These chicken pesto stuffed sweet potatoes are seriously tasty, filling and easy to make! A paleo and Whole30 compliant pesto is mixed with shredded chicken and tops perfectly baked sweet potatoes. Great to make ahead of time and the leftovers save well!
Pesto. I am a total pesto lover but don’t make it nearly enough! I believe the problem is the basil – I never remember to buy basil!
Everything else is nearly always hanging out somewhere in my kitchen, but the basil, and yes, we obviously NEED that basil!
Maybe if I had it permanently printed on my shopping list this wouldn’t be an issue, and I’d be able to make my favorite pesto whenever the mood struck…
Because holy yum – it’s good stuff! And whether you’re using it as a a topping or dip for veggies or potatoes, baking it with chicken <—-favorite right there, tossing it with spaghetti squash and chicken, or, making these chicken pesto stuffed sweet potatoes – you’re going to LOVE this pesto.
I tweaked the recipe just a touch this time around from my original after experimenting with it a bit. I added lemon juice and used a variety of greens beyond just basil and spinach to see how it turned out.
Luckily, this pesto is forgiving and tastes great whether you use spinach, kale, or really any leafy green you can think of along with the ever-important basil. The lemon blends with the nutritional yeast (yup, it’s Whole30 compliant) to create a “cheesy” flavor even though it’s completely dairy-free.
I chose to use chicken that was already cooked for this recipe, but if you don’t have any pre-cooked chicken, I recommend using 1 lb of boneless skinless chicken breasts and baking at 400 with a little olive oil and sea salt.
This takes just about 20 mins and you can bake it alongside your sweet potatoes if you need to. That said, you can cook your chicken however you want and it won’t affect the final flavor of the recipe at all.
One note – this recipe makes a lot of filling once you combine the chicken and all the pesto! It should easily stuff 6 sweet potatoes if not more – you can save the leftovers and reuse however you like. The chicken pesto mixture should be fine kept in the fridge in a container for up to 4 days.
One of the best parts of this meal is that you can make both the sweet potatoes and chicken pesto mixture ahead of time and simply reheat and serve for a super quick weeknight dinner! The leftovers also taste great, so it’s a perfect take-to-work lunch as well.
Oh, and how could I forget?! This chicken pesto is surprisingly kid friendly, despite the fact that it’s green! (Yup, my kids are wary of anything green.) It just might have something to do with it smelling/tasting like “pizza” though, at least according to the kiddos!
In any case, I know you’re going to enjoy these chicken pesto stuffed sweet potatoes – I hope you’re ready to cook and EAT – let’s go!
Chicken Pesto Stuffed Sweet Potatoes {Paleo, Whole30}
Chicken Pesto Stuffed Sweet Potatoes {Paleo, Whole30}
These chicken pesto stuffed sweet potatoes are seriously tasty, filling and easy to make! A paleo and Whole30 compliant pesto is mixed with shredded chicken and tops perfectly baked sweet potatoes. Great to make ahead of time and the leftovers save well!
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw shelled walnuts
- 4-5 cloves garlic
- 3 cups fresh basil leaves
- 2 cups fresh spinach kale, or other leafy greens
- 2/3 cup light olive oil
- 1 1/2-2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3/4 tsp sea salt or to taste
- 3 cups cooked shredded chicken breast or about 1 lb uncooked
- 6 medium sweet potatoes
- Coconut oil and salt for baking
Instructions
- Bake Potatoes: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Coat sweet potatoes with a bit of coconut oil and sprinkle sea salt all over. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake 60-70 mins until soft.
- Meanwhile, make the pesto. Combine walnuts, garlic, basil leaves, spinach, olive oil, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and salt in a blender or food processor. Blend on high speed until a paste forms, scraping sides as needed.
- Combine shredded chicken and all the pesto in a large bowl. Once potatoes are ready, cut each one lengthwise and top generously with chicken pesto mixture. You can serve as is or return to oven for a few minutes to heat through. Enjoy!
Nutrition
What I Used To Make My Pesto Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes:
Want More Whole30 and Paleo Chicken Recipes? Try one of these!
Pesto Chicken Spaghetti Squash
Chicken Salad with Bacon and Scallions
Creamy Chicken Spinach Artichoke Dip
Absolutely delicious except I don’t care much for basil so I substituted my favorite green, fresh spinach. Now looking for the Facebook share button!
Tried this the other day with some leftover roast chicken and it was really good.
Awesome!
So delicious! My favorite Whole30 recipe yet and an added bonus that my kids enjoyed it for dinner as well.
That’s awesome! Love hearing that the kids liked it too!
Can’t wait to try this. Just curious- what makes a serving? And what part of the recipe do you think makes up the most calories/grams of fat?
One potato would be a serving, and however much pesto/chicken you want to top with!
Can I make this a day ahead of time ?
Yup, that should be fine 🙂
I’m allergic to walnuts, what other nut could I use?
I think pine nuts would be fine for this 🙂
I cant wait to make these. I love pesto and they sound delicious. I am having a hard time finding basil this time of year. Is anybody else having trouble. I can find a tiny container of it but not near enough for the recipe unless i spent a ton of money on just basil. Thanks! By the way my husband and I just finished whole30 and your site was amazing! I love all your recipes!!
I use cilantro. ☺
I’m wondering if I can leave out the nutritional yeast yeast and/or replace with cheese . Almost ready to make it ?
