Diet Coke Chicken

This diet coke chicken dish is a tasty recipe for anyone on a low carb diet - and alternative sugar free cola products can also be used!

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I don't drink coffee. I don't drink tea. Yes, a Brit that doesn't drink tea. But I *do* drink diet coke. Not by the gallon, just one of those little mini cans a day. So when I read about a dish that involved cooking with it - I just had to try it out, with a few personalizations, of course!

However I do understand that diet coke isn't suitable for everyone, so here are some alternatives:

• Zevia Cola - zero carb and sweetened with stevia - available from Amazon and Netrition
• Celcius Sparkling Cola - 2g net carbs and sweetened with sucralose
• Virgil's Zero Sugar Cola - zero carb and sweetened with erythritol - available from Amazon
• Diet Cola Syrup for a Soda Stream - zero net carbs and sweetened with sucralose
• And if you didn't want to use diet cola at all, check out this recipe for Keto Bacon Wrapped BBQ Chicken - she uses a cola flavored liquid sweetener! I'm sure you could adapt this recipe to use that instead.

How to Make Diet Coke Chicken

Prepare the chicken thighs by trimming any excess fat and seasoning the skin with salt and pepper. I prefer to use skin-on, bone-in thighs. Place them in a hot skillet, skin-side-down, for five minutes or until starting to crisp up. You can skip this step if using skinless thighs.

Transfer the chicken to a small baking dish and roast in a preheated oven for 15 minutes.

As soon as you've got them in the oven, start the sauce. Wipe any excess grease from the skillet, then add the diet coke or cola, together with some tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and some liquid smoke. Cook over a medium-high heat and let it bubble.

This sauce ends up quite like a BBQ sauce, so I think the liquid smoke really adds something. Let the sauce reduce down until your 15 minutes is up with the chicken.

Remove the chicken from the oven and carefully drain any excess fat. Pour the sauce over the chicken and return it to the oven. Cook until an internal temperature of 165F is reached. Timings depend on your oven temp and size of chicken pieces, but it will probably be about 10-15 minutes - a probe thermometer is very useful.

Transfer the cooked chicken to the serving plates and pour some of the sauce over the top. Garnish with parsley.

Serve with salad or side dish of your choice - cauliflower rice would be great! Challenge anyone who didn't see you cook it to guess the secret ingredient!

Check out all my low carb chicken recipes!

📖 Recipe

StepAwayFromTheCarbs.com

Diet Coke Chicken

4.75 from 4 votes

This diet coke chicken dish is a tasty recipe for anyone on a low carb diet - and alternative sugar free cola products can also be used!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 3 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 38 minutes mins

Makes: 2 Servings

Net Carbs: 3

Calories: 573

Ingredients Equipment Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients

 

• 4 chicken thighs bone-in, skin on, excess fat trimmed
• salt and black pepper
• 7.5 fl oz mini can diet coke OR 1 cup sugar free cola
• ¼ cup canned tomato sauce
• 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
• fresh parsley to garnish

Equipment

• Zevia Zero Calorie Soda, Cola, 12 Ounce Cans (Pack of 24)
• Colgin Liquid Smoke, Natural Hickory, 4-Ounce
• ThermoPro TP-16 Digital Cooking Food Meat Thermometer

Step-by-Step Instructions

 

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1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Prepare the chicken thighs by seasoning the skin with salt and pepper. Place them in a hot skillet, skin-side-down, for five minutes or until starting to crisp up. You can skip this step if using skinless thighs.
3. Transfer the chicken to a small baking dish and roast for 15 minutes.
4. As soon as you've got them in the oven, start the sauce. Wipe any excess grease from the skillet, then add the diet coke or cola, together with the tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and liquid smoke. Cook over a medium-high heat and let it bubble. The sauce will reduce by about half.
5. Remove the chicken from the oven and carefully drain any excess fat. Pour the sauce over the chicken and return it to the oven. Roast until an internal temperature of 165F is reached - about 10-15 minutes depending on the size of the chicken pieces.
6. Transfer the cooked chicken to the serving plates and pour some of the sauce over the top. Garnish with parsley.

Nutrition

Calories: 573kcalCarbohydrates: 4gProtein: 62gFat: 36gSaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 333mgSodium: 976mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gNet Carbs: 3g

Notes

3g net carbs per serving (two thighs with sauce)

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Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is my best approximation. Net carbs are calculated as the total grams carbs minus the total grams of fiber.

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