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
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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.
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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.
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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
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.
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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.
Amazing receipe made this today and was absolutely delicious and super healthy!!
I made this for my family last night and it was a huge hit! I’m hoping to make it again in a few days for my sister’s family but she’s allergic to walnuts. Is there a good substitute or do you recommend just omitting it? Thanks!