This Cinnamon Chicken recipe starts in the skillet and finishes in the oven. Coating in almond flour offers a low carb and gluten-free fried chicken option.
This Low Carb Cinnamon Chicken is so insanely delicious.
When I was in high school, my mother was into cooking “light” meals. At the time the government and doctors were pushing low fat diets to cure heart disease, lower cholesterol and to stem rising obesity rates. In particular, my mother had 4 or 5 hard backed Cooking Light cookbooks and I remember looking at the pictures and reading the recipes over and over. One of the recipes was for Cinnamon Chicken which was crumbed, cooked in the oven and then drizzled in honey. It was delicious.
I’ve long since lost the recipe and now follow a low carb ketogenic diet, so the recipe needed some updating — just as the old thinking of avoiding fat and eating more carbs is being updated, albeit slowly. I decided to coat bone-in chicken breasts with almond flour and start them in a cast iron skillet before transferring them into the oven to finish cooking. Almond flour is a great low carb coating for meats and vegetables but it can burn. I have found that laying a piece of foil over the dish will prevent it from over browing or burning in the oven.
Cinnamon Chicken makes a great Sunday dinner… I prepared it in a cast iron skillet. It’s a pretty big pan. Because the chicken breasts I had were so big I had to cook them two at a time before putting them together in the skillet for baking. The breasts were big enough to feed eight. My family of 4 enjoyed this Cinnamon Chicken two times for dinner and still had chicken left over to mix into the remaining Riced Cauliflower Pilaf to have for lunch. My kids love this recipe!
BTW, these were great with Garlicky Oil and Vinegar Green Beans on the side.
Time wise, this dish is great. It comes together really fast then cooks in the oven for about an hour, providing enough time to prepare sides, do a little dishes, spend some time with loved ones or maybe catch-up with your favorite show on Netflix.
***The nutritional value is for the cinnamon chicken coating per serving.
Low Carb Cinnamon Chicken is 2 net carbs per serving
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Low Carb Cinnamon Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 in large bone- chicken breasts
Cinnamon Chicken Coating
- 1 cup Honeyville Almond Flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/8 teaspoon coriander
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons water
- salt and pepper
- 2-3 tablespoons oil enough to cover the bottom of the skillet
Instructions
- Season the chicken breasts well, with salt and pepper and put on a sheet pan. I left the skin on, then removed it after cooking.
- Measure and mix the ingredients for the coating on a plate or in a 8x8 type dish or a pie plate. Beat the eggs and the water in another 8x8 inch dish or a pie plate.
- One by one, dip a chicken breast in the egg, coating both sides and letting the excess drip off before placing it in the coating. Put the chicken breast, breast-side-down, into the cinnamon chicken coating and coat well. Flip the breast over and coat the back side lightly. Return the coated cinnamon chicken to the sheet pan and coat the rest of the chicken following the same procedure.
- Preheat the oven to 350 and place the rack into the lower third.
- Heat an oven proof skillet over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the oil and when it begins to shimmer, add two chicken breasts, breast -side-down. Cook for about 3-5 minutes. Check after 3 to make sure the coating isn't burning too much as nuts burn quickly. Remove the chicken from the skillet and place cinnamon chicken breast-side-up on the sheet pan. Cook the other two pieces of chicken for 3-5 minutes, breast side down. Flip them over, turn off the heat and add the other two pieces of cinnamon chicken (from the sheet pan) to the skillet, also breast-side-up.
- Place the skillet with chicken into the oven and loosely cover with a piece of foil. Cook about 1 hour. Check with an instant read thermometer. The chicken is done when the internal temperature is 165 degrees Fahrenheit. I usually remove at 160 because it continues to cook as it sits. Let rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Notes
To calculate how much protein one consumes, weigh the serving of cooked cinnamon chicken and use Fatsecret or fitday to calculate the grams of protein per portion.
Nutrition
It doesn’t include cholesterol rating
Checking out older recipes here after having success with recent ones, but this one has me a bit confused. Towards the end, you say to take the chicken out of the skillet and then place them on a sheet pan, then say to put the skillet in the oven. Makes it sound like I’d be putting an empty skillet in the oven. ?
I take it after placing all the chicken on the pan you’d place them BACK on the skillet and put them in the oven? Also, have you ever done this with a normal skillet? I have an oven proof skillet but it’s not cast iron. Thanks for clarifying!
Hi Frank. You are right, it is a little confusing. I quickly cleaned-up the instructions so it was more clear. I am re-doing all of my old posts again and this one is on the list. Thanks so much for letting me know that it needed a little work before I officailly get to it. Have a wonderful week. -Kim
This looks amazing. Yum.
The Walking Dead rocks!
Thanks Amber! You have a fun site. Take care.
-Kim
Cinnamon chicken?! Okay, now I’m intrigued! hehe! Would love to try this recipe out!
It’s an easy one Gingi! I know you need easy at the moment.
-Kim
I was looking for something like this, and this looks awesome! And what is really weird, is that I was watching last nights Walking Dead on the DVR too. Maybe Carol’s casserole had some cinnamon chicken in it… :)
Matthew, thanks! I’m sure that if Carol had given Dianna some Cinnamon Chicken, Dianna would have brought it in instead of leaving it on the step! Hahaha.
-Kim