Something else you can try this weekend as a swap for fried chicken?

Wash and pat dry your chicken. Take off the skin (yes, please 😊) put your deskinned chicken in a pot with all your seasonings and then allow it to cook with its own juices.

We call this Steaming or Stew-Steaming in Nigeria but the professional chefs call it braising without oil or moist cooking.

This method uses the chicken’s natural moisture to cook it gently, which reduces fat and keeps the meat tender.

With this method, you have done a few things that makes this chicken a healthier option:

1) You removed the chicken skin which is where a lot of the fat lives 😊

Removing the skin from one chicken leg reduces calories by 30 – 40% and cuts the fat almost in half.

Let me show you:
Example (average values):
With Skin Without Skin
A chicken drumstick with skin is ~210 calories but without skin, is ~130 calories
A chicken thigh with skin is ~250 calories but without skin is ~170 calories.

In addition, removing the skin significantly reduces the amount of saturated fat, which, when eaten in excess over time, contributes to blocked blood vessels and increases the risk of heart disease.

So this simple step supports:
• Weight control (the reduced calories)
• Better cholesterol levels (remember the skin is where most of the fat is)
• Long-term heart health

Small tweaks like this are exactly how wellness becomes sustainable, not by removing foods, but by making smarter choices with what we already eat.

2) You did not add any oil. When you cook chicken in its own juices:
• Excess fat from the chicken melts out and stays in the pot, instead of going into your body
• Seasoning penetrates deeply leading to more flavour with less fat
• You avoid the oil-heavy finish that is typical of our fried chicken

Compared to frying:
• Fried chicken absorbs 3 – 6 tablespoons of oil
• That’s an added 300 – 600 calories just from oil
• Even ‘shallow frying’ adds unnecessary fat

This method avoids all of that. And the chicken is ready to serve with your food, once it’s cooked and done.

But if you want some extra ‘feferity’ 😊 and want to elevate the ‘steam-cooked chicken’ for maximum flavour (without extra fat).
After steaming the chicken, you can:
a) Put it on a hot frying pan and sear lightly (with 1 teaspoon oil or none at all). This is just to brown the outside. The flavour increases ×4 but fat stays minimal.
b) You can also do the same on a hot pan with pepper mix. It gives a grilled-like flavour without grill.
c) You can brush with pepper sauce and put under heat briefly

Are you going to try this or do you already do this?