The Pasta Recipe That Got Me Hooked (Low Carb + High Protein!)

Today we're making a one-pot meal that is loaded with Italian flavor and that you would think would be loaded with carbs too, but it's not. In fact, each serving is just under 10 carbs and has over 40 grams of protein. Let me show you how to do it. First, let's start with the chicken. I'm using boneless, skinless chicken thighs, but you can use breast meat here if you want. Then pour in two tablespoons of avocado oil along with our seasoning, which is two teaspoons of Italian seasoning, a teaspoon of garlic powder, a teaspoon of salt, a half a teaspoon of lemon pepper seasoning, and a half a teaspoon of black pepper. Stir that together until your chicken is evenly coated, and then we're gonna set it aside to let it marinate for 10 minutes. And I know three pounds of chicken can seem like a lot of chicken, so you can certainly use like one and a half pounds or two pounds of chicken, but I'm trying to feed two growing, hungry teenage boys along with my husband, so that's why we are using as much chicken as we're using. When you're ready to cook the chicken, pour in two tablespoons of avocado oil into a large oven-safe skillet and heat that over medium-high heat. And since we have so much chicken here, you wanna work in batches. Space the chicken around a half of an inch apart in order to get proper searing. If they're too close together, steam is gonna start to come off of that chicken and you're gonna steam your chicken and you won't get that golden brown crust that you want from a perfect sear. Sear these on each side for three to four minutes or until that golden crust starts to form and then remove them and repeat with your remaining chicken. Once you've seared all of your chicken, return it all to that same skillet and place the skillet in an oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for around 10 minutes. This is just gonna help that chicken cook all the way through. This creamy Tuscan chicken pasta is exactly what I need to break my fast after full three days of not eating. I just finished an extended fast using Birnbox and let me tell you, it was the easiest 72-hour fast I've ever done. So what's Birnbox? It's a science-backed fasting kit that helps you fast for three days while accelerating fat loss and supporting your metabolic health. It comes with everything you need to get through a prolonged fast without feeling drained, dizzy, or hangry. You get a step-by-step fasting guide, grapefruit-flavored anti-hunger fiber shakes, a zesty lime electrolyte packet to help fight off fatigue, and a soothing bone broth to help curb cravings. I've done several 72-hour fasts before and this one was hands down the smoothest one yet. The guide that comes with it even has some really good suggestions to help ride out those hunger waves like meditation and taking Epsom salt baths, and it actually helped. I stayed focused, kept my energy up, and I lost about six pounds, so that's a win. Each day I followed the simple three-step routine, the morning fiber shake, the midday bone broth, the evening shake again, and then electrolytes and lots of water throughout the day. By the end of day three before I went to bed, I was really feeling great. Those fiber shakes really helped keep me full. And now with this post-fast Tuscan chicken pasta, I am ready to get back into eating the right way, protein-rich, low-carb, super-nutrient foods, and that won't undo any of my progress. If you've been thinking about trying a three-day fast, BurnBox is the way to do it. It made fasting so much easier and actually sustainable. Click the link in the description box or scan this code and enter code KETOFOCUS to get up to 10% off your BurnBox fasting kit. Now that the chicken is done baking, I'm gonna transfer it to a plate or a dish and then cover it with foil just so it can stay warm while we continue to work on the keto orzo pasta. Going back to that same skillet, you're gonna add in two tablespoons of butter and melt that over medium heat, and then add in one small onion that you've diced up, four cloves of minced garlic, and a seven-ounce jar of sun-dried tomatoes that come in the oil, but just put in the tomatoes. You don't really need to add the oil unless you want to. You'll also need a half a teaspoon each of Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Cook this over medium heat until the onions are translucent and you'll see that some of the brown flavor bits are stuck to the bottom of the skillet. This will dislodge as you saute those onions. Once the onions are cooked, I add in my low-carb orzo pasta. Technically, they call this rice. It's lupini rice, but it looks like orzo pasta once it's cooked up. And lupini beans are a legume that is high in protein but filled with fiber. In fact, most of the carbs are from fiber, which is why it makes a great low-carb replacement for rice and pasta. Next, pour in three cups of chicken broth and turn the heat to high and bring it to a boil. Once it's boiling, reduce the heat to low and cover the skillet and let it simmer until the rice has absorbed most of that liquid, which will take around 15 to 20 minutes. It should look like this. A little bit of liquid is okay because we're gonna add in some ingredients to help soak up that liquid. Stir in a half a cup of heavy cream and half a cup of grated Parmesan cheese. You're gonna mix that until it's combined and the cheese has melted into the pasta. Then I add in three cups of baby spinach leaves, incorporate that in, and then cover it with a lid for a few minutes to encourage it to wilt. Then remove the skillet from the heat and we're gonna stir in a quarter cup of freshly sliced basil and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Taste it and then add some more seasoning like salt and pepper if you think that it needs it. Then slice up the seasoned chicken and add that on top. This Tuscan chicken pasta is so flavorful. It definitely satisfies those Italian cravings that you may have. If you wanna learn more about the different types of keto pastas and noodles that are out there, then click right here because I have a whole video on the different types that are available and I rate them on which ones are my favorite. Again, check out BurnBox if you wanna try a guided three-day fast and click that link below to get that special deal.