour and processed vegetable oils, this recipe will give you that tasty fried chicken flavor and crunch, without all the unhealthy ingredients!

Tip: Instead of cooking spray, which may include other unwanted ingredients, I like to use an oil sprayer with just plain olive oil. Pump oil sprayers are readily available, and work very well for this.

HEALTHY SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN

Active time: 35 minutes (plus marinating time)
Cook time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

4 boneless chicken thighs

4 chicken breasts, cut in half crosswise

1 quart buttermilk

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 sprigs rosemary, stem off and minced

3 sprigs thyme, stem off and minced

2 bay leaves

Zest and juice from 1 lemon

2 cups coconut flour

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp paprika

2 cups unsweetened, whole-grain cereal (such as Ezekiel or Bob’s Red Mill), processed into crumbs

4 eggs, lightly beaten

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

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Get the full recipe here, and for directions on breading the chicken, see this video at EarlyToRise.com…