How to Roast Frozen Bone-In Chicken Leg Quarters (Bonus Low-Carb, Gluten-Free basting sauce and side dish)

At usually 80 cents a pound, chicken leg quarters are one of the most affordable cuts of meats you can buy at a super market. Also, it's incredibly easy to prepare--neither defrosting the chicken, nor preheating the oven is necessary to make a delicious roast chicken in under an hour and thirty minutes. I can't even remember the number of times I forgot to defrost chicken for dinner. My horrible memory is the only reason this recipe even exists. I guess there's always a silver lining.

Above, I basted my chicken with a mixture of cumin, chili powder, and olive oil, but a simple brush of oil, salt, and pepper works perfectly as well. I served it with Laing--a curry-spiced stewed spinach. The recipe for that is below.

This recipe serves 6, with each serving of a whole bone in chicken leg quarter totaling 2.5 grams of carbs. The entire cooking time is about 1 hour and 20 minutes. The curry-spiced spinach comes at about 1.75 grams of carbs per serving.


Ingredients (serves 6)

• 6 neglected, frozen chicken leg quarters

Ingredients for Cumin basting sauce (optional, serves 6)

• 1/2 c olive oil
• 1 c chicken stock 
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tsp chili powder

1. Put the chicken thighs on a wire rack with a pan attached underneath to catch the juices. Place the chicken in a cool oven and then turn the oven on to 425 degrees F. Put the timer on for 25 minutes.
2. Once the timer beeps, flip all the chicken pieces and put the timer on for another 25 minutes. 
3. After the 25 minutes are up, flip the chicken right side up. In a sauce pan over medium heat, mix and heat together the olive oil, chicken stock, cumin, and chili powder. Let this mixture simmer for 10 minutes. 
4. Using tongs, dunk each piece of chicken into the sauce mixture and set back on the rack. Bake for 10 minutes. Afterwards, dunk each chicken thigh into the sauce a second time, place them back into the oven, setting the timer for another 10 minutes. 
5. Take the chicken out of the oven and cover with a foil tent. Let rest for 5-10 minutes, then serve. 

Nutritional Info (for the entire recipe)

Calories: 1012 calories

Total fat: 160 grams

Total carbs: 3 grams

Dietary fiber: 0 grams

Net carbs (entire recipe): 3 grams 

Protein: 123 grams

Ingredients for Curried Spinach AKA Laing (serves 4)

• 6 c baby leaf spinach
• 6 strips bacon
• 1/4 c onion
• 1/2 tbsp to 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 c unsweetened coconut milk (or unsweetened almond milk)
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Mince the bacon and add it to a large hot pan on medium-high heat. When it's natural grease renders out, add the onion. 
2. Once the bacon crisps up, dump all of the spinach into the pan, add the curry powder, and saute the spinach until it wilts. 
3. Add the cold coconut milk. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and let the spinach stew in the coconut milk for about 10 to 15 minutes. 

Nutritional Info (for the entire recipe)

Calories: 672 calories

Total fat: 36 grams

Total carbs: 14 grams

Dietary fiber: 7 grams

Net carbs (entire recipe): 7 grams 

Protein: 29 grams