We don’t cook too often with an oven, but since our friend requested a ‘step 1-2 and then throw it in the oven’ type recipe (see the Asian Keto Ginger Sake Chicken Wings recipe for the full story), we dug into our creative box and pulled out this Japanese Chicken Gratin recipe modified to be low-carb/keto!
It’s technically a ‘step 1-2 and then throw it in the oven’, but the steps are more like 1 to 10 and then throw it in the over!
However, don’t let that intimate you as this is a simple recipe to put together and if you’re the type that relishes a nice savory meal, it’ll be well worth it!
We first start by by making the base of the gratin in a frying pan. This just consists of cooking the chicken and bella mushrooms in the butter and adding some low-carb/keto friendly cauliflower rice to replace the traditional white rice for this recipe.
The next part is making the oh so savory white gratin sauce from some heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, butter with a reduction technique and of course, adding some soy sauce in there.
We finish it all off by combing everything in a ramekin, topping it with some pork rinds and Gruyere cheese and throwing it all in the oven. See, told you it’s a 1-2 step and throw it in the oven!
This recipe comes out to ~4g of net carbs per serving making it a great choice for low-carb/keto. I would describe the dish similar to what you would expect from a classic gratin – cheesy crunchy crust leading to a buttery cream sauce on the bottom.
For this recipe, you should be able to pick everything up at a local supermarket.
Now, let’s get cooking!
Prepping Time 20MCook Time 15M
Total Time 35M
Net Carb/Serv ~4g
Servings 2-3
Ingredients
Gratin
- 3/4 lbs Boneless/Skinless Chicken Thigh (about 3-4 thighs)
- 1/3 Whole Onion
- 4-6 Baby Bella Mushroom
- 1 Cup Cauliflower Rice
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 1/8 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 1oz Unflavored Pork Rinds (2 tbsp if using Pork Panko)
- 1/2 tbsp of Shredded Gruyere (or Comte)
Sauce
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
- 1 tsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp Parmesan Cheese
Directions
1) Gather all the ingredients.
2) Dice onions and set aside.
3) De-stem baby bella mushroom, slice and set aside.
4) Cut chicken into bite-size pieces around 1/2 x 1/2 inch and set aside.
5) Pour Unflavored Pork Rinds into a food processor and pulse until ground into very fine crumbs. You can also use your hands to crush the pork rinds if you don’t have a food processor.
6) In a large fry pan, add 1 tbsp butter on medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add onions and coat with butter.
7) Turn up the heat to medium high and add cut chicken. Cook until chicken is done while continuously mixing. Should take around 3-5 minutes.
8) Add mushroom, cauliflower rice and lightly sprinkle salt and pepper. Cook for another 1-2 minutes and set aside.
9) In a new fry pan, add 1 tbsp butter on low heat until melted. Once melted, add Soy Sauce, Parmesan cheese and slowly add in heavy cream. Continuously mix on low heat until sauce is thick enough to draw a line in-between, about 3-4 minutes.
10) Place gratin mix inside a ramekin (if you rather do a family style, you can throw it all in an oven glass pan). Drizzle the desired amount of white gratin sauce onto the gratin mix followed by a sprinkle of pork rinds topped with a generous sprinkle of shredded Gruyere cheese.
11) Place oven on broil and rearrange rack to be around 6-8″ from the heating element (on our oven, it is the 2nd slot from the top). Place the tray in the CENTER of the oven and broil gratin until cheese is melted, which should be around 2-3 minutes.
Hope you enjoy your low-carb/keto Japanese Chicken Gratin!
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Japanese Chicken Gratin
Ingredients
Gratin
- 4-5 Piece Boneless / Skinless Chicken Thigh
- 1/3 Whole Onion
- 4-6 Piece Baby Bella Mushroom
- 1 Cup Cauliflower Rice
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 1/8 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 1 oz Unflavored Pork Rinds 2 tbsp if using Pork Panko
- 1/2 tbsp Sharp Cheese we used Sharp Cheddar
Sauce
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
- 1 tsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Dice onions and set aside.
- De-stem baby bella mushroom, slice and set aside.
- Cut chicken into bite size pieces around 1/2 x 1/2 inch and set aside.
- Pour Unflavored Pork Rinds into a food processor and pulse until ground into very fine crumbs. You can also use your hands to crush the pork rinds if you don’t have a food processor.
- In a large fry pan, add 1 tbsp butter on medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add onions and coat with butter.
- Turn up the heat to high and add cut chicken. Cook until chicken is done while continuously mixing. Should take around 3-5 minutes.
- Add mushroom, cauliflower rice and lightly sprinkle salt and pepper. Cook for another 1-2 minutes and set aside.
- In a new fry pan, add 1 tbsp butter on low heat until melted. Once melted, add Soy Sauce, Parmesan cheese and slowly add in heavy cream. Continuously mix on low heat. The sauce should thicken after 3-4 minutes. Once the preferred thickness is reached, remove from heat.
- Place gratin mix inside a ramekin (if you rather do a family style, you can throw it all in an oven glass pan).
- Drizzle the desired amount of sauce onto the gratin mix. We prefer about 2 tbsp per ramekin.
- Sprinkle pork rinds on top followed by a generous sprinkle of sharp cheese.
- Place oven on broil and rearrange rack to be around 6-8" from the heating element (on our oven, it is the 2nd slot from the top). Place the tray in the CENTER of the oven and broil gratin until cheese is melted, which should be around 2-3 minutes.
Video
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