3 Drool-Worthy CHICKEN RECIPES that are Weight Loss-friendly

Okay, so what does your fitness trainer talk about your weight loss diet most of the time? Protein shakes? Beans? Whole/Egg whites? Soya chunks? And… CHICKEN? The major heads up you usually get about losing weight is about a diet that’s rich in PROTEIN. Protein is one such pretty nutrient that fills your stomach (increases satiety), curbs your crazy hunger pangs & researches say that it HUGELY increases your post-meal thermogenesis (calorie-burning process). And I’m so excited to tell you that these LOW-FAT CHICKEN RECIPES make the perfect deal for weight loss!

Kudos to you if you’re a vegetarian! But if you’re in for chicken, you’d surely Hi-Five yourself because it’s not just delicious, but is also low on fat (if you cook it WITHOUT the cheesy, creamy sauces) & highly nutritious. Moreover, it fills your protein quota.

So buckle up for a tasty ride as your palate trips around some irresistible pleasure with these 3 EASY & HEALTHY WEIGHT LOSS-FRIENDLY CHICKEN RECIPES.

1. EASY-PEASY PEPPER CHICKEN

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 minutes

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

[1 CUP ~ 340g ]

Chicken (skinned & cut into medium pieces) - 500gm

Onions (thin sliced) - 1/2 cup

Tomato (chopped) ~ 200g (less will also do)

Water - 1/4 cup

Cinnamon stick - 1/2 inch

Black Peppercorns - 2- 2.5 tbsp (as per preference)

Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tbsp

Diced Capsicum (Bell pepper) - 1 big one

Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp

Chilli powder - 1.5 tsp

Garam masala (optional) - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - a pinchful

Cooking Oil - 2.5-3 tbsp

Salt - As per taste

Finely chopped coriander leaves - To garnish

Preparation

1. Wash the chicken well & keep aside.
2. In a wok / kadhai, add the oil.
3. Add cinnamon stick & onions.
4. Keep frying on medium flame till they turn a little darker than golden brown.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes & keep covered with a lid for a minute or two.
6. Add the diced capsicum, stir & keep covered till all of this gets soft.
7. In the meanwhile, to a dry mixer, add the ginger-garlic paste, peppercorns, cumin seeds & blend to a fine paste.
8. Add this paste to the wok & mix well.
9. Add the chicken followed by chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala (optional) & salt.
10. If you think the mixture looks dry, you can add some water.
11. Stir well & cover over medium flame for about 15-20 minutes. Keep checking in between for how much the chicken is yet to be cooked fully.
12. Put the flame off & garnish with coriander leaves.

Ta-da! And your Pepper chicken is ready for you to devour.

What’s great about this Easy-Peasy Pepper Chicken

BLACK PEPPERCORNS contain a substance PIPERINE that helps boost metabolism & these have lots of useful vitamins & fiber that make them a perfect choice among weight loss foods.

CAPSICUM incredibly helps in fat metabolism with its thermogenic properties.

Well, this was just a serendipity. Honestly!

That was when I had nothing at home except for chicken, capsicum & a few onions & a big tomato! :-|And I knew I still had to make something nice out of them.

2. SIMPLE SPINACH CHICKEN (PALAK CHICKEN)

Preparation Time : 5 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 minutes

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

[1 CUP ~ 340g ]

Chicken (skinned & cut into medium pieces) - 500 g

Onions (sliced / diced anyway) - 3 medium-sized

Coriander leaves - 80-100 g

Spinach leaves - 100-150 g

Ginger - 2 Nos. (2″ pieces)

Garlic - 8-10 cloves

Green chillies - 3-4 long ones (depends on your spice preference)

