Whole30 + Keto Crispy Verde Chicken
Whole30 + Keto Crispy Verde Chicken Recipe + Video- low carb chicken thighs cooked in verde salsa, then broiled in the oven until crispy. Just 2 ingredients needed! Paleo, gluten free, grain free, dairy free, sugar free, clean eating, real food.
If you love my crispy carnitas (which are one of the most popular recipes on my site!), then you are going to love my Whole30 + Keto Crispy Verde Chicken!
The chicken is cooked in verde salsa, infusing it with tons of flavor, then broiled in the oven until crispy and golden brown.
Whole30 + Keto Crispy Verde Chicken
You only need 2 ingredients to make this amazing crispy chicken! Chicken thighs and a jar of verde salsa! Bonus? Both are so affordable, and hopefully you already have some verde salsa in your pantry that you need to use up. Don’t have chicken thighs, you can use chicken breasts too, they just won’t get crispy when broiled since they’re a leaner cut of chicken.
The instant pot and your broiler does all the work for you. (I included slow cooker and stove top instructions in the recipe notes below if the instant pot isn’t your thing.)
Serving
So many options for serving the crispy verde chicken! My favorite is as a burrito bowl with my cauliflower rice, fajita veggies, some sliced avocado and even more verde salsa.
You could also serve it over a salad, or in lettuce leaves as a taco!
Watch Crispy Verde Chicken Recipe Demo (2:31 minutes)
PrintWhole30 + Keto Crispy Verde Chicken
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 12 ounce can verde salsa (my favorite is Trader Joe’s!)
Serving Ideas
- Bowl with my cauliflower rice, fajita veggies, more verde salsa and sliced avocado
- Over a chopped salad
- In lettuce leaves as a “taco”
Instructions
- Place the chicken thighs in your instant pot. Sprinkle with salt. Pour in the verde salsa.
- Close with the lid, and make sure the vent is at SEALING. Cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 15 minutes. Will take about 10-15 minutes to reach pressure, then it will start counting down from 15. After the 15 minutes is up, do a QUICK RELEASE, where you move the valve to VENTING to release all the steam. Once all the steam is gone and the float valve has dropped, you can safely open the instant pot.
- Set your oven to BROIL. Set out a rimmed baking sheet.
- In the instant pot, shred the chicken with 2 forks. Transfer the shredded chicken and 1 cup of the cooking liquid to the rimmed baking sheet.
- BROIL the shredded chicken for 5 minutes, until crispy. If I have time, I like to turn the chicken a few times and keep broiling in 5 minute increments. This really caramelizes the fat and gives it the most amazing texture and flavor.
- Serve warm. Delicious in burrito/taco bowls with fajita veggies, cauliflower rice, guacamole or sliced avocado. Can also serve in lettuce leaf tacos or as a salad.
- Leftovers will keep for 1 week refrigerated in an airtight container, or frozen for at least 6 months.
Notes
Slow Cooker Instructions: Place the chicken thighs, salt and verde salsa in your slow cooker. Cook over LOW for 8 hours, or HIGH for 4 hours. Then continue with step 3-7.
Stove Top Instructions: Place the chicken thighs, salt and verde salsa in a dutch oven or large soup pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour until the chicken easily shreds with a fork. Then continue with step 3-7.
Your chicken will be as spicy as your salsa is. My favorite store bought is Trader Joe’s, which is a very mild spice. My kids can eat it no problem.
You can make this with any salsa really! Doesn’t have to be verde.
Only chicken thighs will crisp up, since they have so much fat. You can make this with chicken breasts, and it will shred and be delicious. It just won’t get crispy in the oven since it is so lean.
This post contains affiliate links, thanks for the love!
Never Miss a Recipe!
Get new posts delivered straight to your inbox! For free!
67 Comments on “Whole30 + Keto Crispy Verde Chicken”
Ive been wanting to try making shredded chicken, looking forward to giving it a go! For the stove top method, you place the raw chicken and other ingredients together in the pot with no water? It will cook with just the salsa? Thanks!
When you are cooking the chicken verde on the stove top you just add the salsa and salt with no water Jenny. You will bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer and cook for about an hour until the chicken is cooked and shreds easily with a fork.
Absolutely delicious and so easy! Kids and adults devoured it.
★★★★★
I am so happy you liked my chicken Monica! I love hearing that it was delicious and easy to make. That is fantastic that adults and kids devoured it. A win, win for sure!
I have been making this so much lately. It’s so delicious and easy. If I wanted to double the recipe, should I adjust the cook time for the instant pot? I don’t use my IP that often so I’m not sure. Thanks!
