The family said I nailed this Almond Boneless Chicken recipe!

We love Asian food around here and used to go to Asian restaurants all of the time, back before I knew about the disgusting vegetable oils they all use for frying, the factory-farmed meat, and the other scary ingredients. So these days when I have the time, or when I have a craving for Asian food, instead of going out I love to play around in the kitchen trying to recreate our old favorites.

Here are the Asian recipes I've figured out so far:

Sweet and Sour Chicken or Pork
Baked Crab Rangoon (or Shrimp)
Egg Rolls
Egg Roll in a Bowl
Chicken Lettuce Wraps like P.F. Changs
Fried Rice
Egg Drop Soup
Yakisoba
Wonton Appetizer
Pad Phet–a spicy Thai stir-fry (This one is from my friend Jill.)

Let me know what you think after you try my version of Almond Boneless Chicken and see more photos below the recipe!

Print Recipe

Almond Boneless Chicken (Real Foodie Version)

This is one of our favorite Asian recipes, only with healthier real foodie ingredients vs. what you'll find at restaurants.

Servings: 6 people

Ingredients

Chicken:

4 # Boneless chicken breasts (I halve them if they're really thick so they'll cook more evenly)
About 4-6 cups Lard, beef tallow, or peanut oil for frying (animal fats are best for the most nutrients, but peanut oil is okay if that's what you have)
Sea salt for sprinkling

Batter:

1 1/2 cup Organic cornstarch
1 1/2 cup All purpose flour (I like to use einkorn flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons Sea salt
4 teaspoons Baking powder
8 Eggs, beaten
9-10 Tablespoons Water

Sauce:

4 Tablespoons Organic cornstarch
4 Tablespoons Cold water
1/2 teaspoon Sea salt
2 1/2 cups Chicken broth (the more concentrated your broth is, the more flavorful it will be, so I often will use extra and cook it down to 2 1/2 cups)
3 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Soy sauce, Tamari, or Coconut Aminos

The rest:

1/2 cup or more per person Shredded lettuce (romaine or something crunchy)
1 cup or more Sliced almonds, toasted (Even better, "crispy almonds" if you have them.)
4 Green onions, chopped
4 cups this rice or fried rice, if you're serving that alongside

Instructions

Rice (if you're serving that with this meal)

Get the rice going first, then just leave it covered to stay warm when it's done until you're ready to eat. Prepare it according to directions on the package. This rice is the only kind I buy, plus I always cook it in broth for extra nutrition.

Batter:

Whisk together all of the ingredients well.

Chicken:

Preheat oven to 200*.
Heat up your frying fat in a fryer OR I just use my favorite electric frying pan. You'll want enough to almost cover the chicken, but the amount will depend on the size of the pan or fryer you're using.
Coat each piece of chicken in the batter and fry at about 375* until chicken is done and batter is golden brown. Don't overcrowd the oil, you need it to stay hot and bubbly so the chicken will cook all the way through the middle. When the first side is golden brown, flip it over. Once it's done on both sides (about 7-8 minutes or so, depending on how thick your breasts are), strain chicken on a rack over a cookie sheet, sprinkle with sea salt, and keep warm in the oven until you have all of the chicken cooked. (I sometimes cut open thicker pieces to make sure they're done/no longer pink and if not, just pop it back in to fry longer. Or check to be sure the internal temp is at least 165*.)

Prep other ingredients:

As the chicken is cooking, chop the lettuce and onions, and throw the almonds into the oven to toast on a sheet pan/cookie sheet if you don't have "crispy almonds" on hand.

Sauce:

Mix together the cornstarch and cold water in a separate bowl. In a medium saucepan, heat chicken broth (I usually have homemade broth in the freezer, but keep this kind on hand in case I run out), salt, butter, and soy sauce. Once the broth mixture is hot, slowly add a few spoonfuls into the cornstarch mixture and keep whisking, this is to warm it up (and avoid lumps) before then adding all of the cornstarch mixture into the broth mixture. Stir well and keep warm 'til you're ready to serve.

Put it together:

Plate it up in this order: lettuce first, then the chicken (you can cut it into strips if you'd like), spoon 3-4 Tablespoons of the sauce onto the chicken, sprinkle on the almonds and green onions. Enjoy!
I like to serve it with fried rice. Or to keep the carbs lower, just eat as-is!

Here are some photos I snapped as I was making the Almond Boneless Chicken: