This carnivore-ish braised chicken with bacon and mushrooms is a very simple recipe that requires only a few ingredients but has a great depth of flavor from the shiitake mushroom, bacon, garlic, and onion.

Like other carnivore-ish recipes we create, you can put all the plant-based seasonings in a herb bag to lift it out later when cooking is done if you don’t want to eat the seasonings.

This is another wholesome and delicious dish that you can share with non-carnivore family members or visitors.

Ingredients

  • One whole chicken, cut into desired size chunks
  • 4 slices bacon, cut into 2-inch pieces
  • 12 medium dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in warm water for one hour
  • 4 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 1/4 brown onion, roughly chopped
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 4 cups light chicken stock
  • 2 lime or lemon leaves, thinly sliced
  • Tallow for frying

Note:

I’d like to practice eating nose-to-tail as much as I can and usually use whole chicken which weighs about 3 to 4 pounds. However, you can also substitute the whole chicken for chicken drumsticks with skin on or Chicken Maryland, if you like.

Instructions

Step 1

Heat a frying pan on high heat. Add 2 tbsp tallow and wait till it bubbles.

Sear the chicken pieces for 5 minutes per side or until golden. Transfer to a plate.

Please sear only a few pieces of chicken at a time. If you put too many pieces at once, they will start cooking in their own juice. You want them to brown nicely, not cooked.

Please get pasture-raised chickens if you can. They are better raised, with a better nutritional profile, and taste much better than factory-farmed chickens (more on this below).

Step 2

Add the chopped onion to the frying pan and sauté till well caramelized . Transfer to a plate (or a herb bag if you don’t want to eat the seasonings).

Sauté the chopped garlic till golden. Transfer to a plate (or the herb bag).

Fry the bacon on high heat till crisp. Wring the soaked mushrooms to get rid of all the water. Add to the fried bacon and fry for five minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Note: there will still be some fat in the frying pan after searing the chicken, but if your chicken is too lean, add a tablespoon of tallow to fry the onion and garlic.

Step 3

Place chicken, bacon, onion, garlic, and mushrooms in a Dutch oven. Add chicken stock and salt.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Braise for 1 to 4 hours. Lift out the herb bag and remove the mushrooms with a slotted spoon if you don’t want to eat these plant-based seasonings.

Transfer to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with lime leaves to garnish if desired.

Note on cooking time

Factory-farmed chickens will take about 1 hour to cook.

Pasture-raised chickens will take from 2 to 4 hours to cook.

Pasture-raised chickens are free to roam so they get a lot of exercise. They also forage and eat grass, bugs, insects, roots, seeds, and leaves that they find on the pasture and take a lot longer to reach market weight compared to factory-farmed chickens which are often force-fed.

As a result, they are generally a lot older than factory-farmed chickens by the time they are at the shop and their meat is tougher and leaner but also a lot more flavorsome.

I usually use pasture-raised chickens from a farmer I know and it often takes me 3 to 4 hours to reach the fork-tender state.

Pasture-raised vs factory-farmed chicken

If you can, please try to get genuine pasture-raised chicken, as mentioned above, they are a lot healthier to eat than factory-farmed chicken.

A comprehensive review by Compassion in World Farming finds that: [1]

  • Free-range and organic chickens have less fat than factory-farmed chickens
  • Chicken meat from slower-growing strains has less fat than that from fast-growing strains
  • Free-range and organic chicken meat has a higher proportion of omega-3 fatty acids
    than factory-farmed chickens
  • The meat of very slow-growing layer strains has a significantly higher proportion of omega-3
    compared with fast and medium growing strains, and the breast meat of these birds has a lower
    ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 and is particularly rich in long-chain omega-3, including DHA
  • Chicken meat from slower-growing strains and from birds reared organically contains more iron than meat from fast-growing strains and factory-farmed chickens.

If you can’t get pasture-raised chickens, you can still enjoy this delicious dish with your family occasionally if you wish.

Other recipes that you may be interested in:

Carnivore-ish Braised Pig Trotter Recipe

Carnivore Fish Fingers Recipe

Carnivore Pan-fried Salmon Recipe

Delicious and Nutritious Carnivore Meatloaf Recipe

Carnivore “Fried Rice” Recipe

Carnivore Beef Liver Strip Recipe

Carnivore Osso Buco Recipe

Carnivore-ish Slow Cook Whole Chicken Recipe


DisclaimerThe information in this post is for reference purposes only and not intended to constitute or replace professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified medical professional before making any changes to your diet or lifestyle.