This high-protein chicken dinner (full of cauliflower and olives) is a wonderful Paleo one pot meal.
This hearty, grain-free, savory Paleo dinner dish is a hit with adults and teens alike in our house. I often serve it with a Spinach Salad for a filling, vegetable heavy dinner.
While we eat chicken once or twice per week, I also try to serve the boys (all 3 of them) steak each week as that is their favorite dinner. They are more than happy when I serve them grilled steak with a side of Mashed Cauliflower and Carrot Fries. For now though, back to chicken! Here’s our new favorite recipe.
Chicken with Cauliflower and Olives
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1 bunch fresh thyme sprigs
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- zest of 1 lemon (use a microplane zester )
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted
- 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Rinse chicken breasts and pat dry with a paper towel
- Spread thyme sprigs evenly in the bottom of a 7 x 11 inch baking dish
- Place chicken over thyme sprigs and scatter cauliflower around chicken
- In a small bowl, combine shallot, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon zest and juice, olives and garlic
- Pour lemon mixture over chicken and cauliflower
- Refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight
- Bake at 400° for 45-55 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and cauliflower is well browned
- Serve
This recipe was adapted from a Real Simple recipe as well as a food.com recipe. What is your favorite way to prepare chicken?
Here are some of my other favorite Paleo chicken recipes:
- Perfect Roast Chicken
- Roasted Chicken with Olives and Prunes (for Paleo use honey instead of agave)
- Chipotle Orange Chicken (for Paleo use honey instead of agave)
Heidi Harris says
I’m using skinless, bone IN chicken breasts. Does that change the cook time?
Elana says
Heidi, I haven’t tried that so not sure. If you do experiment please let us know how it goes :-)
Michele says
Bone in meat always takes longer but it would be hard to guess how long to add exactly. My guess is an additional 15-20 minutes at 400F.
The problem I see using bone-in breasts with this dish is that the cauliflower is browned a bit at the end of the normal cooking time. It definitely wouldn’t need an additional 15-20 minutes to cook alongside the bone-in chicken. So you might have to add in in part the way through (maybe reserving half of the liquid for the cauliflower/olive mix) so it doesn’t get overcooked. Or you could just cook in two separate pans. But that would take up more space in your fridge for the marinate.
catharine says
Can I make this with chicken thighs?
Elana says
Catherine, I haven’t tried that so not sure.
Jennifer says
One of my new favorites!
I substituted French green olives and added a TBS of Dijon mustard.
Love, love love.
Susan Scoffin says
This has fast become one of my favourite recipes of all time…my daughter pretty much follows a Paleo diet and loves your website and has made number of the recipes. She suggested we try this recipe…it is absolutely delicious and the textures and aromas of ingredients are a pleasure to work with even before it goes in the oven. I love that the olives come out a bit roasted and are amazing!
randi says
This was super delicious. I didn’t have enough cauliflower on hand so added some sweet potatoes and artichokes. So good. The sauce poaches the chicken and it is sublime.
Jennifer Finn says
Delicious! I must confess: I am terrible at following directions, so I cut up the chicken. It was great, and convenient for my young kids, but will try to follow next time to compare results. thanks for another great recipe, Elana!
mpskate@hotmail.com says
Delicious!!! And I quote from my girlfriend, “its like a party in my mouth” ☺ I surprised her and she loved it! Thanks!!! She already amazon primed your book. Next is pizza muffins. Thank you for helping me score points. ?
Toni says
I have another cauliflower recipe I love which incorporates apples, red onion, & rosemary. I have extra pears on hand, so I think I’m going to experiment with chicken, pears, red onions & rosemary. Thanks for the inspiration!
Lisa Cronin says
Absolutely delicious! A quick and easy dinner recipe. My new favorite go to! Thank you Elana!
Courtney McAllister says
I am batch cooking before baby arrives. Would you recommend fully cooking, then freezing and reheating when needed or freeze raw and cook fully when ready?
Elana says
Courtney, i haven’t tried that. If you do please stop back by and let us know how it goes. And congratulations in advance!
