Is there anyone who ISN’T a fan of quick meals? I know sheet pan meals and one-pot meals are some of my favorites! They’re fairly foolproof, clean-up is way easier, and they free up your time to do other things…like play with your dogs! My two beagles definitely appreciate when I’m available to play or give extra cuddles!
This Chinese Chicken & Broccoli Sheet Pan Meal is perfect for any night of the week or a great meal-prep dish to make for your daily lunches. You can use chicken tenderloins like the recipe calls for or just slice up a few chicken breasts – whatever you have on hand works just fine!
The recipe does call for honey, which isn’t whole30 or keto. However, you could totally leave it out or substitute date paste or pineapple puree for that added sweetness that’s typical of a teriyaki sauce. UP TO YOU!
My favorite part about sheet pan meals, besides the eating, is how easy clean up is! I always line my pan with parchment paper so all I have to do is simply throw it away and my pan is clean. It doesn’t get any better than that!
If you’ve never invested in parchment paper, do yourself a favor and go get some!
Add this easy sheet pan to your next day of meal prep. It’s flavorful and makes it super easy to stay on track with any health goal or lifestyle that you may be following right now!
Print Recipe
Chinese Chicken & Broccoli Sheet Pan Meal {Whole30, Paleo, and Keto}
In a large bowl mix together aminos, sesame oil, vinegar, garlic, honey, salt, pepper, ginger and crushed red pepper.
Add the chicken tenders to the bowl with the marinade and toss. Let sit for 20-30 minutes (or more), if desired.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Trim off all of the florets from the broccoli bunches and cut into bite sized pieces. Tip: save the stalks to "rice" up for another meal. I like to add the riced broccoli stalks to cauliflower rice and serve this chicken and broccoli on top.
On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, spread broccoli around the outside edges and drizzle with avocado oil. If desired, add extra salt and pepper to the broccoli florets.
Lay the marinated chicken tenders along the opening middle section of the sheet pan.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through the center.
While the meal is cooking, pour remaining marinade in a small sauce pan and cook over medium-low heat for 5-8 minutes while whisking continuously. You want to bring this to a simmer (almost boil) to cook out any raw chicken drippings that remain.
If sauce isn't thick enough after cooking, whisk together water and arrowroot to create a slurry. Add this to your sauce and stir over the heat until the sauce has thickened.
When the chicken is finished cooking, remove from the oven.
Optional step: To crisp up the broccoli and slightly brown the chicken, cook the sheet pan under the broiler on high for 3-4 minutes. Keep a watch on it - you do not want to forget about it!
Pour the thickened sauce over the chicken tenders. Top with more crushed red peppers and sesame seeds, if desired.
Serve alone or on top of steamed cauliflower rice or cauliflower fried rice.
Smoothies are my favorite way to pack in extra veggies when I’m feeling like a “treat” instead.
Cauliflower is a staple in every smoothie that I make. Any smoothie that calls for ice, I replace it with cauliflower.
I promise, you can’t tell!
Smoothies are a great way to hide veggies from picky kids (and adults!) too. If I have spinach on hand, I’ll throw a little in there too sometimes. Typically, I try to keep my smoothies pretty simple for my digestion’s sake. Too much going on can often lead to discomfort.
My go-to’s are quick and easy and take little thought. I usually grab some frozen cauliflower, some frozen chopped fruit, yogurt (coconut milk or goat’s milk), cashews for extra creaminess and lots of ceylon cinnamon.
SIMPLE AND EASY!
The cauliflower that I use is either the bagged variety from the freezer aisle in my grocery store or fresh cauliflower that I’ve steamed and then frozen. The latter method helps with digestion, and I always try to do it when I remember. Sometimes, raw veggies can cause bloating and discomfort as well. Everyone is different!
This Blueberry Cobbler Smoothie tastes like dessert and the sweetness level is totally up to you! A few pinches of extra spices totally make this smoothie hit the spot! It tastes like more of a “treat” than a meal or snack, but it’s completely guilt free!
You have fiber from the cauliflower, antioxidants from the blueberries, fat from the cashews and yogurt (plus probiotics!), and anti-inflammatory properties with the ceylon cinnamon. Lots of the goods in this bowl!
Try it without adding anything else sweet and see how you like it!
Usually a few extra blueberries on top and some added granola is plenty sweetness for me!
Print Recipe
Blueberry Cobbler Smoothie
Prep Time
5minutes
Servings
Ingredients
1cupYogurtalmond/cashew dairy free yogurt or goat milk yogurt if you tolerate dairy
Who else is obsessed with all things cookie butter? I’ve always been a huge lover of the speculoos cookies. They have the perfect crunch along with having a great balance of sweet and spicy. What’s not to love?! When I realized that there was a butter with all of those same flavors. I WAS DONE. GAME OVER. GIVE ME ALL OF THE JARS. The flavors and spices involved just scream comfort and holidays to me! There just isn’t anything better!
The cookie butter that I used to know and love was far from paleo. Therefore, I set out to make a healthier version of this creamy spread, and I’m pretty sure…I accomplished just that. This turned out ridiculously delicious. Thankfully, Simple Mills makes a Cinnamon Cookie that has just the right texture for this task! Stay tuned, if you can’t find these cookies. I’m going to try to come up with a recipe that doesn’t involve this particular brand, as some of you may not be able to get your hands on them. Sad day!
