I was a bit stuck on what to make for dinner tonight, so I decided to recreate an old classic paleo style: chicken strips and fries. These paleo chicken strips use almonds for the breading, and I made sweet potato fries instead. The kids love these of course, and they’re quite a bit healthier than the original version.
Sweet Potato Fries
We’ll start with the sweet potato fries because they take longer to cook than the chicken strips. Wash and peel four sweet potatoes and cut them into fries. The thinner you cut them, the crispier they’ll get, but don’t expect to get the same kind of results you’d get from a deep fryer. Do your best to keep the fries uniform in size so they cook evenly.
Dump the fries in a large bowl and add enough olive oil to coat them, about 2-3 tablespoons. Add one teaspoon each of garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and 2 tablespoons coconut flour. If you like your fries a little spicy, add a teaspoon (or more) of chili powder. Toss the fries until well covered in the spices. Arrange the fries on a cookie sheet, being careful not to overlap them. (They need the space to crisp.) Bake your fries for 25-35 minutes at 400 degrees, depending on how thick your fries are. Watch them to make sure they don’t burn and flip them about halfway through.
Paleo Chicken Strips
The “breading” for these gluten-free chicken strips is made from about one and three quarters of a cup of whole almonds ground up in a food processor. You can experiment with how finely you want your almonds chopped up. Grinding your almonds into meal (you can also buy ready made almond meal) will make a coating closest to a restaurant chicken strip. Dump the processed almonds into a large bowl and mix in a teaspoon each of garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. In a second bowl, lightly beat two eggs.
Cut the skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs into strips. Dip each piece of chicken into the eggs and then roll them in the ground almond mixture. Lay them out on a foil covered cookie sheet and put them in the oven with your fries. (If your fries are on the thicker side, put the chicken strips in 5-10 minutes after you put your fries in.) Bake for 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees.
Paleo Chicken Strips and Sweet Potato Fries
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Fries
- 4 large sweet potatoes
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder optional
Chicken Strips
- 2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breasts or thighs
- 1 3/4 cups whole almonds or 2 cups almond meal
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Sweet Potato Fries
- Wash and peel sweet potatoes then cut into fries.
- Toss fries in a large bowl with olive oil, spices, and coconut flour until evenly coated.
- Arrange fries on cookie sheet, ensuring fries do not overlap.
- Bake for 25-35 minutes, depending on thickness of fries. Flip fries halfway through.
Chicken Strips
- Cut chicken into strips.
- Chop almonds into coarse meal in a food processor.
- Transfer almonds into large bowl and mix in spices.
- Break eggs into a second bowl and lightly beat.
- Dip chicken strips into the eggs then roll in almond mixture.
- Arrange chicken on a foil-covered cookie sheet and bake 20-25 minutes.
Yum! my three year old might actually eat this. Pinned it. ;0
My three year old and one year old both love them!
Ooooh…I love the idea of using almonds for the chicken coating. Gonna have to try that! Yum! 😉
Kelly
Surprisingly, it doesn’t taste like almonds, more like Shake ‘n Bake!
Love this idea and can’t wait to try it! I’m originally from Alabama and a sucker for fried chicken and french fries. I don’t think I can turn down a healthier version. Thanks for posting! 🙂
I’d love to hear how it turns out for you!
Visiting from Delicious Dish Tuesday. Great idea for “breading” on the chicken!
Thanks for stopping by, Michelle! I just linked up with your potluck, and I have to say you take beautiful photos!
Thank you for coming over and linking, Olivia! And thank you for the compliment about my photos. It means alot to read that!
Hubby loves fried food but has been such a great sport about me trying to eat healthier. I’m going to pin this so I can try to make it one night! xoxo
Thanks, Brittnei. I’d love to hear how it turns out for you. 🙂
This will be a kid pleaser meal for sure! I love the idea to use almonds for breading!
They both love this! I use this breading for fish sticks too.
I have never used almonds as breading… Sounds SOOOOO good! Usually I just use panko bread crumbs. I’ll have to try this!
We love sweet potato fries too. YUM!
Thanks so much for linking up Olivia! Always love seeing your fantastic, healthier recipes! 🙂
Also curious… What recipe plugin do you use? I love the look of it!!
Thanks, Alesha! I like panko too, but now that we don’t eat wheat I needed to find a replacement. Almond meal makes a really tasty substitute.
I use Recipe Card – it’s pretty straightforward and I like how customizable it is so you can have it complement your blog design.
We made this tonight for Movie Night at my daughters school. We didn’t want the kids to be too tempted by the junk food at the snack bar! The chicken strips were delish and a huge hit! However, I couldn’t get the sweet potato fries to crisp up, what is the trick? The kids devoured those too, though. They were really yummy too! Thanks for this!
Glad to hear the chicken strips were a hit! Cutting the fries thinner, making sure the olive oil is evenly distributed on the entire fry, and laying them out without touching will help the fries crisp up more, but unfortunately you’ll never get them really crisp like you do from a deep fryer. 🙁 If you really don’t like them baked, you could try deep frying them in some coconut oil in a heavy saucepan on the stove.
Your seasoning for the fries sounds delicious!
I’ve never seen this recipe for chicken with almonds before but it looks really good and so does the sweet potato fries