Trisha says
Also curious how many it serves. Planned to make for 9 adults on Rosh Hashanah and it doesn’t look to feed that many. Also curious how it doesn’t dry out with that long a cooking time??
Elana says
Hi Trisha, thanks for your comment and Happy New Year! I’ve updated the recipe above, it serves 4 :-)
Rickk says
These are chicken cutlets? They didn’t dry out cooking that long?
Elana says
Rickk, these are whole boneless skinless chicken breasts and this dish is juicy and delicious! Perfect for the holidays :-)
Sandra says
How many chicken breast come in the 1 pound package you are purchasing? Are you getting four or two? Thanks!
Elana says
Hi Sandra, it varies depending on the size/weight of the chicken breasts, but the number will not affect the outcome of this recipe.
liz afshar says
I love this but i did add dijon and quartered red onion in with the mix
Valerie Koch (@valerie_koch) says
Wow–this was delicious! I roasted a whole chicken and used marjoram instead of thyme, because I didn’t have any. The kids even loved the cauliflower. Amazing. Thanks!
Sheila Perl says
I have just printed out the recipe and am on my way to the kitchen to get the chicken out of the freezer! Wow, I even have the olives in the fridge :) Sounds wonderful!
Alice says
This was super easy to make and delicious!!!! My family loved it!!!! Thanks!!!!
Alycia says
This looks amazing, but just curious… the chicken doesn’t get overcooked? 45 minutes at 400 seems like a long time?
Emily says
I am brand new to the Paleo diet (as in, I’m still researching and haven’t started yet), but it looks like a good option for me – and your recipes look great! I have very little time (and by very little I mean about 5 minutes) to cook on a daily basis, so I’d like to find meals that I can prep and freeze on my day off at the beginning of the week, and microwave to reheat each day. Any tips on which of your recipes (chicken, fish or veggies only) work well for that? So happy that I found this site!
Jessica Evans says
I’m going to make this with my new favorite condiment, preserved lemon. It’s super easy to make and adds an amazing flavor. Thanks for the recipe!
Marcia says
Thanks so much for this recipe, it has become a family favorite! I use a variety of olives in this, and do as another poster suggested by tossing the cauliflower with some of the marinade so that it gets coated with the oil mixture. I’ve also varied some of the herbs occasionally to experiment.
I saw someone else used Brussels sprouts – I’m going to borrow that idea!
Lisa says
Can anyone tell me how many this dish serves? I’m hosting 9.
Lisa says
Can anyone tell me how many this dish serve? I’m cooking for my book club and have 9 coming… Thanks!
Amelia says
We’ve had this for dinner twice now and hubby and both girls and I all love it! Thank you!
Cindy Beeley says
Elana–I am writing to tell you that this dish is one of my new all-time favorites! I have prepared it twice, and it is the most flavorful, happy on the tongue dish! It is company-worthy, and I am thankful for your having created and shared it!
Yeo says
Hi Elana,
I have used your recipe for preparing the chicken and it tastes really good. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Yeo
Eliza says
This was delicious, thank you for such a flavorful dish that my whole family devoured!
Mara says
This was asked but not answered. Do you cover this dish while cooking?
Jessica Evans says
Don’t cover it or the cauliflower won’t brown up properly.
Karen says
You do not need to cover the dish, but I did baste the chicken and cauliflower with the liquids a few times. Came out succulent and delicious! I also added a little white wine to the liquid before cooking. Was a big hit!
Audrey V says
This was wonderful, thankyou. If you think you don’t like cauliflower, try it this way, it is delicious. This was so good, I would serve it to company. And easy! I am not a fan of olives, so I just left them out. This recipe is going on my list of favorites!
vickie says
That is such a simple recipe. For working mums it is perfect quick dinner,lunch – you name it or even party dish.Love olives and cauliflower.
Amy says
Absolutely delicious! Thanks Elana!
Angela says
Thank you for this recipe. It was SO GOOD.
Carrie says
This was so yummy! Savory and moist – it was a big hit with everyone in the family from our 4,6,& 8 year old to even Dad who is not a big fan of cauliflower!
