Grilled Chicken Piccata (Keto, Low-Carb, Gluten-Free)

🧂 Ingredients

• 8 chicken thighs

  skinless and boneless, cut in halves
• 1.5 teaspoons salt
• 2/3 teaspoon black pepper
• 5 cloves garlic

  finely diced
• 2-3 tablespoons baby capers

  chopped roughly
• 2 tablespoons baby caper juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1.5 lemons
• 1.5 tablespoons butter

  optional, can also be ghee or a drizzle of olive oil
• Parsley or mint

  chopped or thinly sliced
• Extra capers
• A few slices of lemon for grilling as a garnish if you like

Instructions

• 1 Cut the chicken thighs in halves and place on a cutting board or a plate. Season
  evenly with salt and pepper. 
• 2 Combine roughly chopped capers, garlic, lemon zest and juice and olive oil in a
  bowl. Pour over the meat in a larger bowl and mix. Transfer to a container or a
  Ziplock bag. Refrigerate to marinate overnight or for about 4-6 hours (at least
  for 1-2 to get all those flavours in the meat). 
• 3 To cook the chicken, you have two options: barbecue grill or stove
  grill/electric grill indoors. In my case, we grilled on our Webber BBQ outdoors.
  In both cases, it is super important to remove the chicken from the fridge for
  at least 15-30 minutes to come to room temperature so that it cooks evenly. 
• 4 BBQ:
  
  Heat BBQ to medium-hot, make sure the grill is clean from any burnt bits from
  the previous grill. Shake excess marinade off the chicken pieces (brush off some
  of the garlic capers onto a plate, reserve the juices) and places on a hot grill
  plate. Cook for about 8-10 minutes each side or until well browned and feels
  cooked to touch (you can cut one of the pieces to check). Depending on how
  evenly hot your grill plate is, you might need to move the pieces around. 
• 5 Stovetop:
  
  If you're using a grill pan or a frying pan, brush it with some fat or oil and
  heat over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken for about 8 minutes each side. Make
  sure not to overcrowd the pan so that it grills rather than braises in too much
  juice/liquid that might get released initially. 
• 6 Prepare the piccata butter sauce:
  
  While the chicken is grilling, let's prepare the sauce with our remaining
  marinade. Traditionally, the piccata sauce is made with butter and that's what I
  used, but you could also go with ghee for a Whole30 or more dairy-free version. 
• 7 Stovetop accessible:
  
  Heat a separate pan over medium-high heat and add all the excess lemon caper
  marinade together with any bits of garlic and capers. Stir in 1-2 tablespoons of
  butter and cook for 1-2 minutes, allowing it to bubble away and crisp up a
  little. Once you see garlic is changing colour, turn the heat off and set
  aside.  
• 8 Cooking outdoors:
  
  If you're cooking outdoors and have no stove, you have two options. Bring a
  small pot or a pan that can go on the BBQ grill and do it in that. OR, once the
  chicken is ready, place a few dollops of butter on top of the hot chicken pieces
  and drizzle with extra lemon juice; sprinkle some capers out of the jar. It
  won't be quite the same sauce, but you will get that buttery lemon finish. 
• 9 Finish the dish by sprinkling freshly chopped mint or parsley over the top. I
  personally love mint here as it's a little different and adds a beautiful aroma
  to the dish.

Nutrition Info