Easy Coconut Chicken Recipe (Keto, AIP, Whole30)

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Last Updated on February 8, 2024

Coconut chicken made with a rich dairy-free sauce that is filled with savory garlic. Top with your favorite low carb rice for a healthy dinner.

easy keto coconut chicken

My mother is Filipino so I grew up eating exotic foods like lumpia, fried rice and coconut chicken.  However I dreamed of eating air fryer asparagus, Wonder bread and ho hos as all of my friends were eating them.

With age comes wisdom, or at least for me, a more refined food palate, so I’ve tried to recreate my mom’s recipe since it works wonderfully as a paleo and keto chicken recipe I can eat over and over again (just like this keto sweet and sour chicken recipe).

Thankfully I have her to consult but we live a 1000 miles away so I can’t go watch her whip it up in her kitchen.Also, she doesn’t use standard measurement tools and instead  she tends to describe measurements as ” a little bit of water” or ” a pinch of this.

I’m so glad I stuck with it because ever since I nailed this great recipe down, I’ve been in coconut chicken heaven.

Coconut chicken made with a rich dairy-free sauce that is filled with savory garlic. Top with your favorite low carb rice for a healthy dinner.

If you’re not aware of the benefit of coconut oil, it’s been the focus of over 1500 studies.   Coconut oil is one of the healthiest foods and it’s filled with medium-chain fatty acids.

Why Include Coconut Oil in Your Diet

Because coconut oil helps burn fat so easily, and because it doesn’t store as body fat, it is an ideal healthy fat to use a lot of while on the keto diet.

Plus, it tastes delicious! Coconut oil complements the keto diet perfectly because it supports the body systems the keto diet improves as well. 

What I love about this coconut chicken recipe

  • It’s dairy-free and works for the paleo, keto and low carb diet
  • Packed full of healthy fats
  • A simple recipe that you can make in 30 minutes or less

What you’ll need for this Recipe:


How to Make This Coconut Chicken Recipe:

In a large skillet over medium/low heat add the chicken and coconut oil

Cook for 2 -3 minutes and then add the apple cider vinegar, water and garlic cloves and cook for 3 minutes.

Add the salt and pepper and cook until the liquid all boils down. This should take roughly 10 minutes.

Stir in the coconut milk and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes until your liquid thickens slightly and you have a coconut mixture that resembles a gravy.

Remove from heat and enjoy!

Please note that if you leave the pan on the heat, the gravy will cook away until you have coconut oil.

Notes and Variations

Can I substitute low fat coconut milk for full fat coconut milk?

No, you can’t.  The recipe will not form a gravy if you use low fat coconut milk

Can I use chicken strips instead of chicken thighs?

Yes, you can use what ever cut you want just make sure the weight is the same. 

Can I use lime juice instead of apple cider vinegar?

Yes, you can use that or lemon juice as a substitution. 

Other chicken recipes you might like:

Did you make and love this recipe?  Give your review below and make sure you share your creations by tagging me on Instagram!

Coconut chicken made with a rich dairy-free sauce that is filled with savory garlic. Top with your favorite low carb rice for a healthy dinner.
easy keto coconut chicken
Yield: 4

Easy Coconut Chicken

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

This simple coconut chicken recipe is rich with fragrant garlic and dairy-free

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. In a large skillet over medium/low heat add the chicken and coconut oil
  2. Cook for 2 -3 minutes and then add the apple cider vinegar, water and garlic cloves and cook for 3 minutes.
  3. Add the salt and pepper and cook until the liquid all boils down. This should take roughly 10 minutes.
  4. Stir in the coconut milk and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes until your liquid thickens slightly and you have a coconut mixture that resembles a gravy.
  5. Remove from heat and enjoy!
  6. Please note that if you leave the pan on the heat, the gravy will cook away until you have coconut oil.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 337Total Fat: 24gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 138mgSodium: 474mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 29g

Did you make this recipe?

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48 thoughts on “Easy Coconut Chicken Recipe (Keto, AIP, Whole30)”

  1. That sounds delicious! When I lived in the Netherlands they had some awesome mixes for a coconut-based chicken and it was delish. I haven’t found a substitute since then so thanks for this recipe. BTW, I need you to scoot those mad lumpia-making skills over here!

    Reply
  2. Oh my gosh, that sounds SO good. I need some new stuff to try and this would definitely be one of them!! Can I pin this on Pinterest so I can remember to come back for the recipe?

    Reply
  3. Yum, this sounds great. And I love that is it is a rediscovered family recipe! Thanks so much for sharing it with Delicious Dish Tuesday. I hope you link up again next week 🙂

    Reply
  4. I just made this tonight and it was amaaaaaaazing!!!!
    Unfortunately, I didn’t have coconut oil, which I know adds the coconut flavor, so mine ended up tasting more like alfredo sauce. Still soooooo good!
    As someone who is new to gluten-free, making meat more interesting is very important to me.
    Thanks so much!

    Reply
  5. I am doing a Paleo challenge and this has been a great addition to my rotation! Although I think it would be amazing with some rice to soak up the “gravy”.

    Reply
  6. I ve been excited to try this—in fact, I’m in the middle of cooking it! However,! I think you might have mixed up some of the instructions . Are we supposed to use the coconut milk in step 1 or step 4? I added the coconut milk and the chicken to the pan first, as the instructions say, but now I’m thinking that I made a mistake….should it have been the oil first?

    Thanks for any advice, we’ll see if I can salvage this!

    Reply
    • Ops! Yes, I fixed the recipe. Honestly, you should just be able to simmer it until the chicken is cooked and the coconut milk is thickened and all will be well. If it starts to run dry, add a little more coconut milk. Thanks Kaitlin!

      Reply
  7. Very good! And For those that don’t really care for coconut, the chicken still tatstes really good before the coconut milk is added 🙂

    Reply
  8. I made your Easy Coconut Chicken tonight and it turned out pretty runny. It was good tasting however. I was thinking, maybe I could leave out the water? Do you think that is why it was too runny?

    Reply
  9. So yummy! I love how simple this is and bet all of that coconut goodness is so creamy and delicious with the chicken.

    Reply
  10. Hi,
    Is the temperature supposed to be med/low the whole time? I’m wondering how such a low temp will boil anything down. Thanks!

    Reply
  11. Love this! I didn’t have apple cider vinegar so I used rice vinegar. It worked fine. Next time I’ll try apple cider. I think it’s the vinegar that puts this recipe over the top!

    Reply

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