Marinated and Baked Forbidden City Chicken
Marinated and Baked Forbidden City Chicken is a tasty low-carb dinner that’s loaded with amazing Asian flavors!
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This Marinated and Baked Forbidden City Chicken is a recipe I made when I first started blogging, and when I looked at the old version recently I decided it was overdue for new photos. Once I got started, I gave the recipe a little update too, because hey, I hope I’m a better cook now than I was then!
I’m using Monkfruit Sweetener here to keep it low in carbs, but even if you used regular brown sugar I wouldn’t worry much about the amount of sugar that clings to the chicken when it’s marinated like this. Remember, you’re only using the amount of the marinade that clings to the chicken, which isn’t much.
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Peanut Oil (affiliate link) (see notes)
- curry powder (affiliate link), I used Penzey’s I used Sweet Curry Powder)
- ground cinnamon (affiliate link)
- ginger puree (sold in small jars, or use fresh grated ginger root)
- garlic puree (sold in small jars, or use finely crushed fresh garlic)
- Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) (see notes)
- soy sauce or Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link)
- fresh-squeezed lemon juice, I used my fresh-frozen lemon juice
- canned chicken broth (affiliate link) or chicken stock
- green onions for garnish (optional)
Why is it called Forbidden City Chicken?
I adapted this recipe from one I found online years ago, and I don’t know why it was called Forbidden City Chicken! But I was lucky enough to visit Beijing in 2001 with my brother Rand, and we enjoyed seeing the Forbidden City.
Want more Keto Recipes for Chicken Breasts?
If you’d like to see more options, check out Keto Chicken Breast Recipes for more tasty dinners with chicken!
How to make Forbidden City Chicken:
(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)
- Heat the oil for about a minute over medium heat, then stir in all the marinade ingredients.
- Trim chicken and make slits crosswise down each breast if you want, then put chicken in a Ziploc bag and pour in marinade.
- Let marinate in refrigerator for 3-4 hours, or a bit longer won’t hurt. (These photos show half the amount in the recipe.)
- When you’re ready to cook the chicken, remove it from the marinade and place in a glass or crockery baking dish with the top side down, brushing each side with marinade.
- Let chicken come to room temperature while you preheat the oven to 325F/162C.
- When oven is heated, put chicken in and cook 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, turn chicken and brush both sides again with marinade, then put back in the oven.
- Cook for 10 minutes more, then brush the top side with the marinade that’s collected (not the leftover marinade) in the pan and cook 5-10 minutes more if needed.
- Chicken is done when the top is lightly browned and it feels firm (but not hard) to the touch; don’t overcook or it will be dry. Serve hot.
Make it a Low-Carb Meal:
Of course this is delicious with rice, but serve with Easy Cauliflower Rice, Spicy Baked Cabbage, Garlicky Green Beans Stir Fry, or Pan-Fried Broccoli with Pine Nuts and Parmesan for a low-carb meal!
More Asian Chicken Dinners:
Grilled Chicken Kabobs with Asian Marinade
Marinated and Baked Forbidden City Chicken
Marinated and Baked Forbidden City Chicken is a tasty low-carb dinner with interesting Asian flavors.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 3 T peanut oil (see notes)
- 1 tsp. Curry powder (I used Sweet Curry Powder)
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ginger puree (sold in small jars, or use fresh grated ginger root)
- 1 tsp. garlic puree (sold in small jars, or use finely crushed fresh garlic)
- 3 TÂ Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (see notes)
- 3 T soy sauce (see notes)
- 1 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 2 T chicken broth
- sliced green onions for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Heat oil in small pan for about 1 minute, then turn off heat.
- Whisk in curry powder, cinnamon, ginger, garlic, and sweetener of your choice.
- Add soy sauce, lemon juice, and chicken stock.
- Stir until well combined.
- Trim all visible fat and and tendons from chicken.
- Make small crosswise slits about 1/2 inch apart down the length of each chicken breast. (This allows the marinade to penetrate more.)
- Put chicken in Ziploc bag and pour marinade over.
- Marinate 3-4 hours in refrigerator.
- To cook, remove chicken from marinade and place top side down in glass or crockery dish (not metal) that you have sprayed with nonstick spray.
- Use a pastry brush to brush both sides of chicken with the marinade left in the plastic bag. (Save the rest of the marinade to brush one more time.)
- Let chicken come to room temperature while you preheat the oven to 325F/162C.
- When oven is heated, put chicken in and cook 20 minutes.
- Then remove from oven, turn chicken with top side up and brush with marinade you saved in the plastic bag. (Discard any unused marinade at this point.)
- Cook 10 minutes more.
- After 10 minutes, remove chicken again and brush with the marinade that’s collected in the pan and cook 5-10 minutes more, or until chicken is lightly browned and feels firm (but not hard) to the touch.
- Don’t overcook or chicken will be dry.
- Serve hot.
Notes
I’d use Lakanto Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) for this recipe, which I think comes the closest to brown sugar of any sweeteners I’ve tried. If you don't have Peanut Oil (affiliate link), use any neutral-flavored oil. I used Penzey's Sweet Curry Powder, but use any curry powder (affiliate link) you like the flavor of. Use Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link) for this recipe if needed.
This recipe adapted from a Junior League Cookbook I no longer have.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 304Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 102mgSodium: 778mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 38g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
With an approved sweetener this Marinated and Baked Forbidden City Chicken should be approved for low-carb and low-glycemic diets, including any phase of the original South Beach Diet.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Chicken Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for This Recipe:
This recipe was first posted in 2005! It was last updated in 2022.
