11.19.17
You all know by now that comfort food is the name of my game. I have always been a “good eater” and have gotten so much joy out of food.
But when my metabolism basically hit the breaks in high school, I realized that as much as I loved to indulge, I had to get control of my over-eating. At first, for me, this meant denying myself of all things delicious and cutting my calories to an extreme deficit (plus over-exercising, and just overall obsessing about anything I put in my mouth).
Talk about an unhealthy turn of events. I went from an over-eater to an under-eater, and food & weight loss took over my thoughts and well-being.
Fast forward a few years and some yo-yoing later, to when I found the Paleo style of eating. It was just such a relief to finally realize that I could eat to satisfaction while maintaining my weight- just by keeping my diet clean and free of the foods that didn’t agree with my body.
Food could be used to maintain weight- but also to fuel me with energy for my daily life and provide me with a healthy body to take me through whatever phase of life I was in. Once it was all about body image and what size pants I wore, and now it’s about bigger, better things. Like having a healthy body that I hope will someday grow healthy babies, and live long and well enough to love the special people in my life.
Too deep for a casserole recipe post? Maybe. But sometimes I feel it’s important to bring things back to the real reason for Paleofying these comfort-style dishes. Because eating clean is good for our bodies, our health, and our mental well-being. And the fact that it can taste good too? It’s a win-win, you guys.
I hope you enjoy this easy casserole that I based off of a “loaded potato” idea- but with free range chicken for some added bulk & protein. It has all the smoky flavors I crave, with the savory deliciousness of chopped garlic & onion, roasted broccoli, and crispy bacon.
Topped with a drizzle of your favorite compliant creamy sauce or ranch dressing, you’ve got a delicious Whole30 recipe to get you through any comfort food craving.
Print Recipe
4.75 from 4 votes
Loaded Chicken & Potato Casserole | PALEO, Whole30
Servings: 6
Calories: 410kcal
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs chicken breast cut into 1" cubes
- 2-3 cups broccoli florets chopped
- 1/2 white onion sliced then roughly chopped
- 5-6 garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 1 lb gold potatoes cut into 1" cubes
For the Sauce
- 1/3 cup olive oil or avocado oil
- 2 tbsp compliant hot sauce
- 2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp Italian or herb blend
- 1 tsp garlic powder
For Garnish
- 6 slices bacon double check ingredients for Whole30
- 1/2 cup green onion, thinly sliced
- "Spicy Cream Sauce" recipe linked below
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
In a large bowl, mix the sauce ingredients until well combined.
Add the potatoes and white onion to the bottom of a 9 x 13" baking dish. Drizzle with about 1/2 of your sauce, stir to combine, then transfer to the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a pan and set aside on paper towels to drain.
Using the rendered bacon fat, brown the chicken cubes over medium high heat (don't worry about cooking it through). Add the browned chicken to the large bowl with the remaining sauce. Add the broccoli, garlic, and half of the green onions, and stir to coat.
Once the potatoes are done, pour the chicken and broccoli mixture over top. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the broccoli is lightly browned and chicken is cooked through.
Top the casserole with crumbled bacon and the remaining half of green onions. Drizzle with "Spicy Cream Sauce", or a compliant ranch dressing. Serve hot!
Notes
Find the sauce recipe here: Spicy Cream Sauce
Nutrition
Calories: 410kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 797mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g
Filed one dish meals, poultry, Whole 30
27 Comments
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rebecca
December 2, 2017 at 9:01 am
this is a good thing, for chicken meat whether it can be adjusted according to taste
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Anonymous
December 23, 2017 at 2:28 am
Is this freezer friendly? Thanks!
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Cindy Frantz
January 17, 2018 at 12:15 am
This was a very tasty casserole! Will be on our table again!
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chicafashionista
June 19, 2018 at 1:25 pm
Can you substitute the potatoes with sweet potatoes and the bacon with turkey bacon?
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Anonymous
July 22, 2018 at 5:07 pm
Super good. We make this even when we’re not on Whole30.
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Unknown
October 29, 2018 at 4:41 pm
I made this with 1.5 lbs of ground turkey and it worked very well!
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Casey
April 10, 2020 at 8:29 pm
This is my family’s favorite recipe! The only drawback is the prep time & amount of steps before it’s all combined. However, it is SO worth it.. and don’t forget the yummy cream sauce! It completely makes the dish.
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Jessie B
April 10, 2020 at 9:00 pm
I’m so glad you love it!! We always make a big batch so the extra work lasts us a few days haha! And yes to the cream sauce!!
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Jennifer P.
September 16, 2021 at 11:10 pm
I used frozen broccoli (cooked in the microwave), I prepped the potatoes during the weekend (instant pot), chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken). It cut cooking time down a lot.
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Kristin R
July 24, 2020 at 12:56 am
This is still one of my favorite recipes! It is a lot of prep and I’m planning to play around to see if I can reduce prep/cooking time by using the instant pot. It is delicious!!!
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Debbie
August 1, 2020 at 2:11 pm
This has become my family’s new favorite meal. I love that it’s healthy.
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Jen Guarino
August 18, 2020 at 12:57 am
This is one of the best dinners we have had in AGES! Everyone loved it! Thank you!
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Alex Norton
October 26, 2020 at 1:22 pm
Is the sauce recipe on this not supposed to match exactly with the sauce on the breakfast bowls link?
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Amy Quinlan
December 14, 2020 at 1:13 am
This was absolutely DELISH!!!!!! I was reading the comments, and I was wondering if anyone had used sweet potatoes in this before? My entire family went nuts over this dinner! Yes it takes some time prepping, but it was so worth it! Next time, I’ll be asking my hubby to help and cut the time in half.
We used the Primal Kitchen BBQ Ranch on top- amazing!
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Natalie S
January 10, 2021 at 9:02 pm
I use 2 larger sweet potatoes. It is delicious!
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Sara Jane
January 11, 2021 at 1:06 am
I used sweet potatoes and LOVED it. Also used Primal Kitchen Ranch for serving too. SO good! For my herb, I used TJ’s 21 Seasoning Salute… one of my favorites.
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Jennifer P.
September 16, 2021 at 11:12 pm
I bet Hannah (white) sweet potatoes would be great in this recipe.
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CYndi
January 25, 2021 at 10:10 pm
there are no potatoes listed on the recipe ingredients. how many potatoes do you use?
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Jessie B
January 26, 2021 at 6:21 pm
Hi Cyndi! So sorry about that – got lost in our website conversion. Just fixed! It’s 1 lb of gold potatoes cut into 1″ cubes. 🙂
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Chanel
February 26, 2021 at 12:36 am
This was super good! I swapped out potatoes for sweet potato and it’s was delicious. I used sriracha as my hot sauce 🤤
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Amara
March 23, 2021 at 3:52 pm
I made this last night for my family and my kids loved it! Of course my son loves anything with bacon! So hard to get my kids eating healthy so this definitely going into the meal rotation. Thanks!
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Taylor
June 16, 2021 at 6:27 pm
Love this Whole30 recipe! So delicious and easy ingredients to put together.
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Donna
October 26, 2021 at 2:02 am
This dish was very good and I would definitely make it again
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Jasmine
March 17, 2022 at 9:29 am
Do you just eat it by itself? What could you serve with it? Would it be good over rice, pasta, or bread?
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Jessie B
April 12, 2022 at 5:56 am
It’s a one dish meal – we scoop in a bowl and it it on its own! The potatoes are the carb so I never thought to put it over rice or bread or anything. But you can try whatever you like 🤗
