Chicken Salad & Cloud Bread

Name: Chicken Salad & Cloud Bread
Prep time: 20 minutes
Ingredients: IngredientsFor the chicken salad:10 chicken thighs bone-in & skin on; ¼ cup green onions; 3 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped; ¼ cup chopped pecans or walnuts roasted if desired; 1/2 cup celery chopped; 2 slices thick cut bacon cooked & chopped(optional); Lemon juice; Avocado oil; Unrefined salt & fresh pepperFor the dressing:; 1 cup avocado oil mayonnaise no sugar; ed; Juice of 1 lemon; 1 teaspoon tamari soy sauce; ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil; 1 teaspoon stone ground or dijon mustard; 1 teaspoon sriracha or hot sauce; 1 teaspoon tahini(optional); ¼ teaspoon salt & a couple cracks of pepperFor the cloud bread:; 6 eggs; ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons of room temperature low fat cream cheese; ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar; 1 tablespoon finely grated parmesan or pecorino cheese; ½ teaspoon dried oregano

Low carb chicken salad sandwich recipe that is perfect meal prep. Juicy chicken thighs tossed in a creamy mayo dressing with low carb cloud bread.

This recipe is Gluten Free, Keto/Low Carb with main ingredient Chicken

This roasted chicken salad is easy to make, moist and creamy, and the perfect keto lunch recipe. The key to making the ultimate chicken salad recipe is roasting chicken thighs in the oven. Don't even think about using canned or rotisserie chicken! Once you pull those juicy chicken thighs and toss them in a tangy mayo dressing, it makes the most epic chicken salad sandwich you can crush at work.

Some people have asked if you can use white meat. If you do that to make the chicken salad, make sure you buy bone on and skin on chicken breasts and roast them in the oven. It won't be as juicy as thighs and you have to make sure not to overcook the white meat or it will be dry.

Make sure to also check out my other keto lunch recipes, like curry chicken salad & my roasted cauliflower and broccoli salad. Both are great for cold lunch meal prep.

How To Make Chicken Salad

I would advise against buying rotisserie chicken to make chicken salad. They are pumped with chemicals, salt, and usually low quality birds. Instead, buy organic chicken thighs wit the bone and skin on and roast them in the oven at 400F for 55 minutes. Once cooled a bit, you can shred them like wolverine with two forks and save that crispy skin for a snack attack!

Make the creamy mayo dressing for the chicken salad by combining the avocado oil mayonnaise with lemon juice, coconut aminos or tamari, stone ground mustard, tahini, and hot sauce. This dressing may sound a bit different, but the flavor is off the charts. Make sure t toss the dressing wit the chicken while it is still warm, so it really soaks into the chicken.

To finish off this low carb chicken salad add some chopped pecans, cooked and chopped bacon, and herbs. If you want to add some sliced grapes or dried cranberries, that would be awesome, but then it would be paleo, and not keto.

How Long Can I Store Chicken Salad In The Fridge?

Chicken salad can keep in the fridge for 5 days in an airtight container. I don't recommend freezing it as the mayonnaise will split ad have a weird texture.

The Best Cloud Bread Recipe

Te key to making keto cloud bread is to gently fold the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk and cream cheese mixture. The most common mistake people make is not beating the egg whites until the get stiff. This is essential for the cloud bread to achieve a light and airy texture. Look at the texture of my egg whites in the YouTube video below. Also, the cream cheese must be at room temperature so they fully incorporate into the eggs.

I like to add a bit of dried oregano and grated Pecorino cheese to the tops of the cloud bread before baking them in the oven. This gives the cloud bread recipe a bit of a Italian focaccia flavor. The baking time is about 30 minutes, but bake them until the cloud bread is very nice and golden brown. I like to move the keto cloud bread to a cooling rack so moisture does not accumulate on the bottom.

How Do I Store Cloud Bread?

After the cloud bread have baked, allow to them sit out overnight so they can dry slightly. It's best to do this on a cooling rack if you have one. Then place them in a zip-top bag and store in the fridge for 3-4 days or the freezer for 3 months. I have found that if you don't allow them to dry out a bit on the counter, they will get wet when put in the bag and stored in the fridge.

Make sure to check out my other keto recipes:

Instructions

Cook's note: If you only have one oven, cook the chicken first and then make the cloudbread. You can't make the cloudbread batter ahead of time, it must be made and placed in the oven immediately, otherwise the bubbles in the batter will deflate.
The cream cheese for the cloudbread must be at room temperature, you can leave it out for hours ahead of time if needed. Recipe makes 8 large cloudbread buns.
Begin Cooking:
For the chicken, pre-heat oven to 400 F. Place the chicken thighs on a sheet tray and season with a drizzle of oil and a generous pinch of salt and a few cracks of pepper on both sides. Place the chicken skin side up and roast for 1 hour. You can also cook the bacon on a sheet tray for 12-15 minutes while the chicken roasts.
Meanwhile make the dressing by combining everything in a medium size bowl and whisking well. Check for seasoning, you want the flavor to be lemony and bold, so adjust if needed.
Once the chicken has cooled down a few minutes, peel the skin off and use two forks to shred the meat off the bones and then run a knife through the meat to make it fine. Add the chicken to a large bowl and season it with ¼ teaspoon salt, a couple crack of pepper, and the juice of half a lemon. Mix well and then pour over all the dressing and mix very well. Add the green onions, parsley, pecans, celery, bacon, and mix very well. Check for seasoning you may need more lemon juice.
To make the cloud bread pre heat oven to 300 degrees F. Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature or it won't melt into the batter. Carefully crack the eggs in a large bowl and separate the egg yolks and place them in another bowl. If any of the egg yolks breaks into the egg whites, you have to throw them out and start over, so be careful. Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and use a whisk or hand mixer to beat the egg whites until they reach a stiff peak. If you are not sure what a stiff peak is, watch the video in this post. Use the same mixer to combine the egg yolks with the cream cheese and beat until smooth, it's ok if there are little flecks of cream cheese that have not melted. Use a spatula to add half of the egg white mixture to the egg yolks. It is very important that you fold the mixture together, and NOT STIR, otherwise you will deflate all the bubbles. Once the first batch of egg whites is mostly incorporated and the rest and fold until combined. It's ok if the mixture is not completely smooth, you don't want to over mix the batter.
Place a layer of parchment paper on two sheet trays and use a ½ cup measuring cup to scoop the batter on to the parchment paper. Try to make the shape the size of a bun, and use a spoon to make it even. The batter will spread a little, so make sure not to make them too thin or wide. Grate a little bit of cheese and sprinkle a little of the oregano on the top of the buns. Bake in the oven for 27-30 minutes, or until deep golden brown in color. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Serve the chicken salad with the cloudbread and enjoy! The chicken salad will last in the fridge for 5 days, but can't be frozen. The cloudbread should be cooled down, and stored in a zip-top bag in the fridge for 4-5 days, or can be frozen and re-heated in a warm oven.

Recipe Notes

Macros for chicken salad, makes 5 servings:
702 calories
1.27 grams of net carbs
2.5 grams of total carbs
57.5 grams of fat
40 grams of protein
0.6 grams of fiber

Macros per cloud bread, makes 8:
94 calories
0.6 grams of net carbs
7.56 grams of fat
5.4 grams of protein
0 fiber