Keto Ligurian Chicken with Olives and Cherry Tomatoes. 4 servings. 1.5g net carbs. DAIRY-FREE. Quick, easy and tasty.
In my heavily biased opinion, you can’t go wrong with a typical Italian-style meal. Flavoursome, loaded with healthy ingredients, nourishing, and bursting with flavour. Simple things are often the best, and this meal is 100% testament to that.
It is customisable, of course. If you like fire in your food, add some chopped chillies. Hate olives? Leave them out. But stick with my ingredients if you can, and you’ll have a meal that’s bursting with authentic Mediterranean flavours.
Key Ingredients for Keto Ligurian Chicken with Olives and Cherry Tomatoes
Chicken thighs. No breast allowed. Seriously. Thigh meat is succulent and moist. Breast meat is basically cardboard, especially if the chickens were reared intensively (you can tell because the breasts are huge and tasteless – clear signs of a bad diet, inactivity, confinement and stress).
Taggiasche olives are grown exclusively in the Ligurian region of Northern Italy, where the soil and micro-climate gives them a unique flavour. Very different from ordinary olives. If you dislike olives, try the Taggiasca variety once and I bet you’ll become an aficionado. Where to find them? Online is probably your best bet. Unless you happen to be near an Italian delicatessen. A real one that imports real Italian foods from Italy. These olives should be preserved in extra virgin olive oil and be in a dark glass jars. Tin/metal alters flavours. And so do cheap oils. Italians would never put speciality produce in inferior oils or containers. Just so you know.
Cherry tomatoes are what Americans call cocktail tomatoes. I think. If you choose ripe but firm ones, on the vine, they will add exceptional flavour.
White wine can be any kind. I just buy the cheapest I can find, because it doesn’t really matter. You won’t taste it, but it does make the chicken more succulent – Italian style.
Mincing shallot and garlic adds flavour without overpowering. Feel free to use chunks instead, but it will be a misguided choice in this particular dish.
To accompany this main course, I recommend something like Cauliflower Mash or Swede Purée (not dairy-free).
Enjoy!
You can save this recipe or any recipe you ♥ to your Yummly collection. Scroll past the recipe box and you’ll see the button ↓
- Yield: 4 portions
- Serving: ¼
- Calories: 496
- Fat: 32g
- Net Carbs: 1.5g
- Protein: 50g
- 8 chicken thighs (skinless and boneless - about 1kg net weight - cut into 2-3 strips)
- 20g extra virgin olive oil (U.S. option HERE)
- 100ml white wine
- 1 shallot
- 1 garlic clove
- a generous sprinkle of fine Himalayan pink salt (U.S. option HERE)
- freshly ground black or white pepper to taste
- 1 organic chicken stock cube (U.S. option HERE)
- a handful of fresh oregano
- 200g cherry or baby plum tomatoes - quartered
- 24 Italian taggiasche olives (U.S. option HERE)
- drizzle the oil in a frying pan, add chicken thighs and season with salt and pepper; cook on high heat for 7-8 minutes each side, until caramelised.
- mince shallot and garlic; add them in, together with the white wine and crumbed stock cube; keep turning the chicken to prevent it sticking.
- once the wine has evaporated, add tomatoes and olives, put the lid on, and cook for 5 minutes, then uncover, stir, and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated
- serve with oregano sprinkled on top.
I value your feedback! Please leave a comment below. And if you can, please share a photo of your masterpiece on social media with the hashtag #queenketo. Thank you! ♥
Great meal.
Made it twice already.
Thanks for the tip on getting the authentic olives too…the best!
Thanks for the feedback. I’m glad you found good olives and you appreciate the difference 😀
Lovely recipe, but I have to disagree about the wine. The cheapest white wines are generally less balanced and more vinegary, and – certainly for me – I can taste that in the finished dish! I always buy a wine that I would be happy to drink, as that is the flavour that will come out unless you’re only using a couple of tablespoons …. here, the wine is the maib basis of the liquid and it’ll need to be half decent (and I’m not a wine snob)!!
Maybe I’ve been spoiled then. Because I only buy Italian wine and even the cheapest is guaranteed to be fine in cooking. Italian wine producers have to follow rigorous standards, with controls, (D.O.C.) certifications, etc. Otherwise their product cannot enter commerce.
Mind you, any wine, even the most expensive, can go bad for whatever reason – then it will become ‘vinegar’.
The best test is the nose test: if it smells like vinegar, it will taste like vinegar ;D