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Chicken Alfredo – Paleo style!

chickenalfredo

Chicken Alfredo – Paleo Style! Oh yes!

Fettuccine Alfredo was one of my very favorite things pre-grain-free days so I had pretty high expectations when I experimented with a Paleo version. But we loved this.

A whole, whole lot!

We licked our plates clean and it was decided then and there that I must make it again asap.

chickenalfredopaleo
And let’s just talk about the zucchini/squash noodles for a minute. I can’t go one minute further until I tell you about this Spirelli gadget.

spirelli

Β If you don’t have a Spirelli yet, you must stop whatever you are doing right now and get one this very minute. Trust me on this. This thing is my new BFF. I’m planning on filming a video of me using it/reviewing it for you all so you can see for yourself how amazing it is, but I haven’t done it yet (we just moved so give me a little break πŸ˜‰ I so wish we would have captured on film the moment I first used it. I was embarrassingly giddy over it. So for now, just take my word that the SpirelliΒ is officially the coolest gadget ever and it’s a must have for grain-free folk like ourselves. I bought mine on Amazon here.

squashnoodles

Pasta shmasta. I’ll take my zuchinni noodles any day of the week πŸ˜‰

noodles

Because if we’re being honest, pasta really doesn’t taste like anything. It’s really all about the sauce, right? And this Alfredo is so dang good. If I didn’t actually make the recipe myself, I would never believe that there is not an ounce of heavy cream in it at all!

paleochickenalfredo
So just make this already, okay? πŸ™‚

Chicken Alfredo - Paleo style!
 
Author:
Serves: 4-6
Cook time:
Total time:
 
Ingredients
  • For the chicken:
  • 4 chicken breasts
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons fresh basil
  • 1 tablespoon fresh oregano
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • sea salt and pepper, to taste
  • For the Alfredo:
  • 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
  • 8 cloves of garlic, minced
  • ¼ cup butter or ghee, melted
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • sea salt and white pepper, to taste
  • optional if you tolerate dairy: ½ cup romano or parmesan cheese (Romano
    is an excellent choice because it's made from the milk of sheep. Sheep are
    almost always exclusively grass-fed.)
  • For the noodles:
  • ½ to 1 zucchini or yellow summer squash per serving (if you are serving 4, use
    between 2 and 4 zucchinis, depending on their appetites), spiralized into
    noodles using this
  • 1 T olive oil or butter
  • sea salt to taste
  • pinch of garlic powder
Instructions
  1. Mix together the olive oil, balsamic, herbs and salt and pepper in a small bowl.
  2. Pour the marinade over the chicken and marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour up
    to 24 hours.
  3. When it's finished marinating, preheat the oven to 350.
  4. Using a skillet, brown both sides of the chicken breast over medium high heat. This
    should only take a minute or two per side.
  5. Once both sides are seared/browned, transfer the skillet to the oven (or put them
    in baking dish) and cook the chicken until cooked through - about 20 - 25
    minutes, depending on the thickness of the breasts. Let sit for 5-10 minutes
    before serving
  6. For the Alfredo:
  7. Put the cauliflower florets and chicken stock in a large pot. Bring to a boil.
  8. Reduce heat, cover and let cook for 10-15 minutes or until tender.
  9. Meanwhile, put the butter in a skillet over medium low heat and let melt.
  10. Once melted, add the garlic cloves to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes or until
    softened and fragrant. Set aside.
  11. Once the cauliflower is tender, do not drain the chicken stock. Instead, transfer
    the cauliflower to a blender or food processor using a slotted spoon.
  12. Add to the blender/food processor 1½ cups of the chicken stock, the
    garlic/butter, salt and pepper and cheese if you are using cheese.
  13. Process for a few minutes until sauce is completely smooth and creamy.
  14. For the zucchini/squash noodles:
  15. Add the olive oil, zucchini noodles, salt and pinch of garlic powder to a skillet over
    medium heat and cook for a few minutes or until the noodles are done to your
    liking.
  16. Once they are cooked to your liking, drain off any water.
  17. To serve:
  18. Add the cooked zucchini noodles to each plate. Add a hefty dose of Alfredo
    sauce and top with chicken.
  19. Enjoy!
Notes
Unless you completely douse your entire plate with Alfredo sauce, you most likely will have some leftover. It's awesome on beef and seafood, too! But it freezes and reheats very well, too so you could always stick it in the freezer.
Β 

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75 comments

  1. Avatar

    This looks fantastic!

