So something that I am missing while on keto? TACOS! I could probably have one occasionally and remain in ketosis but I'm afraid of the slippery slope (knowing yourself is important!) and what that might cascade into for me, so I'm just going to avoid it until the 12 weeks are over. However, I found this recipe and man does it hit the spot. It is by no means a taco, but it still somewhat scratched that itch for me.
I had some chicken breasts in my freezer that I wanted to use but because chicken breasts have almost no fat, I knew I needed to add some fat to the dinner in order to balance out the macros. I looked in my deli drawer and saw a package of cream cheese, probably left over when I bought too much when I made a cheesecake. I googled "chicken breast cream cheese instant pot" and this lovely recipe popped up: Buffalo Chicken Dip.
I instantly remembered that I had this several years ago at a Super Bowl party. One of my friends made it in a slow cooker and it was BOOOOMMMMMBBBBB. So I started thinking... how could I turn this into an entrée? The hubs does not care for finger food for dinner, so I knew that putting some on a plate and handing him some carrots and celery to dip in it was not going to cut it.
It didn't take long for me to think of LETTUCE WRAPS! Oh man, being able to spoon this delicious mixture into a nice crisp piece of lettuce and then munch away happily?!?!? I was sold and immediately added lettuce to the grocery list.
What you'll need:
3 pounds chicken breast
8 ounces cream cheese
1-2 cups Buffalo sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)
Choice of lettuce for wrap (I used romaine leaves, but you could also use iceberg)
Instant Pot, slow cooker, or dutch oven (directions below are for instant pot, if you use a dutch oven or slow cooker, cook for about 6 hours on medium heat).
Preparation:
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Slice up chicken breast and place in instant pot. You don't have to do this, but I find that it makes it easier to shred at the end. I just do like 3/4 inch slices. Add in a cup and half of buffalo sauce and stir to coat chicken. Set instant pot to manual high pressure for 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes are up, let the pressure release on it's own (takes about another 30 minutes). While the chicken is cooking make sure your cream cheese it set out on the counter, and if you want, you could slice it up in ounce strips so that it melts more easily on the chicken.
Once the instant pot is depressurized, open and shred the chicken in the pot. After the chicken is shredded, add the cream chicken and mix until fully incorporated. If the chicken cooled too much during the shredding, you can turn the instant pot to sauté to help the cream cheese melt.
And wha-laaa! Your creamy chicken is all ready to go in your lettuce wraps. I also like to have some vinegar based coleslaw to put on the lettuce wraps, or some broccoli slaw, or cucumbers are really good too. This makes quite a bit of chicken so you are bound to have leftovers and good news, it heats up great!
Let me know if you give this a try! I love this meal because as long as you don't crazy overeat the chicken, it's actually quite healthy but feels very "cheat-ish". I don't like to label foods as cheats and stuff, but sometimes when you are craving something that you are trying to avoid, having a meal like this takes the edge off the craving.
Happy eating!!!
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