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a picture of a pesto stuffed sweet potato bowl surrounded by a few ingredients that are added to the bowl
Makhaya Shea

Pesto Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

5 from 17 votes
A simple, yet fancy dinner recipe to serve on any occasion. Macro friendly recipe. A dish the whole family can enjoy. Vegan, paleo, gluten free, vegetarian, and toddler friendly options.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings: 6 servings
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 6 Sweet Potatoes peeled, cut in half
  • 1 Rotisserie Chicken or 5 shredded chicken breast
  • 5-6 tbsp Pesto Sauce or more if you like pesto!
  • 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
  • 2 Red Onions sliced thinly
  • 5 cloves Fresh Garlic chopped or minced
  • 1-3 tbsp Avocado Oil olive oil or coconut oil are great alternatives
  • 1-2 tbsp Onion Powder or garlic powder
  • 1-3 tsp Sea Salt
  • 1 tsp Black Pepper
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 1 tbsp garlic salt or garlic powder and sea salt
Topping Options
  • Feta Cheese
  • Cherry Tomatoes halved
  • Fresh Parsley
  • Avocado cut into cubes
  • 1 head Kale rinsed, pulled from stem, chopped

Equipment

  • sheet pan
  • skillet
  • parchment paper (optional, but makes clean up a little easier!)

Method
 

  1. Preheat oven to 425ºF(220ºC).
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Sweet Potato Prep:
  1. Place sweet potatoes(peeled and cut in two) on lined baking sheet, and coat with avocado oil. Using your hands to spread oil evenly over potatoes. Next, coat with onion powder, salt, and pepper.(**SEE NOTES**)
    picture of sweet potatoes, peeled, cut in half, and lying on a baking sheet lined in parchment paper
  2. Bake Sweet potatoes for 30-40 minutes, until tender and cooked through.
Sautéed Onions and Garlic
  1. Slice purple onions thinly. Chop fresh garlic.
  2. Add two tablespoons of oil to a skillet and place over medium heat.
    onions and garlic
  3. Once pan is warm add onions are garlic. Cook until tender. Remove from heat.
    onion garlic picture
Sautéed Kale
  1. Add chopped kale to a pre-heated pan, and drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of avocado oil. Toss kale in pan until the leaves begin to soften slightly. I like to keep them a little bit more firm to preserve nutrients, but if you like a softer texture, cook to desired tenderness.
Pesto Rotisserie Chicken
  1. Pick warm chicken from the bone and place all meat into a bowl.
  2. Add pesto and salt and pepper to taste
Assembling Pesto Sweet Potatoes
  1. First, smash sweet potato in the bottom of your bowl with a fork. Spread a little bit of butter over sweet potato, let it melt, and sprinkle with salt and pepper(**optional).
  2. Add pesto chicken, sautéed onions, sautéed kale, tomatoes, feta cheese, avocado, parsley, and any other toppings you choose!
  3. Mix it all up and Enjoy!
    a picture of a pesto stuffed sweet potato bowl surrounded by a few ingredients that are added to the bowl

Notes

* I didn't add specific measurements for onion powder, salt and pepper. Just eyeball it and give an even coating of the seasonings over the halved sweet potatoes before baking.