I am so glad you have been making and enjoying the crispy verde chicken Daniela. I love hearing that it is delicious and easy to make. I haven’t recipe tested by doubling the ingredients. To be honest, I would worry about overcrowding the Instant Pot. I wonder if it would be better to just make 2 batches back to back? I know the Instant Pot needs plenty of space to come up to pressure. Another idea is if you have cooked another recipe in the pressure cooker that has 4 pounds of chicken, cook it that same amount of time. Sorry I don’t have the perfect answer for you!
Fantastic- another wonderful recipe from Natalie (although I shouldn’t be surprised by now)! I normally don’t like chicken thighs, but these came out so flavorful and crispy. This is going in my weekly rotation- it’s such an easy recipe. Even my husband comment how delicious the meal was.
★★★★★
Yeah! I am so happy you liked my chicken thighs Kelly. How awesome that you are normally not a fan of chicken thighs but you liked these. So glad to hear that! Even better that they were hubby approved!
So delicious and easy! Made this for dinner tonight and my husband loved it. Thanks for sharing your recipes with us :)
★★★★★
I am so happy you liked my chicken Lexi! Even better that your hubby liked it. I love hearing that it was delicious and easy. That is a win, win!
For anyone reading this, you would be a cool to not try this recipe! It is so simple and easy and Ohhhh Sooo Delicious! Will become a staple in my home!
I am so happy you liked my chicken Lowanda! I love to hear that it was easy to make and delicious! I am so glad this has become part of your regular recipe rotation. Thank you so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it!
Super easy and delicious. I love using my instant pot thanks to you. Bonus for super simple ingredients 🙌
★★★★★
I am so happy you liked my chicken Jenny! I love hearing that it was easy to make and delicious! Thank you so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it!
This was SO GOOD!! And so easy! Wow, wow, wow!!
★★★★★
I am so happy you liked my chicken verde Courtney! I am glad to hear it was easy to make and it turned out well for you.
Made this chicken to use to make burrito bowls- sooo good!! Can’t wait to make it again!
★★★★★
I am so happy you liked my chicken verde Sarah! Serving it in burrito bowls is a fantastic idea. I bet it was delicious!
THIS WAS SO GOOD! Made this for dinner last night – so simple. I’m glad I was patient and flipped after 5 minutes – broiled for 15 minutes total on low. My picky 5 year old asked for thirds! We served it over mashed cauliflower. I’ll definitely be making it again soon.
★★★★★
I am so happy you liked my chicken Alex! Even better that your picky 5 year old asked for thirds! Oh my goodness, that is such a win!
Oh my goodness, this is SO good!!!! Definitely will be a keeper because it was fast and easy too. Next time I’ll make more because I think the leftovers will make good work lunches. We had it with roasted bell peppers (red, green and yellow) and some leftover roasted baby potatoes. Thank you for another great recipe!!
★★★★★
I love to hear that it was fast and easy to make Sarah. It definitely makes delicious leftovers. I loved how you served it, sounds like the perfect meal!
This recipe is my new favorite. So delicious and so easy!
★★★★★
I am thrilled that this is a new favorite Barb! I love to hear that it was easy to make and delicious! Thank you so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it!
This was delicious! Will be making it regularly now for dinners in our house. Thanks!
★★★★★
I am so glad you liked my chicken verde Ashley! Even better that it will be part of your regular recipe rotation! I love it!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was AMAZING!!! The chicken was so flavorful and not at all dry. I always get stuck in a rut with chicken thighs, but this recipe is so versatile and delicious. Will definitely be making it again soon!
★★★★★
I am so happy you liked my Verde Chicken! I love to hear that it was flavorful and delicious! I am so glad this will be part of your regular recipe rotation.
Can I use frozen chicken thighs in insta pot
You can use frozen chicken in the instant pot Holly. It will take longer for it to come to pressure and increase the cooking time to 25 minutes. I sure hope you like it!
This is so good!! We served ours over rice with peppers and onions. Delicious!
★★★★★
I am so happy you liked my chicken verde Alison! Serving it over rice with peppers and onions sounds delicious. Thank you so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it.
So easy and yummy to make! awesome for a weeknight dinner!
★★★★★
I am so happy you liked my Verde Chicken Carolina! I love to hear that it was yummy and easy to make! That is what I strive for with all my recipes.
Can’t believe how easy and delicious this is! I was skeptical when I saw so few ingredients. Perfect for meal prep
★★★★★
I love that you were skeptical because there weren’t a ton of ingredients Olivia. Isn’t it great how much flavor you can build with just a few core ingredients. I always think the simpler the better!
So easy and so delicious!