Cashew nuts (soaked in water for 5 minutes) - 6-7

Bay leaf - 1

Cinnamon stick - 1/2 inch

Cooking Oil - 3 tbsp

Water (optional) - 1/2 cup

Salt - As per taste

Preparation

1. Wash the chicken well & keep aside.
2. Wash & clean the coriander & spinach leaves well.
3. In a pan, add 2 tablespoons of oil & onions. Fry until golden brown.
4. Now add the coriander & spinach leaves together.
5. Fry until the greens seem to start wilting.
6. Put the flame off & wait for this to cool.
7. In a mixer, add the fried content along with garlic cloves, sliced ginger, soaked cashew nuts & green chillies. Make a fine puree.
8. Then in a pan, (or you can use the same pan if you find washing too hard 😉 ) add oil & temper with bay leaf & cinnamon stick.
9. Add the ground green puree.
10. Then add the chicken & stir well.
11. If you want to make this a curry-based dish with a slightly thinner consistency, you could consider adding some water to it as the chicken is getting cooked in the puree. Otherwise, for the gravy-based version, a little bit of water is sufficient as the texture is already creamy.
12. Stir well & cover over medium flame for about 15-20 minutes. Keep checking in between for how much the chicken is yet to be cooked fully.
13. Add salt & mix well until simmering occurs.

Voila! Your HEALTHY & CREAMY SPINACH/ PALAK CHICKEN is ready to be savored along with piping hot Rotis/Chapatis/Dosas or even as a side with your main course dish.

This is one of my special chicken recipes as it was shown to me by a dear friend, Naina. The best part about it is that it just doesn’t taste like spinach (those of you who find spinach ‘Eww!’)

NOTE - For a lot of recipes involving spinach/palak leaves, blanching is done.

Blanching is a process where a vegetable is boiled in water for a while until a certain extent of softening is achieved. Then it is immediately removed & transferred to a colder/ice-cold water to pause the cooking process.

In case of spinach leaves, it is done in order to slightly reduce the concentration of oxalic acid that at times affects the absorption of other essential nutrients of spinach in the body.

However, since here we take almost a significant quantity of coriander leaves with the spinach leaves to make the puree base & to render the characteristic color & flavor, there isn’t a heavy concentration of oxalic acid that could come from the spinach. Hence, this is perfectly a fantastic method to carry out any of the spinach-based chicken recipes.

What’s great about this Spinach Chicken

The goodness of SPINACH, of course!

Spinach is loaded with Vitamin C that aids weight loss & has lots of fiber that keeps you full for long hours. Therefore, it’s a perfect lunch/dinner accompaniment.

GINGER CHICKEN

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 10 minutes

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

[1 CUP ~ 340g ]

Chicken (skinned & cut into medium pieces) - 500 g

Ginger - 4 Nos. (2″ piece each)

Onions (thinly sliced) - 1 cup

Tomato (chopped) - 1/2 cup

Cinnamon stick - 1/2 inch

Cloves - 2-3

Chilli Powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric Powder - a pinchful

Garam Masala (optional) - a pinchful

Cooking Oil - 3 tbsp

Salt - As per taste

Coriander leaves - To garnish

Preparation:

1. Wash the chicken well.
2. Boil it in water until it’s fully soft & thus cooked. Discard the stock.
3. In the meanwhile, grind the ginger to a fine paste.
4. Pour oil in a pan. Add cinnamon stick, cloves & the onions. Fry until a little darker than golden brown.
5. Add the tomatoes, stir & keep covered with a lid or about 2 minutes.
6. Add the ginger paste, chilli powder, turmeric powder & garam masala.
7. Mix well & then add the chicken pieces.
8. Add salt & cook for a while.
9. Put the flame off & garnish with coriander leaves.

What’s great about this Ginger Chicken

While Ginger is widely used as a digestive supplement, one can also vouch for its property of burning calories. Therefore, it’s a fantastic ingredient to cook up an entire chicken dish with if you’re in for weight loss!

This was one of the first chicken recipes that I tried making myself without Mum’s help. It’s originally her take on chicken. 🙂

So, aren’t these CHICKEN RECIPES your next attempt at revving your love for chicken while still being at weight loss?

Do let me know what you think about these chicken recipes & how they turned out for you should you try them at home. 🙂

Bon Appetit!

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