Becky Leppard says
This is a fabulous recipe, Elana! I am constantly looking for recipes that fit the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol which is no potatoes, tomatoes, chili and peppers, eggs and eggplant. So nice to find this yummy recipe. Also a good one for guests since so simple.
gigi says
Made recipe this weekend. It was really good. Added a few cherry tomatoes.
Valerie says
I made this tonight for my family and we loved it!! I also made a raw kale salad with mandarin oranges, sweet onions and a tangerine/fig balsamic dressing and it was so delicious together.
Judith says
Thank you soooooo much. A great Paleo casserole/one pot dish! I just wish there were more of these. Made it last night and loved it.
Toby says
This was my first post as a subscriber. Made it two days ago and the whole family, including 1.5 and 3.5 year olds, loved it. Thank you and looking forward to more awesome recipes!
Butterfly Bakery says
The recipe looks tasty & healthy!
Lisa says
This looks great! It’s very similar to a baked chicken dish I make with olives and lemons, but I’m looking forward to trying it with the cauliflower!
Ginny says
I made this for dinner tonight, and since I didn’t have any cauliflower on hand, I substituted Brussels sprouts. Which worked quite well, very yummy! Thanks for the great recipe Elana!
Becky says
Sensational recipe Elana. Cauliflower is such an understated vegetable. Difficult to get kids eating it but it works for me. Great texture if slightly undercooked. Of course, abandoning the carbs – the best recipe in the world is cauliflower cheese.
Rhoda says
I made this recipe for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I have already pre-ordered the cookbook. Thanks for this recipe.
Rick Nielson says
Thanks Elana, I love your site.
Alisa says
You solved my casserole dilemma!
Joe says
Ive been making a lot of chicken recently, but today I had chicken with dried chilies and salad. was really good! and simply to make!
jeangaijin says
This is in the oven right now! I can’t wait to taste it. I was so happy (and surprised) that I had all the ingredients on hand, as I’m usually missing one crucial thing when I see something I want to make right away.
I think next time I might add the cauliflower to the bowl with the marinade and toss it so that it gets coated and then add it to baking pan… although maybe it will soak up too much of the marinade that way. And I bet this would be REALLY good with some kind of firm white fish like scrod or hake. I wish it wasn’t going to take 45 more minutes to be done!!
ginger hawley says
Do you cover the dish while baking?
Lindsey says
this sounds like a great meal.
TN Farmette says
I love buffalo chicken in the crockpot. I wash and dry chicken breasts and lay them in the crock pot. I mix together 1/4 cup of homemade chicken broth with 2 cups of gluten free buffalo sauce. Top the chicken with the sauce and cook on low all day. It’s great paired with salad, Elana’s carrot fries or cajun sweet potato fries and paleo ketchup.
Julie Hansen says
This looks so good and a wonderful use for my farm box cauliflower. Thanks Elana!
Pat says
Can’t wait to try this! I’ve been making almond flour quiches with cauliflower. The addition of lemon and olives sounds wonderful. hmmm, may even try this as a sort of pot pie.
Carmen says
This looks so delicious! Thank you for another easy recipe that can become a staple. Does anyone know if the ‘zest of one lemon’ part means I go around the whole lemon with the grater? I am guilty of not adding lemon zest to recipes because I can never figure that out.
Lisa says
The zest of one lemon means exactly that. Take one lemon that you have washed and remove the yellow outer layer. DO NOT include any of the white pith; it is bitter. This can be done with a grater, but the easiest way is with a microplane; which is very sharp and can also be used for garlic, chocolate, etc. If you only need the lemon juice for a recipe, it’s a good idea to zest it before cutting and freeze the zest for another day.
Kate @ Eat, Recycle, Repeat says
I love roasted chicken, grilled whole chicken, and braised chicken thighs, but I think lemon or curry chicken in the crockpot wins for me!
Sylvia says
How do you make your curry chicken?
Ella says
This looks good – and healthy. I will definitely make this soon – I think on Wednesday. I can hardly wait!
Kathryn says
This will make my hubby happy. The olives and lemon sound perfect with the chicken and cauliflower and I love that it’s so simple. :-)