Macaroon Crusted Chicken with Raspberry Dipping Sauce

I was going to post a recipe of my favorite flavor macaroon, the raspberry macaroon. But then I decided against it because there are sooooo many macaroon recipes floating around the Internet during this time of year and I figured the world didn’t need yet another version of the lovely Easter coconut cookie.

So I made raspberry macaroons in dinner form. Amen.

Plus it feels so naughty to feel like you’re eating dessert for dinner. If this is wrong, I don’t want to be right 😉

The best news is that this recipe even got the thumbs up from the picky kids I know – always a bonus. I’m pretty sure that naturally sweet, delicious raspberry sauce had something to do with it. But hey, sometimes you do what you gotta do.

And don’t count this out if a sweet fruity sauce isn’t your thing. Add in some chopped fresh herbs like thyme, sage, and/or rosemary to the raspberry sauce and it transforms to more of a gourmet, grown up tasting sauce.

This also makes a bangin’ salad if that’s more your style: Serve cut up coconut chicken tenders over a bed of fresh greens (add in some veggies, too!) and use the raspberry sauce for your dressing. Best. Salad. Ever. 

Macaroon Crusted Chicken with Raspberry Dipping Sauce

Serves 3+

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs chicken tenders

1 ½ – 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

3 egg whites

1/3 cup arrowroot powder

1/4 tsp each: garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper (if you want a kick, add in some cayenne pepper, too)

2 T coconut oil for frying

2 T butter or ghee or frying (I like to use both oil and butter for frying because it makes the coating perfectly golden brown, but feel free to just use oil if you wish)

For the raspberry dipping sauce:

1 ½ cup of raspberries, fresh or frozen

1 orange

2 T balsamic vinegar

2 T butter or ghee

optional add-in’s: freshly chopped thyme, sage, and/or rosemary, etc.

DIRECTIONS:

Combine the arrowroot and spices on a plate. Whisk your egg whites in a bowl until frothy. Put your shredded coconut on a separate plate.

Pat your chicken tenders dry. Coat them in the arrowroot powder. Then coat them in the egg white. Press them into the coconut flakes until the tenders are well coated.

Once all your tenders are all coated, put the coconut oil and butter into a skillet over medium heat. Place your tenders, a few at a time, into the skillet. Cook for a few minutes until the underside coconut is golden brown. Flip and continue cooking a few minutes until the other side is golden brown. Repeat with remaining tenders. You may need to add more oil/butter to the skillet. After each batch is done cooking get the burnt coconut flakes out of the skillet by using a spoon.

 For the raspberry dipping sauce:

Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice out of one half. Chop the other half of the orange in little pieces. Place the raspberries, fresh orange juice, orange pieces and balsamic in a pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add in your butter and stir until melted. Take off the heat and place the mixture in a heavy duty blender and blend for a few minutes until all the seeds are blended and the sauce is velvety smooth. If you want to add fresh herbs, add them in now. The sauce will thicken as it cools. Enjoy!