The Ultimate Paleo Chicken Recipes List
Post by Lucha: World traveler turned culinary student, Lucha will try most food but prefers Indian, Thai and Mexican food above all else. She is currently either cooking, eating, grocery shopping, or browsing recipes on Pinterest.
Nothing is more popular than chicken. It’s so versatile and so yummy. And it fits perfectly in a variety of Paleo dishes.
That’s why I put together this ultimate list of chicken recipes, which are the absolute best I’ve found on the Internet. Enjoy!
The TOP 2 Paleo Chicken Recipes
1. Grain Free Buffalo Chicken Waffles
This is much more than a simple Paleo chicken recipe. It’s Chicken and Waffles! Are you excited yet? You should be. Marlina (who let us use her image from her GirlMeetsPaleo blog) created this concoction as a spur of the moment idea, but it’s definitely got lasting appeal. Chicken and waffles are already delicious, but with added buffalo sauce? Pure brilliance. It calls for butter, ghee, or an oil of your choice, so you can go with the dairy or not with very little difference.
2. Maple Dijon Chicken
This recipe was created when a freezer failed, and a bunch of chicken needed to be cooked quickly and easily. But I think you’ll agree that the result is much better than just a “quick” recipe. The simple combination of pure maple syrup with Dijon mustard creates an irresistible tangy and sweet mixture that pairs perfectly with chicken breasts or even thighs. Very versatile and delicious.
Paleo Flourish Chicken Recipes
We have also published several creative Paleo chicken recipes on our own site.
1. Paleo Garlic Chicken Nuggets
2. Paleo Buffalo Wings
3. Paleo Chicken Kiev
4. Paleo Crispy Garlic Curry Chicken Drumsticks
5. Homemade Thai Chicken Soup
6. Chicken and Apple Sausages – Guest Post at PaleOMG
7. Paleo Thai Chicken and Rice
Paleo Buffalo Chicken Recipes
1. Paleo Buffalo Chicken
Buffalo chicken is almost Paleo to begin with, but typically, the wings or thighs are coated in butter. If you’re good with dairy, then that’s not a problem, but for anyone looking for dairy-free versions, this recipe is an excellent starting point. It’s very simple and uses olive oil instead of the traditional butter, but you really can’t tell too much difference.
2. Buffalo-Chicken Meatloaf
I really love this Paleo chicken recipe, mostly because I love meatloaf and I love spicy seasoning. So combining them together is a win-win in my book. If you’re buying prepared buffalo sauce (which is called for in this recipe), I’d be extra careful of the ingredients, as many such sauces contain added sugar, sometimes canola oil, and other ingredients you’re much better off avoiding.
3. Skinny Buffalo Chicken Strips
I haven’t tried these Buffalo Chicken Strips, but they deserve a mention. They are incredibly simple to make, they contain only pure Paleo ingredients, and the spice mixture is superb.
4. Loaded Buffalo Chicken Casserole
I like all of the recipes on this list, but I love this one. It’s partially just personal preference, but the combination of creamy coconut cream (a bit redundant – I know), salty and delicious bacon (also redundant), and spicy and tart hot sauce is really flavorful and smart. Because it’s a casserole, the end result doesn’t always look as pretty as some other dishes, but the flavor is amazing.
5. Buffalo Wings
Bill and Hayley’s buffalo wings are as simple and easy as possible. Just 3 ingredients, although you need to make the buffalo sauce ahead of time. Simple but excellent.
Primal Chicken Recipes (these recipes contain some dairy as indicated)
1. Grilled Chicken With White Asparagus & Eggplant (Butter/Ghee)
This is really an entire meal rather than just a Paleo chicken recipe, but I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Using Ghee and Dijon mustard, this recipe creates a tender and creamy chicken, along with beautiful accompaniments of, obviously, asparagus and eggplant.
2. Chicken And Roasted Green Chile Stew (Heavy Cream)
I haven’t made this particular recipe, but I’ve made ones very similar, and they work out well pretty much 100% of the time. Or maybe I just love flavorful stews… In either case, you should definitely give this one a go. If you wanted to make it without the dairy, I’m pretty sure you could just leave out the cream and have a less creamy stew, which would likely turn out almost as well.
3. Balsamic Bacon Blue Cheese-Stuffed Almond-Crusted Chicken (Blue Cheese)
If you’re new to being Paleo, then breaded meats are probably something you still remember very fondly. Heck – even I still remember them very fondly. This Paleo chicken recipe has you covered. It’s not 100% Paleo, since it’s stuffed with blue cheese (which I used to love), but if you digest cheese ok, then it’s worth a try (or 5). The almond breading is always a little different than bread crumbs, but it’s an excellent re-creation.