★★★★★
I love to hear that it was easy to make and delicious Kelsey. Thank you so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it.
I’ve made this for my family TWICE this week! Cannot get enough of it! So easy, so delicious, and so versatile! Can’t wait to make it again!
★★★★★
I just love that you have made it for your family twice this week Jessica! That is such a compliment! Thank you so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it!
This is sooooo amazingly good! The bonus is it is amazingly easy! I love the leftovers too- a quick broil to reheat!
★★★★★
I just love hearing that the recipe was easy to make Lisa. I couldn’t agree with you more, the leftovers are fantastic!
Wow. I wish I could give this recipe 6 stars. I’ve made chicken verde in my instant pot and in the slow cooker countless times but the extra step of broiling the chicken after is game changing. Thank you so much!
★★★★★
I couldn’t agree with you more Sara. Broiling the chicken at the end puts it over the top! So happy you like that tip!
Wow, this was so good! We will definitely be adding this to our regular rotation.
★★★★★
I love that you will be making it again Catharine. Thank you so much for the feedback.
I LOVE this recipe! I’ve made it twice and it never disappoints- so simple and easy and delicious! I love to meal prep a batch and eat it all week!
★★★★★
I love that you have already made it twice and that it was easy and delicious Maxine. It does make the best meal prep.
This recipe is DELICIOUS I’ve made it twice and it never disappoints, it’s so simple, fast and tasty and great to meal prep for the week.
★★★★★
This was so easy and so good! I served it over cauliflower rice with some sautéed onions and peppers, tomatoes, and avocado. Yum!!!
★★★★★
I love how you served it! Sounds so delicious Samantha!
Again, another recipe that is beloved by everyone. Guys, just throw this in the instant pot and bam it’s done. We make it as a burrito bowl with cauliflower rice. Everyone loves it. The TJ verde salsa is very mild and delicious. My 3 year old loves it.
The first time we made it was with chicken breasts and although I didn’t broil it, it was still lovely. Making it again tonight with the thighs and will crisp them up!
If this is your first visit to Natalie’s site, make sure to look at all her other delicious and healthy recipes. You won’t regret a single thing you make from here!
★★★★★
Wow! Thank you so much for your very nice comment about my recipes Elizabeth! Your feedback really means the world to me. I am so happy you liked my chicken verde. Oh my, wait till you crisp up those thighs. They are out of this world!
Holy cow, this meat is delicious and the easiest thing I have ever made. Last night we had them as fajita bowls, tonight tacos, tomorrow on a salad. Can’t recommend this enough for an easy and super delicious protein.
★★★★★
I love that you served it in so many creative ways Erin. I love to hear that it was easy to make and delicious. That is the goal!
This is SO GOOD and very easy. It is a real favorite around here. Genius! You’re the best!
So happy you like it Caryn!
Oh, Natalie. You’ve done it again. Wow!! Every family member LOVED this. It does not get any easier then this!! I only had a 16oz jar on hand so I used that and it worked A-ok. The 13, 10, 4 year olds devoured this chicken! You have steered us in the right direction for dinner yet again!!
★★★★★
I am so glad you family enjoyed my verde chicken! I agree, it is such an easy recipe which really is half the battle. So happy you enjoyed it Lynn.
Since starting keto, I have been burned repeatedly by bad recipes from the hundreds of keto blogs around, so this was a welcome–and delicious–surprise. Yes, it’s pretty simple and foolproof, which is why I tried it, but it’s still excellent and something I’ll definitely make again. My broiler is pretty strong, so I needed to turn/remove after 3.5-4 minutes.
★★★★★
I absolutely love to hear that it was simple to make and foolproof Ana! Shouldn’t all recipes be like that? Thanks so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it.
This recipe is OMG good and SO easy!!!!!!!! Before this recipe I shied away from chicken thighs bc I’ve rarely ever cooked with them, but their juicy & flavorful taste won me over big time! Have made this twice and my dad requested I make this for him once a month. We enjoy it with tacos and there’s NEVER leftovers because it’s so good ! Try this recipe now!
★★★★★
I love to hear that it turned out juicy and flavorful for you Brittany. Even better that your dad wants you to make it once a month. That is fantastic!
We love this recipe! It’s on repeat in our house. So simple, delicious and healthy! It’s a must try for sure! The veggies and cauliflower rice go perfectly with it topped with guac or avocado!
★★★★★
So glad to hear it was delicious, simple and healthy Amy. Pairing it with cauliflower rice and veggies makes a perfect meal.
These was so tasty and great for meal prep! Trader Joe’s salsa verde is the best.
So glad you liked it Cynthia!