    There is a whole foods vegan cookbook – Get it Ripe by Jae Steele – that I bought early on when I went dairy free, and she makes an alfredo-type sauce with onions and tahini as the base. It is super-delish, but I always feel kind of bad un-veganizing her recipe! (I add shrimp! :)) So, I will definitely give yours a go and compare without any guilt at all. I will also post to my Explore More next week – this is absolutely one to share!

  2. Avatar

    I just bought a spirelli from Amazon. I can’t want to make this dish with it. Thanks Kelly. I will let you know how it turns out.

  3. Avatar

    This looks divine! We love Chicken Alfredo and I’ll bet your sauce would be equally good on shrimp or scallops. Mmm. I’l be trying this one soon.

  4. Avatar

    GENIUS! GENIUS I tell you! Do you think it would work if I swapped the ghee/butter for olive oil as I cannot do butter…?!

  5. Avatar

    So, when I found myself licking my plate, I figured I had to tell you how amazing this is!!! thanks for another HOME RUN!! πŸ™‚

  6. Avatar

    Looks delicious! Can I use coconut oil/butter instead of ghee?

  7. Avatar

    Thank you so much for this recipe! My husband (who’s a chef) and I loved this sauce…he said he wouldn’t mind having it every time we had “pasta.” Chicken turned out great too…we grilled it.

  8. Avatar

    I only made the sauce part of this recipe to put over some homemade paleo pasta. The sauce is AMAZING!! I don’t even like cauliflower! I will definitely try the rest of this recipe next time. I love it!

  9. Avatar

    This is the first Paleo meal I have ever made. I was skepticalabout making it, since I’m not a great fan of cauliflower. I’m so glad I did, it was the yummiest!! My picky teenage daughter also loved it! This is definitely a keeper!! So glad I found your site. You and your recipes ROCK!!

  10. Avatar

    Made this tonight. Lovely recipe! I didn’t want to make a big meal, so I omitted the chicken today. Then I added mushrooms and some cut up bacon, frying it with the onions and garlic. Did the Romano cheese too. We’ve been Paleo for a couple of years now. Yummy, and super easy!

  11. Avatar

    What would be a good substitute for balsamic vinegar.? I can use any other vinegar just not that four some reason. Thanks

  12. Avatar

    I can’t tolerate garlic

  13. Avatar

    Do you have a suggestion for a substitute for garlic

  14. Avatar

    Kelly,

    This is the BEST recipe from you that I have tried! (and you know how many of your recipes I LOVE!)

    The alfredo sauce was amazing all on its own! I don’t even like cauliflower!!! I did prepare meals on Sunday for the whole week, so the chicken marinaded until today (Thursday) and then I grilled it since it was so hot outside (who wants to turn the oven on?) and then I used a quinoa noodle instead of zucchini & squash (I’m gonna get me one of those Spirelli things!).

    I knew I was in trouble when I was looking for things to dip into the alfredo sauce after I ate. Who knew an avocado would taste so good with alfredo???????? πŸ˜‰ My husband is lucky we saved him any for when he gets home from work…

    Thanks again for an AMAZING meal! This will become a regular in the rotation!!!!!!!!!!

  15. Avatar

    Made this last night. I already had a cooked chicken and I had zucchini noodles in the freezer. I put some spinach in a pot with the cooked chicken and added some mushrooms.Then I put the sauce in let it warm up then the noodles (it was just spiraled zucchini)

    My husband’s words “that was freaking good!”
    I loved it too πŸ˜‰

  16. Avatar

    SO… I made this last night for the first time!!! While I was never a fan of alfredo sauce in my pre-paleo days, my husband is a huge fan! So I thought, let’s give this a try, and…. SUCCESS!! I even had some, but my Spirelli did not come in time so I used spaghetti squash (and that had to get used up) still all in all I liked it. The chicken was delicious too..and the aroma.. yum! Keep up with the great recipes because I am definitely not that creative!! LOL

    Terrific! πŸ™‚

  17. Avatar

    Thank you so much for this fantastic sauce recipe. I made it tonight with fish and a salad for supper and my family loved it. We eat grain, dairy and sugar free and we love cauliflower so this recipe was perfect. My 3 year old daughter refused to eat fish every time we had it but she would happily eat cauliflower as it’s her favorite vegetable. Tonight I told her what the sauce was, poured it all over her fish and she gobbled it all up no problem. She even put her thumbs up and said “I love fish Mommy!”