THIS WAS SO DELICIOUS!!!!! I am obsessed! I ate it with spaghetti squash. Seriously. So good. And the chicken was perfectly juicy. I can’t wait to make it again!
Just curious to know if this would freeze well. Thanks!
Made this for my parents for Valentine’s day and they loved it! I only used 1/3 cup oil and it was delicious, paired very nicely with the sweet potato too. Thanks for a great recipe!
Great! So happy you guys enjoyed!
Made this a week ago and loved it! I found bigger contIners of basil at Trader Joe’s…I bought two of them but only needed one.
So glad you loved it!
I found your website recently and I am in love with your recipes, they great.
I made these potatoes tonight and my family loved them!
Oh that’s great to hear!
This was AMAZING ❤️❤️❤️The chicken with the pesto was to die for! I will make more of that just to have for a salad or anything but this dish will be added to our weekly rotation. Soooooo good and easy to make too.
Yay, thrilled you enjoyed it!
One of my new favorite recipes! I grill the chicken and make the pesto the night before and warm it up for dinner on busy nights or take for lunch! I want to try it on spaghetti squash next!
That’s great to hear, sounds perfect!
Hi, great recipe, made it last night and loved it! Definitely a keeper.
I was just wondering why this recipe has 41 grams of fat in 1 serving? It seems really high.
Thanks!
Jen
Hi! The fat would be due to the pesto – nuts + oil!
Can’t stop eating this!! Delicious!
Yay! Glad you enjoyed!
Just made a version of this for dinner tonight it was so good. I used cashews, cilantro, kale, spinach and collard greens since that’s what I had. Delicious! I served it like you over yams and chicken. Will definitely be making this again.
So good! Featured this recipe on my latest weekly meal plan. Check it out! https://www.mictomacro.com/blog/2018/2/26/weekly-meal-plan-rosemary-px2rc
Made this last night the whole family loved it!
Why we need this nutrition yeast in? What it contribute to the meal?!…
It’s our favorite! I’m always searching for it! Have you tried it with any other nuts? Such as pecans…
I just made the pesto with pecans! Delish!
I made the pesto as a part of my meal prep for this week. I used all kale after discovering that the basil in my planters had seen better days, and I subbed pecans for the walnuts because that’s what I had on hand. This might be the best pesto I’ve ever made or had!
Can you make this with spaghetti squash instead of sweet potatoes? Would you double the sauce recipe?
My entire family loved this recipe and they can’t wait for me to make it again!! So amazingly delicious!!!
I use a basil flavored olive oil with my spinach, gets the flavor and then you don’t need to remember the basil!
DE-LICIOUS❤️?
I just logged this recipe in My Fitness Pal and the calories is a LOT more than you have documented, over 200 calories more. Interested to know how you calculated the calories you documented per serve?
This recipe will 100% be a staple to our meal prep rotation! Thank you for the post! I added the Cajun spices to the chicken and zest from the lemon, as well bc why not?!
This is a dish my whole family enjoyed! Colorful and tasty! Will make again.
On day 5 of Whole 30…made this last night and it blew our taste buds out of the water!!! OMG! So good!!! One of those savory meals that you never want to end! Thank you!!
I am not a huge fan of sweet potatoes, but my mouth waters at the idea of regular potatoes in replace for this recipe!
Is the yeast essential to the pesto, or could I skip it?
You can skip it, it’s just for extra flavor.
Can I substitute a different seed for the walnut? Allergic to nuts.
This was great! The pesto was delicious. I really like the spinach-basil mix up and the use of walnuts instead of the typical pine nuts for pesto. I went on the heavier side with the lemon juice (2TBSP) which really brightened up the flavors. My 9 year old loved it! I used only half the pesto for the amount of chicken the recipe called for – 1 used 1lb of uncooked chicken breast, and would use 2lb next time! I will definitely make this again. Thank you!
OMG!! This was amazing! And so easy. Best pesto ever!!
Is there a vegetarian option for this recipe?
Love this but I’ve made it a lazy day recipe. One pot of good quality fresh pesto, one chicken breast. 2 sweet potatoes. I simmer the breast lightly in water 20 mins. One day soon I will make the walnut pesto! It gets 5 stars anyway.
Love this! It turned out so well!
Made this recipe exactly as recommended (but minus the nutritional yeast) and wow…the pesto was amazing! Will definitely be making again.
I’m cooking for a client that is can’t have nuts, dairy, citrus, coconut, soy…what would you suggest for the lemon and the walnuts? I was thinking I could just leave the nuts out and add a little vinegar for the acid?
Such a good recipe.
Your site and articles about food help me to spend some time while I’m staying at home and working on my essay ( btw I use it when I have no time https://uk.edubirdie.com/thesis-writing ) .It’s hard for me to find some spare time but sometimes I try to cook something and it makes me happier.
I’m allergic to walnuts, will the pesto taste the same without the walnuts?
This is one of my family’s favorite meals! And the pesto is perfect. I could put it on everything.
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This was fairly easy and delish. I left out the yeast – I think it’s ok for Paleo. My son and his wife were over for dinner and they follow Paleo. I don’t often, rarely maybe even never, have made pesto but I do love pesto, and they was yummy. Couldn’t tell it was not your typical pesto and love that it’s dairy free. I’d like to know how to more accurately measure Spinach and Basil.