Chicken with Cauliflower and Olives

March 4, 2013
108
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This high-protein chicken dinner is a wonderful paleo one pot meal. Chicken with Cauliflower and Olives is also bursting with the gorgeous flavors of lemon and thyme.

This hearty, grain-free, savory paleo dinner recipe is a hit with our entire family, and as you can see is an all time fan favorite. I often serve this 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, which also go very well with this paleo chicken recipe.

Chicken with Cauliflower and Olives

Ingredients
Serves:
4
Print Recipe
  • 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
  1. Rinse chicken breasts and pat dry with a paper towel
  2. Spread thyme sprigs evenly in the bottom of a 7 x 11 inch baking dish
  3. Place chicken over thyme sprigs and scatter cauliflower around chicken
  4. In a small bowl, combine shallot, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon zest and juice, olives and garlic
  5. Pour mixture over chicken and cauliflower
  6. Refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight
  7. Bake at 400°F for 45-55 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and cauliflower is well browned
  8. Serve
Delicious!!! And I quote from my girlfriend, "it's like a party in my mouth," I surprised her and she loved it! Thank you for helping me score points. ?
— MP

I combined and adapted recipes from Real Simple and food.com to create this easy paleo chicken dinner recipe. I hope you love this dish as much as we do. It's so festive that I think it's perfect for the Jewish holidays. I serve it over the High Holy Days, as well as Passover. It's a great holiday dish because it's so easy to prepare, but makes such an impressive presentation.

Here are some of my other favorite paleo chicken recipes!

Comments

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108 responses to “Chicken with Cauliflower and Olives”

  1. This one has it all: flavor, easy to prepare and nutrition. Easy enough to make during the week, yet I wouldn’t hesitate to serve this to my most discriminating guests.

    The only thing I change is to not add extra salt and rinse the kalamatas in a strainer to cut down on the saltiness even more. It’s perfection otherwise. I make this all the time, and everyone I know loves this dish.

    Reply

  2. Loved this meal. Great way to cook all in one pan- you get your protein and veggies with an awesome marinade. I misread the directions and only marinated for 30 minutes and the recipe still came out delicious! Great way to celebrate Rosh Hashanah

    Reply

  3. I want to give a belated note of thanks for this recipe. About four years ago, I started making this as a healthy staple meal for my wife and I, and by now I must have cooked it forty or fifty times. It’s an easy go-to recipe for us, so thanks for sharing it. I do make a few alterations, which I want to recommend: I strip the thyme leaves and discard the stems when I have time, I tenderize the chicken breasts and cut them in half, and I add a quarter tsp. of crushed red pepper to the olive mix. Thanks again for this easy and healthy meal!

    Reply

    • Aaron, I’m so happy to hear you and your wife are enjoying this recipe, and that you’ve made it forty or fifty times!

      Reply

  5. Made this dish tonight with sliced tomatoes and sauteed sugar snap peas. Both my husband and I loved it. Happened to have plenty of fresh thyme, yet not so much time, but even letting it sit for 30 minutes still produced a winner. Only difference was I used thighs rather than breasts. Still, a great dish all around.

    Reply

  6. Made this dish last night. I will admit, I was skeptical – the flavour combination seemed too subtle to make for a tasty dish….I couldn’t have been more wrong! It’s amazing how the bed of thyme infuses the entire dish. I made this with bone-in chicken thighs and put them into the oven for 15 minutes before adding cauliflower tossed in olive oil and sea salt, everything came out beautifully. The lemon keeps it fresh while the cauliflower adds a nice sweetness from the caramelization in the oven. All in one dish! A keeper!!!!

    (And my kids gobbled it up too!)

    Reply

  7. Love this recipe. We add sliced almonds during last 10 minutes. Adds a little crunch and great flavor addition

    Reply

  9. This was the first recipe of yours that I tried since deciding to ditch grains and go Paleo. It.Was.Delicious!!! My husband and I were in love! I will be making this one of my staple dishes from here on out! Thank you so much! Can’t wait to try some other recipes!

    Reply

    • Brittany, this is one of our favorites too because it’s so easy to make and full of incredible flavor. I’m glad you and your husband loved it :-)

      Reply

  10. I made this tonight and it is amazing. My husband’s exact words “why haven’t you made this before?” Needless to say, this is going to be a regular in our house.

    Reply
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Recipes » Dinners » Chicken with Cauliflower and Olives