4. Paleo Chicken Piccata By Quarter Life Crisis Cuisine (Butter/Ghee)
Another slightly breaded Paleo chicken recipe, this one is very reminiscent of many dishes I’ve had in Italy. It’s cooked with white wine and lemon and makes use of parsley and capers, all subtle flavors that provide a very complex and understated experience.
5. Juicy Ranch Chicken (Butter)
You’ll first need to make your own ranch seasoning, which is a different recipe on this site, but I know that there are a ton of you who love ranch-flavored chicken dishes. Personally, I’ve never really liked ranch dressing or ranch flavoring, so I’m not an impartial observer on this one. But it looks great… 🙂
6. Smooth and Creamy Chicken Liver Pate (Butter)
It’s my thought that Paleo chicken recipes don’t just need to be the muscle of the chicken. They can also include the organs, which are the more nutritious portions anyway. This particular recipe makes use of the liver to create an awesome pate. Plus, even though it calls for butter, it’s really only a topping for the pate, so you can easily just leave it out if you prefer.
7. Chicken Cutlets With Garlic-Lemon Sauce (Ghee)
Some chefs really test out alternatives to gluten and wheat. This recipe is a bright example of that. Instead of just coating the chicken cutlets with almond meal or almond flour (a favorite tactic), this recipes uses a mixture, consisting partially of arrowroot flour and coconut flour, which gives a much better texture.
8. Buffalo Chicken Wing Pizza- Cauliflower Crust (Yogurt & Blue Cheese)
Most of us miss pizza. Especially after a night with a bit of alcohol, right? There are other great Paleo pizza recipes out there, but this one is pretty darn good. It’s got a fair amount of dairy (between the yogurt and blue cheese), but if that’s your thing, go for it. Also, although no pizza is the same without cheese, you could easily do this one without, if for no other reason than the buffalo sauce and bacon add a lot of flavor.
9. Husband’s Favorite Chicken Tetrazzini (Butter/Ghee)
This Paleo chicken recipe is really more of a pasta recipe, but I don’t hear anybody complaining. It’s creamy and delicious without the dairy (apart from butter and/or ghee, and you know that we now consider ghee to be 100% Paleo). Made with spaghetti squash, it’s delectable.
10. The Best Paleo Chicken Wings (Butter)
I’ve picked a lot of chicken wings for this list, but it’s partially because I know that I’m not the only one who loves them. This recipe – like many others – uses butter, but it’s relatively easy to substitute out with only minimal change in flavor. It also uses soy sauce, which is a big plus for me. There’s a note about soy sauce containing gluten, which is often true, but it’s pretty easy these days to find ones that are gluten-free.
11. Chicken Enchilada Casserole (Cheese)
When I first saw this enchilada recipe, the photos made me so hungry that I actually took a break from writing this post to get a snack. That’s how good it looks. To be fair, it contains cheese, which I almost never eat (and only then when it’s raw), but the enchiladas would be great even without the cheese. It’s a bit of work to make the cauliflower tortillas, but totally the thing to do.
12. Healthy Chicken A La King (Butter & Cream Cheese)
I’ve had readers request Paleo versions of this recipe, but to be honest, I’ve actually never had the non-Paleo version. Doesn’t mean it I wouldn’t like it, though. Grass-Fed Mama made this version, and I’m determined to try it in the near future. I love pretty much any recipe that contains this many herbs and spices.
13. Creamy Chicken Lazone (Butter & Cream)
I didn’t include an image from this recipe, but perhaps I should have. Just seeing how the finished product looks does all the talking that is necessary. Garlic, onion, and chili powder, along with a bit of dairy (butter and cream) make this chicken incredibly moist and flavorful (and almost irresistible).
Fast Paleo Chicken Recipes (All Under 30 Minutes Total)
1. Chopped Chicken Livers
Melissa Joulwan is a genius, and if you don’t know her by now, you should be following her. This is yet another example – albeit a pretty simple one. Her argument is a sound one. Chicken liver is incredibly healthy, and by combining it with eggs and a few herbs and spices, you can make it ridiculously delicious. (And then place it on apples as in the photos she took.) Too good.
2. Italian Artichoke Chicken With Asparagus
This one actually works well with either chicken or fish. Two recipes for one, as it were. And one very good reason to include this recipe in your repertoire is that not enough recipes use artichokes. Just saying.
3. Gluten-Free Chicken Strips (KFC style!)
I miss fast food. But really it’s just the convenience I miss, because as this recipe proves, you can always recreate any food that you could get at a fast food restaurant.