  18. Avatar

    Probably a silly question, but are the “noodles” still crunchy or do they have a somewhat closer consistency to actual pasta? I ask because my husband has an aversion to pretty much all veggies (and veggie-like fruits like summer squash and tomatoes) and it is SO HARD to get new ones into him. His most used excuse is that he doesn’t like the texture (I know, he’s weird…I still love him, though!).

    • Primally Inspired

      Amy, you can cook the noodles to whatever consistency he likes best. I like pasta (and veggies) al dente so I only cook them for a few minutes. But if he likes very soft vegetables (or closer to an actual pasta), you can cook them longer! My hubby likes them really soft.

  19. Avatar

    So I made this dish tonight … and I was VERY nervous!! I specifically went out and bought the spirelli! And the dish was DELICIOUS!! I was shocked!! Just soo tasty, and I loved the zucchini noodles! What are some other veggies you have tried? And what type of squash have you tried?

  20. Avatar

    Wow, the zucchini/squash noodles are one of the things that really excites me about this recipe. I like the idea of switching up traditional noodles for something healthier.

  21. Avatar

    THANK YOU!! I just made this for dinner and it was amazing!! This is one that I know I will come back to over and over. The flavors were spot on and everything turned out just perfect. I used coconut oil, instead of butter, to keep it 100% Paleo.

  22. Avatar

    Has anyone tried freezing this sauce? How was the outcome good bad?

  23. Avatar

    Omgeezy!!! It was easy to make and I became a chef (in my mind)! Absolutely delicious! A keeper! Everyone enjoyed although they did not want to know what the sauce was made of! The only thing I would change is I would buy more zucchini because 4 was insufficient for the 4 of us.

  24. Avatar

    I’m typing this as I am sitting at the dinner table watching my 9 and 11 year old boys devour this – trying to hide my glee at pulling this off. Now, you must understand that my 9 year old hasn’t eaten a vegetable since he was still on baby food – no exaggeration. I did not do the zucchini noodles, instead I used Cappello’s fettuccini noodles made from almond flour and completely paleo. I also added a *little bit of parm reg cheese and a splash of almond milk. The coo is the sauce being cauliflower and NOT tasting like it at all. It is so delicious! Thank you for the recipe and allowing me to sneak some veggies into my kids belly πŸ™‚ BTW – if you haven’t tried those Cappello’s noodles, they are amazing!

  25. Avatar

    Kelly. I love your blog so much. I’ve only commented a few times but I’m going to start leaving more. Everything I’ve tried I have absolutely loved.
    I’m 8 months pregnant due 7/17 with my 3rd. Last time I didn’t preprep meals which was a big mistake. Who knew breastfeeding made you so hungry? Anyway I’m looking for meals that can be frozen and reheated easily. I’m going to give this one a try. The whole meal – noodles, sauce and chicken. I’ll keep you posted

    • Kelly from Primally Inspired

      Liz!! Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful comments – totally made my morning to read them from you this morning <3 Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy! I wish I lived closer so I could send some freezer meals to you!!

  26. Avatar

    This was soooooo good! Just had some leftovers tonight. Thank you!

  27. Avatar

    Oh… My… Gosh….
    This was amazing! My wife and I have been on a reasonably strict Paleo diet for about 2 months now and have been yearning for a decent “pasta” recipe! We used shiritaki noodles (the almost no-carb yam noodles) rather than zucchini spirals and it was almost like we were eating a pasta dish at a fancy Italian eatery!
    SOOOOO Impressed with this recipe and I can’t wait to try others on your site!
    Thanks again!
    Cheers.

  28. Avatar

    Hi, this was a very good recipe. I only made the chicken with the alfredo sauce, I didn’t have the zuchinii. I was very happy with it. Thanks for the recipe…

  29. Avatar

    Thanks for the recipe! I basically followed the alfredo recipe because I didn’t have balsamic for the chicken, and I used Shiritaki noodles instead of zucchini. The sauce was yummy and tasked just like real alfredo sauce. πŸ˜€

  30. Avatar

    You mentioned that the sauce freezes well, but I’m wondering if you make it ahead of time and let is sit in the fridge for a couple of days (without freezing)?

  31. Avatar

    I was really skeptical but thought I would give it a try. This is just amazing. Thick and flavorful. I added roasted red peppers and had a chicken vegetable Alfredo. So so much better than the jar and so much healthier. So glad I found this

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