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Taco Chicken Tenders with Lemon Garlic Butter Zucchini Noodles – Incredibly flavorful and juicy Taco Chicken Tenders are a perfect dinner for the busiest of weeknights. Bite-size pieces of chicken are tossed in a homemade Taco seasoning mix before being quickly cooked in a hot skillet to create these Taco Chicken Bites. Serve with lemon butter zucchini noodles – this is a complete one-pan meal with a low-carb/keto twist that your whole family will love. Enjoy!
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Ingredients list for the Taco Chicken Tenders with Lemon Zucchini Noodles
- 2 pounds (900g) chicken tenders, or 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
- 4-5 medium zucchini, rinsed and spiralized (or a pack of store-bought Zucchini Noodles)
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided
- 2 tablespoons Taco seasoning (get the recipe here)
- 1/4 cup (60ml) low-sodium chicken broth
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce of choice, optional (we used Sriracha)
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
- Crushed red chili pepper flakes, optional
- Slices of lemon, for garnish
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Directions
1. Combine chicken strips with Taco seasoning. Allow sitting on the counter while prepping the other ingredients.
2. In the meantime, wash and trim the ends of the zucchini. Using a spiralizer, make the zucchini noodles, then set aside.
3. Heat two tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Gently stir-fry the chicken strips on all sides until golden brown. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside to a plate. You might have to work in batches to avoid crowding the pan and have steamed chicken instead of browned.
4. In the same skillet over medium-high, add two tablespoons butter, lemon juice, hot sauce, and chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and allow to reduce for 1-2 minutes, stirring regularly.
5. Stir in fresh parsley and minced garlic, then add the zucchini noodles and toss for two to three minutes to cook it up. Allow the cooking juices to reduce for one minute if the zucchini noodles render too much water. Add the Taco chicken bites back to the pan and stir for another minute to reheat. Garnish with more parsley, crushed chili pepper, and lemon slices and serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes:
- This recipe is intended for a keto friendly diet, so if you want to lighten it up just use 2 tablespoons butter instead of 4.
- Zucchini tends to render a lot of water when cooking, so you can sprinkle with salt after spiralizing and allow to sit for a couple of minutes to take off excess water. Rinse well to get rid of salt and drain thoroughly in a colander and pat dry in a kitchen towel before cooking.