4. Coconut-Chili Fried Chicken
After going Paleo, I’ve rarely ever deep-fried anything, but this Paleo chicken recipe is essentially a deep-frying recipe, using coconut oil, of course. The chicken is coated with almond flour and flavored with spices, but the point is that if you’re looking for that deep-fried texture and flavor, this is it.
5. Grilled Chicken With Strawberry Basil Sauce
Strawberry Basil sauce should be all that you need to know. Gina from Running to the Kitchen (who created this Paleo chicken recipe and also let us use her photo) also included a fantastic story with this recipe that I think many of you might be able to relate to. Read it and then make the recipe!
Paleo Chicken Breast Recipes
1. Garlic Lemon Chicken Breast
A very summer-y and refreshing chicken dish. I also love the suggestion to chop a bunch of veggies once a week ahead of time to avoid the rush at mealtime. My kind of tip.
2. Italian Artichoke Chicken With Asparagus
It’s a bit of alliteration to include both artichokes and asparagus in the same recipe, but word-play aside, it’s a wonderful combination. This is more of a casserole than anything else, but it’s quite a colorful site in the end, which is rare for many chicken dishes.
3. Crispy Chicken Tenders With Creamy Avocado Sauce
Crispy and Creamy. You don’t find many recipes that do both of those things well. But this one does. The creamy comes from an avocado sauce that is spread over chicken tenders made crispy with coconut flour.
4. Paleo Hawaiian Crockpot Chicken (Coconut Sugar)
A fantastically salty and sweet chicken recipe that’s created very simply in a slow cooker with coconut aminos and pineapple. We typically add pineapple to pork dishes, but it goes just as well with chicken.
5. Chicken Vindaloo: How To Make Curry With Only 5 Ingredients (Yogurt Optional)
6. Easy 5 Ingredient Roast Chicken
TheStoneSoup.com is a superb website that I think everybody should follow regularly. I love almost everything I see on this site. Her chicken vindaloo dish is made with just 5 ingredients, and yet it’s packed full of flavor. Grass-Fed Girl is another site you should be following. Her recipe also requires just 5 ingredients, slightly different, but just as delicious.
Whole Chicken Paleo Recipes
1. Apple Roasted Chicken
From apple cider vinegar to apple butter to apple cider, this recipe is all about the apple. It’s typically made with an entire chicken, but any parts of leftover chicken are fine as well. Chances are, you won’t have any leftovers after making this.
2. Mexican Spiced Roast Chicken
This recipe was created in honor of one of the biggest Mexican holidays, Dia de los Muertos. It’s flavored with traditional Mexican spices, including paprika and chili powder. As one of the few Mexican-inspired chicken recipes, it has earned its place on this list.
4. Simply Perfect Roast Chicken
I thought about only including one or two roast chicken recipes, but even the slight differences make them all worth including. This is one of the most traditional recipes, based on lemon, onion, garlic, and rosemary. And traditions are generally traditions for a good reason.
5. Roasted Chicken With Apples And Sweet Potatoes
This recipe has ghee/clarified butter, so if you’re very intolerant of dairy, you’ll need to alter it a bit. However, it’s worth altering, because the apples and sweet potatoes add a sweet and starchy component to the chicken dish that is deliciously complementary.
Chicken Salad Paleo Recipes
1. Paleo Chicken Caesar Salad
Anytime you have an 11-year old raving about a salad as the best you’ve ever made, you know it’s a pretty good recipe to keep making. That’s the experience that occurred with this Paleo Chicken Caesar Salad recipe, which recreates a Paleo dressing from entirely Paleo ingredients.
2. Strawberry Chicken Salad
Strawberries and mustard are the heart of this salad (in addition to the pulled chicken). The dish comes together as a sweet and tart mixture that still features the chicken.
3. Avocado Chicken Salad
I’ve never loved traditional salads, but I used to love salads that made generous use of mayo, such as egg salad and tuna salad. This Avocado Chicken Salad is Paleo and doesn’t make use of Mayo, but the texture and flavors are similar, largely as a result of avocadoes and lime (also reminiscent of guacamole).
Asian-Inspired Paleo Chicken Recipes
1. Paleo Sweet And Sour Chicken
A beautiful chicken recipe that uses pineapple and maple syrup for the sauce, and tapioca flour for the “breading.” Excellent and something I want to make over and over again.
2. Paleo Goan Chicken Curry And Cauliflower Rice
An excellent rendition of a typical south Asian dish. The rice is replaced with cauliflower, and turmeric and garam masala are the flavor stars.
3. Chicken Tagine With Preserved Citrus
Technically, tagine is the name of the cooking dish that is used to make recipes like this. However, you don’t really need one – as stated in this recipe, a Dutch oven works just fine. Saffron is something I’d like to use a lot more often, as this recipe reminds me (even though I still find saffron ridiculously expensive).
