A nearly zero carb keto chicken marinade is ideal for your chicken, fish, and seafood. Tangy lemon and fresh dill come together for a refreshing and crisp way to enjoy grilled chicken on your keto diet.
How many diets have you started and subsequently stopped because plain grilled chicken was the main entree every day?
Raises hand slowly.
Yeah, me too.
Let’s just say it: those diets suck! It’s also why we’re probably all here reading this (or in my case, writing this) blog post.
If you’re here, you probably want to eat healthy but without compromising flavor. Bland, boring, boiled food is for the birds. Am I right or am I right?
Finding the ketogenic diet was a breath of fresh air in my out-of-shape lungs. Discovering a way of eating that embraced healthy fats was what I had desperately been searching for all those years before.
lower calorie keto meals
Even though we eat a ketogenic diet doesn’t mean we need to eat high calorie and high fat meals for every meal. In fact, if you’re doing keto for weight loss reasons, then it is important to be in a calorie deficit each day until you’ve reached your ideal weight or size.
There is an unfounded myth floating around Facebook groups and online chat groups that you must eat all of your fat grams every day or you won’t be in as deep of ketosis. Let me reiterate: that is a myth!
Once you have made the transition from a glucose burning metabolic state to a fat burning metabolic state (i.e. nutritional ketosis), then you are what is called fat adapted. Your body now recognizes fat as its primary source of fuel. Woo!
The only reason you would need to eat all of your fat grams every day is for satiety. Think of the fat grams like a food savings account.
If you’re hungry at the end of the day and have some calories and fat grams left in your macros, then you know you can have a snack before bed.
But, if you’ve blown through your macros by lunch time because you ate high calorie and high fat meals, then you’re slap outta luck when hunger strikes. No bueno!
So, while it’s important to consume more fat than glucose to remain in ketosis, it is not necessary to eat high fat every day.
That’s when recipes like this keto grilled chicken come in handy. Because sometimes we just want a lighter meal that’s enjoyable, clean, and nutritious!
keto chicken marinade
You can’t really go wrong with keto grilled chicken, especially in the summer time, but I want a grilled chicken that’s been marinating in a bath of bright flavors!
So, instead of plain grilled chicken, we’re going to make this light and bright keto chicken marinade. You could totally use this marinade on fish, shrimp, or pork as well.
I almost always have a bowl full of lemons in my kitchen at any given time. Even if I don’t use them, they’re just pretty to decorate with!
But, I’m a far cry from a home design blogger so lets stick with the keto recipes, shall we?
This keto chicken marinade couldn’t be any simpler! If you haven’t noticed, simple, easy keto recipes are kind of my thing.
You can whisk the marinade together in about 2 minutes, throw it in a plastic bag with your chicken (or protein of choice), refrigerate while you’re at work/running errands/playing tea party for the 104852 time, and a few hours later you’ll have a delightful keto dinner for your family!
Complete the Meal
Every good entree needs and equally delicious side dish. Try one of these with your lemon dill grilled chicken!
Keto Turnip Gratin (Just like Potatoes!)
Savory cheese sauce baked with thinly sliced turnips. Just like scalloped potatoes.
Keto Broccoli Salad: dairy free, gluten free
Keep it light with this crazy delicious broccoli salad.
fire up your grill
I chose to grill my chicken because the weather is warm enough and it’s a really low maintenance cooking method. However, if you don’t have a grill, are afraid of grilling, or whatever reason, you could totally cook this chicken in a skillet or bake it in the oven.
When you’re grilling chicken, it’s important to remember NOT to flip it too early. If you try to flip the meat and it feels stuck, that just means it hasn’t formed a crust yet.
I let my chicken cook for about 7 minutes per side when I have thicker breasts. If you’re using thighs, tenders, or butterflied chicken breasts, they won’t take nearly as long. As long as your chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, you’re good to go!
plate and serve
When you’re grilling your chicken, you can get fancy and grill some lemons to use on your platter! If you have fresh dill, you can use that to either lay around your keto grilled chicken or use as a bed for your chicken.
It’ll look insanely pretty and your friends or family will think you have those Martha Stewart skills!
You can also melt some butter in a small dish and add a little lemon juice and capers to it for drizzling right before serving. Who doesn’t like melted butter dripping off their food?!
If you try this recipe, and you love it, tag me in your pictures! You can find me at Keto In Pearls across all social media.
Lemon Dill Keto Marinade
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup avocado oil
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 teaspoons dill dried or fresh chopped
- 1 tablespoon capers
- pinch of pepper
- 3 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Whisk all ingredients together and pour over protein of choice.
- Marinate for 1 hour up to overnight.
- Discard remaining marinade upon cooking.