, nutritional review by Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE
in Recipes, Dinner, Meal Low carb chicken sancocho
Ingredients
- 1½ lbs 650 g boneless chicken thighs
- 1 tsp 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 cup 240 ml avocado oil
- 4 oz. 110 g celery root, peeled and chopped
- 5 oz. 140 g chayote or zucchini, peeled and chopped
- 4¼ cups 1 liter chicken broth
- ½ (2 oz.) ½ (55 g) red onion, choppedred onions, chopped
- ½ tsp ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp 1 tsp annatto or paprika powder
- 2 2 garlic clove, crushedgarlic cloves, crushed
- 3 oz. (9 tbsp) 85 g (140 ml) red bell pepperred bell peppers
- 7 oz. 200 g zucchini, chopped
- 1⁄8 tsp 1⁄8 tsp xanthan gum
- 1⁄3 oz. (9 tbsp) 10 g (150 ml) fresh cilantro, minced
- 2 2 lime for servinglimes for serving
- 1 tbsp 1 tbsp hot sauce, or to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Pat dry with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat the oil over high heat in a large pot. Stir in the chicken and cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken is browned.
- Lower heat to medium-low. Add the celery root and chayote (or squash). Cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, adding a tablespoon or two of broth if it looks like it might burn.
- Stir in the onion, cumin, annatto, garlic, bell pepper, and zucchini. Cover, lower the heat and simmer for 5 more minutes, or until the onion starts to become translucent, stirring frequently to cook evenly. Add another tablespoon of broth if it looks like it might burn.
- Pour in the remaining broth and sprinkle in the xanthan gum. Increase heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until all the vegetables are fork tender (3 to 5 minutes).
- Taste and season with salt if you wish. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro.
- Serve with the limes and hot sauce on the side.
Tips
Sancocho is commonly thickened by adding plantain and/or potatoes, but since both are high in carbs, we’ve used xanthan gum for that purpose. You can find xanthan gum (a white powder that is used as a thickener in food preparation) in large supermarkets, and stores that cater to the celiac community.
Chayote, its Meso-American name, is also known in English as christophene, and mirlinton in Louisiana. Other names it can be found by are chocho and vegetable pear. If you have trouble finding it where you live, replace with any kind of squash.
Annatto (also known as anato, bija or achiote) is a tropical American tree with seeds that are intensely red and have a mild taste. Annatto has been used as food coloring going back to pre-Columbian times. If you can’t find annatto, use an equal amount of Spanish paprika.
Yes, that's correct.
Hi, Lucy! Xanthan gum is used as a thickener for the soup, but you can certainly omit it if you prefer!
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/recipes/how-to-thicken-keto-and-l...