4. Chicken Almond Ding
If you’ve never had a “Ding,” then welcome to the club. Nor had I. But it’s really not much more than a delicious stir-fry with a bit of coconut flour mixture for coating. (And yes, if you remember, peas are Paleo!)
5. Sriracha Lime Chicken Skillet
I had to include two recipes on this list from RunningToTheKitchen.com, because they’re both so superb. This Paleo chicken recipe uses one of my all-time favorite sauces (Sriracha). If you’re buying sriracha in a store, it will almost never be Paleo, so you really need to make your own, but there are lots of great Paleo recipes out there for it (including one on nomnompaleo.com).
6. Chicken Adobo From The Philippines
As you know already, I love Asian-inspired dishes. However, I eat very little Philippine food, mostly just because I haven’t been exposed to it a lot (not because I dislike anything about it). If you want to try a dish that is reminiscent of and inspired by Philippine cuisine, this is a good place to start.
7. Chicken Larb
When I first saw this recipe, I thought maybe they’d misspelled “lard” and written “larb.” My own ignorance… Larb is a Thai minced meat salad, and it’s just really great. The combination of lime, chili-garlic sauce, and fish sauce is simply perfect.
Paleo Chicken Organ Recipes
1. Organ Love: Simple Marinated Chicken Hearts
This might be something you’re unwilling to try at first, but I encourage you to give it a bit more thought. Chicken hearts are quite delicious to begin with (we often eat them at Brazilian barbecue restaurants). With a little oil and spices, this recipe makes them even more desirable. Just try it.
2. BBQ Chicken Livers And Hearts
The second-easiest recipe on the list, requiring just a grill and some basic spices. If you’ve never grilled organ meats, I beg you to give it a try. Liver, in particular, is incredibly healthy, and you’ll probably like it a lot more than you think.
Other Awesome Paleo Chicken Recipes
1. One-Pan Crispy Chicken Legs & Brussels Sprouts
Gina, like me, though Brussels Sprouts were evil when she was a kid. Thankfully, both of us have come full-circle at this point in our lives. And that’s good for you, too, because it allowed Gina to create this fantastic recipe, which uses just one pan and a bunch of delicious ingredients, including both chicken and Brussels sprouts.
2. Chicken Pot Pie {Grain Free}
A fantastic creation. I don’t always love trying to recreate dishes that I ate before going Paleo, but sometimes it’s just too much fun to resist. And chicken pot pie is one of those dishes from childhood that so many us grew up eating (myself included). This one is made with a coconut flour crust, which is a little bit more crumbly, but still superb.
3. Poblano Chicken Chowder
As the first soup on this list (there aren’t many), it’s a decidedly autumnal recipe, relying on starchy tubers like carrots and turnips. The cauliflower cooks down to thicken the soup, and the rest of the ingredients add a lot of flavor.
4. Pan Fried Chicken
If you like, you can actually make this version of pan-fried chicken quite spicy by using even more paprika and cayenne pepper than the recipe calls for. It’s what I’d do, and I know I’m not the only one who loves a good, spicy chicken every once in a while.
5. Every Day Shredded Chicken
The reason this chicken recipe is called “Every Day” is not just because it’s good enough to eat that often, but also because it requires just 10 minutes of prep. It’s an additional 45 minutes of cooking, but that’s all just anticipation.
6. Honey Roasted Chicken Wings & Real Food On A Budget EBook Update
I didn’t include very many recipes on this list that are on the sweeter side (even though traditional chicken recipes frequently include a honey barbecue or honey mustard dressing). I tend to shy away from the extra sugar, even if made with raw honey or maple syrup. However, if you want to give a sweeter recipe a try, here are 3 good recipes for you.
7. Mediterranean Baked Chicken
I used to HATE olives. There are few things I disliked less. I still won’t eat them by themselves. However, even I love them when used as part of a good dish, and this Paleo chicken recipe fits the bill, using the olives for added texture and flavor, which makes a huge difference.
8. Proscuitto Wrapped Rosemary Chicken Thighs
It may sound like blasphemy to some of you, but I actually prefer wrapping most things in Prosciutto rather than bacon. I love bacon, but the softness and even fattier nature of prosciutto is irresistible to me. If you’re anything like me, then I’d be doing you a disservice to not include at least one recipe that wraps chicken in prosciutto, so here it is.
2 Ingredient, Slow Cooker Peach BBQ Chicken
The simplicity of this recipe makes it a family favorite. You’ll get to taste real, fall-off-the-bone chicken with superb flavors that’ll leave you wanting more.