Unless you abstain from meat, there's a probability that chicken is an integral part of your diet. Whether you're stopping by the Chick-fil-A drive-through or making chicken parm, the protein-rich meat is available anywhere and everywhere. In fact, poultry is the most consumed animal meat in the entire world (per Statista). For many people, cooking chicken at home starts with a trip to the supermarket to find the freshest, most tender cut of chicken available. Then begins the process of tenderizing, marinating, searing, and baking until you get a juicy, flavorful piece of chicken. However, some don't have the time or the skillset to perfect the art of cooking chicken. One solution? Canned chicken.
Canned meat is one of those wartime, great-depression-era meals that we love to hate. While eating canned chicken is a meme-worthy offense, there's not much difference between eating fresh and canned chicken. Of course, you don't have to tell that to Jackie Hartlaub, the TikTok food influencer who went viral for using canned chicken as a pizza crust. Resourceful as it was, the people in the comments were alarmed.
Hartlaub, who is known as @lowcarbstateofmind, shares recipes and kitchen hacks with an emphasis on low-carb ingredients. With over 6 million followers, the TikTok chef offers a well of knowledge to those in search of a low-carb lifestyle. Pizza is an infamously carb-heavy meal, and unless you're planning to turn it into energy with a workout, it can lead to unwanted weight gain (per Healthline). What better place to find low-carb pizza alternatives than Hartlaub's TikTok page?
Her solution is simple: combine a can of chicken with parmesan cheese, one egg, and Italian herbs. Whisk it together, flatten it into a dough-like shape, bake it, and voila! You have yourself a high-protein, zero-carb pizza crust. However, the comments were less inspired by her inventive bravado and more so concerned with the concept of canned chicken. Some snarky users wrote comments like, "What in the America is a can of chicken??" and "You'll literally never convince me to buy a can of chicken." That being said, one canned chicken crusader came to its defense adding, "Can we remove the stigma around canned foods? Preserving food shouldn't be seen as a bad thing. Especially with how wasteful the world is." The creator clarified in the comments that the crust can be made with fresh chicken as well.
Despite your stance on canned chicken, it's perfectly safe to eat — and you have to admit, it makes for a pretty creative pizza hack.