NJBC Eats: Karen's Low Carb Chicken Cutlets

Looking to make your favorite weeknight dinner a little healthier? Low-carb chicken cutlets are a simple and delicious recipe that the whole family can enjoy. Most chicken cutlet recipes call for bread crumbs which can be high in carbohydrates, sodium and more. A suitable replacement for breadcrumbs is almond meal which is higher in protein and lower in carbs. 

Almond meal is typically confused with almond flour. Although almond meal and almond flour are both made from ground almonds, almond meal is made from almonds that still contain the skin and it has more of a coarse grind. When looking to use almond meal you want to buy the unblanched version, which will give your chicken cutlets a nice, brown appearance after cooking. A good place to buy almond meal for a reasonable price is Trader Joe’s. 

For dinner, I love to serve these chicken cutlets over a salad or with roasted veggies. 

Low-Carb Chicken Cutlets

Ingredients:

• 1 package of thinly sliced chicken breasts
• 1 cup of unblanched almond meal
• 1 egg beaten
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Instructions:

1. In one shallow bowl beat one egg. In a second shallow bowl add one cup almond meal and season with salt and pepper. (If I am making an italian cutlet I like to add oregano, basil, parsley and garlic powder to the almond meal mixture.) 
2. Coat chicken cutlet in egg, then in seasoned almond meal mixture. 
3. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to pan on stovetop over medium heat. Place coated chicken in the hot pan, cook on one side for 3 minutes then flip.  (If the chicken is still sticking to the bottom it is not ready to flip yet.) 
4. Cook for another 2 minutes on the other side and then remove from pan, let cool and enjoy!