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Two Delicious Paleo Chicken Recipes

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These two easy-to-follow chicken recipes would be a great addition to your weeknight dinner plans. My Caribbean Jerk Chicken has a bit of a kick, but you can play around with the amount of spice you add, depending on your flavor preference. For those who are on an autoimmune protocol, the Roast Lemon Chicken recipe is a great choice, as it contains no nightshades, nuts and seeds, or eggs.

Personal Paleo Recipe

Jerk Chicken

In this recipe, you control the amount of spice in the dish by choosing what kind and how much chili pepper to add.

  • Type of dish: Dinner
  • Equipment: Large baking dish or roasting pan, blender
  • Servings: Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

  • 3 pounds skin on chicken, such as wings or leg and thigh
  • 4 green onions (scallions), chopped or sliced
  • 1 shallot or 1/3 of a red or yellow onions, rough chopped
  • 2 Scotch bonnet peppers or 2 Habaneros, seeded and sliced–For less spice, substitute jalapeno. For more spice, don’t remove seeds and/or add more peppers.
  • 3 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 1/2 inch fresh ginger, sliced, or 1/2 tsp dried ginger
  • 1/4 cup oil of choice, we used coconut oil in liquid state
  • 1 TB dried thyme
  • 1 TB allspice
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch nutmeg
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp honey (optional; traditional recipes generally use some sugar but it can be easily omitted)
  • 4 TB lime juice (2 limes)
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar

Directions:

  • First, make the marinade. Put the green onions, shallot, habanero, garlic, ginger, oil, thyme, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, optional honey, lime, and vinegar into a blender. Puree until liquid.
  • Cover the chicken with the marinade. If using more than 1 habanero or if skin is sensitive, use caution touching the marinade with bare hands, and do not touch eyes or face after touching this marinade, even after washing hands. Some people use gloves for this.
  • Work the chicken into the marinade, covering completely, and if you can get some of the marinade under the skin and directly on the meat (without pulling the skin completely off), that will help the flavor even more.
  • Marinade the chicken, covered, in the refrigerator for 24 hours. (Or at least 4 hours if you don’t have that much time). Stir the marinade around halfway through if you can.
  • Bring the chicken to room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour just prior to cooking. Preheat the oven to 375.
  • Remove chicken from the marinade and place in a baking dish. Roast for about 45 minutes, turning it and basting it about every 15 minutes. It is done when an instant read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat reads 160F.
  • For browning, at the end of the cooking time, change the oven temperature to broil. Broil for 3 minutes on the first side, then flip with tongs and broil for 3 minutes on the second side.
  • Remove chicken to a plate to cool for 5 minutes and serve.

Autoimmune Alternative

Lemon Roasted Chicken

Flavorful recipe which goes great with any side dish for a quick and easy dinner.

  • Type of dish: Dinner
  • Equipment: Roasting pan
  • Servings: Makes 2 servings.

Ingredients:

  • 2 chicken leg and thighs (about 1.5 pounds total)
  • 2 lemons, juice and zest
  • 1 TB dried oregano
  • 1/4 bunch parsley, minced
  • 1 TB olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Directions:

  • Marinade the chicken in the remaining ingredients for 1 to 2 hours, covered, in the refrigerator.
  • Lightly oil a roasting pan or baking dish and preheat oven to 350F. Place the chicken in the pan.
  • Roast the chicken for 35-40 minutes, turning over 2 to 3 times during the cooking process. Cook until a meat thermometer registers 165F in the thickest part of the chicken.

 

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Chris Kresser in kitchen
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17 Comments

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  1. Thank you for jerk recipe. I made it last weekend (3/17) and it was great!

    Also, enjoying the podcasts. Thank you!

  2. Wow! We had the jerk chicken tonight and it was fantastic. Can’t wait to try the lemon chicken! Thanks Chris

  3. These sound lovely, but oddly fat free. Is there a seed or vegetable oil missing, which I could replace with coconut, goose, duck, lard or tallow, for a juicier finished product?

    • Hi Brett, Both of these recipes have fat…the first has coconut oil and the second olive oil 🙂

  4. Chris,

    I’ve heard most of your podcasts, and your talk in the paleo summit (every Dr. I know should hear that), and I want more! 😉

    Is it possible to access to your talk in the Paleo Fx conference. ?.

    Thanks. Santiago

    • Hi Santiago,

      Yes, you will be able to purchase the PaleoFX DVD once it comes out. I’m not sure when that will be, but stay tuned.

  5. This is marinating as we speak. I can hardly wait….. If the aroma is this wonderful, even before roasting, I can only imagine what it’ll be while it’s in the oven. Thanks for this recipe!

  6. YUM…they look delicious! I’m definitely going to try the Jerk Chicken, it has heaps of the herbs that I love, can’t wait to try it. Thanks 🙂

  7. Hello all,
    Very tasty recipe!
    To observe the omega differences, you must see the fatty acid profiles of grass-fed and grain-fed beef. A study shows a higher concentration of n-3 and a lower concentration of n-6 in grass fed meat. Several studies suggest that grass-based diets elevate precursors for Vitamin A and E, as well as cancer fighting antioxidants such as glutathione (GT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity as compared to grain-fed contemporaries.So as far as you can find a way to fill that deficit, I am sure chicken will do no harm!

  8. I’ve been making Jerk for about 10 years and eating it for my entire life (Jamaican). Your Jerk Chicken recipe and instructions nailed it to a tee! Nice!

  9. These recipes sound great, but my family does not like dark meat, including me. We will do an occasional chicken leg, but prefer breasts.

  10. Hi Chris,

    I’ve been avoiding chicken because of the unhealthy ratio of omega 6 to omega 3. Did I misinterpret this information, or is there some type of chicken that doesn’t suffer from this imbalance?

    –Chip