In a deep, sauce pan over medium heat, add 1 tsp of ghee/oil and chopped green onions. Saute for 5 minutes or until soft. Set aside to cool.
In the same pan, over medium heat, add all of BBQ sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5-8 minutes or until sauce has reduced slightly. Reduce the heat to low and cover while you prepare the meatballs.
In a bowl, mix together the remaining meatball ingredients along with the cooled green onions.
To the BBQ sauce, drop 2 tbsp size balls into the mixture until one layer has formed. It's ok if the meatballs are touching slightly, just DO NOT overcrowd the pan or try to stir them around just yet.
Increase heat to medium, cover, cook for 3-5 minutes.
Remove cover and shake the pan slightly. Gently flip each meatball. If you find that you do not have enough liquid in the pan, feel free to add about 3-4 tbsp of water.
On top of the first layer of meatballs, add another layer of the meat mixture, in 2 tbsp size balls. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes - shaking the pan every few minutes to slightly move the meatballs around. Repeat until you have used up all of the meat.
After 10 minutes, uncover the pan and gently flip the meatballs around, moving the ones from the bottom to the top. Reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for another 5-10 minutes or until you're ready to serve!
Serve these on top of cauliflower rice or as bite-sized appetizers!
I try to not make every recipe in my Instant Pot – and that’s hard! Not everyone has been converted over just yet! However, after making General Tso’s Chicken in under 15 minutes…I’m pretty sure you will be!
This version is an unbreaded version. I would not suggest trying to make the breaded version in your IP, as it will probably end up soggy and just not very appetizing. This is strictly a quick and clean version of a take-out favorite! Totally guilt free and delicious when paired with my Pork Fried Cauliflower Rice (which happens to be Whole30 compliant as well!) This recipe can be easily converted to Whole30 compliant by replacing the honey with pureed fruit – such as pineapple or peaches! (or omitting the honey altogether. Some find that the coconut aminos are sweet enough) Either alternative would still yield a yummy dish!
Print Recipe
Instant Pot General Tso's Chicken (Paleo with Whole30 option)
Add sesame oil and chicken to the pot and cook for about 3-5 minutes or until most of the chicken has some white on it. It does not that to be anywhere near cooked through! This step helps cut down on cooking time AND for the pot to come to pressure quicker!
After your chicken has cooked for those few minutes, combine your remaining ingredients in a separate bowl (except for the arrowroot powder and water) and pour over your chicken.
Place the lid on your pot, turn the valve to seal, press manual and set the time for 8 minutes.
Once the timer goes off, do a QR (quick release), and open it up! It will be bubbly and on the runny side. Now is the time to thicken!
Combine the arrowroot powder and water to make a slurry. Stir this mixture into your chicken until the sauce has thickened! This should only take a minute or so. If you find that it's not thick enough, you can always add a bit more arrowroot/water mixture until the desired consistency is reached.
Be sure to turn the pot off too! It automatically switches to "Keep Warm" mode after cooking. I have forgotten that a time or two!
ENJOY!!
Does anyone else always want Chinese food on Mondays – the day that every Chinese restaurant is closed? Or is that just me? I just love good Chinese food…which, honestly, is RARE! Good as in tasty AND healthy! This “rice” is all of the above. Jam-packed with protein and veggies, this dish is one you can feel good about eating!
If you can find all of the prepped ingredients in your grocery store’s freezer section and have leftover ham (or have a go-to clean, natural brand of already-cooked pork), this dish comes together in MINUTES, is made in one pan, tastes so similar to take-out, AND is Whole30 approved!
Make it a complete meal by pairing it with my Instant Pot General Tso’s Chicken! That can also be Whole30 compliant and, the best part, it’s made in under 15 minutes with the help of that handy pressure cooker!
4-5Green onionschopped - use both the green and white parts!
Instructions
In a large sauce pan, add 1 tbsp cooking fat and chopped onion and sauté over medium high heat for about 5 minutes or until onions become translucent.
Once the onions have softened, add your chopped ham, riced cauliflower, and remaining fat. I like to crank the heat up and get a nice char on the meat and cauliflower - so much flavor! (that's always my favorite rice - the stuff that has some charred bits in it!)
After about 3-4 minutes, add the remaining ingredients (except for the eggs), and cook until the vegetables are fork tender. This should take about 5 minutes. Note: I used all organic, frozen veggies that were already chopped and riced. HUGE TIME SAVER!
Once the vegetables are cooked to your liking, add your beaten eggs. I make a divet in the pan in the middle of my rice and pour the eggs in there. Once they begin to cook, I just keep stirring everything up until they're all the way cooked. This only takes a couple minutes! No need for another pan - in my opinion! We love eggs, so I add 3 to this recipe. Feel free to add more or less!
Taste now and adjust your seasonings and add more salt, coconut amines, or sesame oil. Just a bit though! You can always add more, but you can't take it out! Personally, I tend to go a bit heavier on the coconut aminos and salt. I love that soy sauce flavaaaa!
Finally, stir in your chopped green onions and you're done! I like them crunchy, but feel free to cook your rice a minute or two longer after stirring them in!
ENJOY!