33 Comments on “Marinated and Baked Forbidden City Chicken”
I found this recipe on a blog around 1999/2000 in an article with tons of ways to cook chicken when you get a good sale 🙂 I have been using a packet of either stevia or monkfruit sweetener in mine since I started keto/very low carb.
Also works well with chicken thighs and drumsticks and pork loin (cut it into 1/2-1″ medallions for a quick meal). Due to my health I marinade overnight and bake it in the oven (slow cooker is also an option). Everyone I have made it for loves it. Since I don’t do carbs anymore, I serve it with cauli rice.
So glad you have enjoyed it; thanks for the ideas!
Eliza, so glad you liked it. Love to know that this will work for a grilled recipe too.
Love it! I grilled it. Skipped the garlic and ginger and subbed in 1T of maple syrup for the sugar. Really good! Thank you!
Kate, so glad you liked it, and good to know that the Splenda packets will work. (And I see a typo in the recipe, it should say Splenda-Brown Sugar blend, arghh. Will fix right now)
Wow – I made this last night, along with "Wake-up-your-mouth Thai cucumber salad", and they both were amazing! I used one packet of Splenda in each recipe in place of any sugar, and I think it turned out great. I'll definitely make this again soon. Thank you for all the recipes!
Hi Michelle,
So glad you enjoyed the recipe enough that you wanted to take a picture. I can't think of any way to add a place where people can post photos to the blog though. Maybe you'll just have to post them on Facebook!
I made this a couple of nights ago and it's so delicious!!! This was my first recipe of yours to make and I can't wait to try more!!! I don't know if it's possible but I would love it if you could make a spot where we could put our own pictures of it up! It was so pretty I wanted to take a picture of it! Thanks so much again!
Anonymous, thank you! I always love hearing that people are enjoying the food.
Oh my goodness! This chicken is out of this world! So fragrant and delicious! My husband and I couldn't stop talking about it and can't wait to make it again! Thank you for your wonderful blog, Kalyn. Every recipe we've tried has beed fantastic! And we've tried so many! How is possible to eat such flavorful food and still lose weight? Honestly, your blog makes it easy and fun! I know you've heard it a million times but I have to say it again…YOU ROCK!!
That makes two of us who aren't that good at planning ahead! Glad to hear you liked it.
I just made a fast variant of this today to see if I'd like it (plus I'm not very good at planning ahead :))…anyways…..WOW !
I'm definitely making this the next time I have guests over.
Yum! This looks delicious. I love the name of the dish as well. Will try this soon!
I'm glad people are liking my updated version of this recipe. And I am laughing out loud at Mimi saying I'm a tidy cook! My dad used to say I was never happy unless every dish in the kitchen was dirty when I finished cooking, and no, I'm not really a tidy cook! (I do clean up the mess when I'm done though!)
That does look tasty. I like how the photos show how easy the prep work is. You must be a tidy cook, Kalyn!
This sounds delicious! I love giving makeovers to my old recipes too 🙂
Seems such a fabulously easy and delicious recipe. That finished dish photo makes it look especially yum!
wow oh wow… great sounding recipe… could be on the table tomorrow night!
I believe strongly that people should make their own food choices, so I'm not going to publish comments talking about health issues associated with agave nectar. (Obviously I wouldn't mention it in a recipe if I thought it was unhealthy.) I am aware that there's information circulating around the web claiming that Agave Nectar is as bad as high fructose corn syrup, but not all brands of agave nectar are produced in the same way, and I believe that agave nectar produced without chemicals is safe and doesn't contain chemical fructose.
I recently found a jar of ginger puree in the market and I love using it in marinades. This one combines many of my favorite ingredients, so I'm definitely bookmarking. I'm thinking that the chicken would be delicious cold, too, on sandwiches or for a picnic.
This recipe sounds great! Will have to try it! 🙂
Okay, I will definitely be making this for my family. The marinade looks so flavorful. How fun that you and Rand were able to experience Beijing together!
Just love the name 🙂 I still use your grilled chicken breast trick to this date (and more). Love!
Hands down the most delicious and unique chicken I have ever had. I passed the recipe on to several family members and they agree as well.
I was looking for something different to do with the chicken tonight….this sounds soo good. I can’t wait to try it.
Now that’s a delicious looking dish. Can’t wait to try it!
Thanks for sharing.
Kalyn- this picture speaks for itself! great dish!
thanks kalyn
bna – thanks for visiting.
Dolores, hi! Your first time leaving a comment. Wow.
Sam, I did edit to give more information about the Forbidden City. Thanks for the idea.
LisaSD – you have no idea! Actually I think I might have been African in another life. My house is all decorated in African art. For some reason that art just speaks to me. But yes, I do love the foods from all those places. Actually American food is probably my least favorite.
Kalyn–I think in another life you were Asian or Indian or middleastern…or at least you definitely have a taste for their food now. It’s fun to discover new flavors, isn’t it?
Our company holiday party last weekend was on the theme of the forbidden city. I confess, I dont even know which city it is, despite having been to the party (too much sake?). I would love to know a bit more about where this chciken dish got its name
I have an interesting variation. A cousin in Germany makes a spaetzle dish I love. Spaetzle is available here, but I’ve tried it with macaroni too. The cheese used is Emmentaler — a milder variety of Swiss — but the best part is the layer of fried onions covering the top. I haven’t ever written down quantities, unfortunately.
Wow — it’s not even 10:30 and now I’m ready for dinner!