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Want to try Paleo but not quite sure what to cook first? We’ve got you covered! Here are 10 super-easy Paleo recipe ideas to help get you off the ground.
1. Frittatas
Eggs are one of the easiest Paleo foods to prepare, and frittatas take “simple but delicious” up to 11. The basic concept is simple: just beat some eggs and pour them into a pan with your favorite vegetables; then bake in the oven until it smells too good to resist!
Here’s a quick and easy recipe for an Italian-themed frittata to get you started. And if that’s not quite your style, try this zucchini and sweet potato frittata instead.
2. Crock-Pot Roasts
Roasts make it easy to stretch a tight budget (especially if you’re feeding a crowd). And slow-cookers make it easy to cram home cooking into even the busiest of schedules. Together, they’re a match made in heaven!
Here’s a quick recipe for balsamic roast beef, and if you’re not feeling the beef today, here’s one just as simple for a pork roast.
3. Roast Chicken
It’s a classic for a reason – affordable, low-effort, and delicious! Many people are intimidated at the thought of cooking a whole bird instead of just the breasts or drumsticks, but it's really not complicated or difficult. Once you do it for the first time, you'll be amazed that you were ever worried about it.
Here’s a very simple recipe for a whole roast chicken to get you started.
4. Baked Chicken
Don’t have a whole chicken handy? No problem: just grab whatever chicken parts you have and make a quick baked chicken recipe.
A few ideas: spice rubbed chicken is great for the heat-lovers, and lemon and thyme chicken has a slightly more delicate flavor, perfect for salads.
5. Chili
A big bowl of chili is just the thing to warm up a cold afternoon. It travels well; it freezes well; it reheats beautifully – is there anything it can’t do? You can adjust the spice level up or down, depending on your tastes, and you can throw in just about any kind of meat you can think of!
Here’s a classic chili with beef and tomatoes, here’s a spicy version with pork, and here’s a recipe for turkey chili (using leftover meat).
6. Coleslaw
Paleo isn’t just about huge hunks of meat all the time: your plate should be at least half-full of vegetables! Per serving, cabbage is one of the cheapest vegetables you can buy, and it’s also very easy to prepare. You can fry it, roast it, throw it in a soup…or make coleslaw out of it!
Here’s a recipe for fruity coleslaw, and here’s one for a buffalo ranch version.
7. Chicken soup
Chicken soup is “soul food” after a long day. It’s a time-honored home remedy for a sniffle or a flu, and it’s an ideal way to use up any vegetables loitering in your fridge about to go bad. Plus, it’s a perfect vehicle for bone broth.
Here’s a very basic chicken soup recipe that you can modify almost infinitely to suit your particular tastes.
8. Roasted Vegetables
The easiest way of dealing with almost any vegetable is to just toss it on a tray with some Paleo cooking fat and roast it until it’s soft and delicious. Roasting more assertive vegetables like broccoli or Brussels sprouts brings out their inner sweetness and makes them much more palatable for kids.
Here’s a basic recipe for oven-roasted cabbage to get you started, but remember: you can apply the same technique to almost anything!
9. Guacamole
Guacamole is a perfect vehicle for healthy fats and all the other good stuff that you’ll find in an avocado. It’s delicious scooped over a salad, used as a dip for raw vegetable slices, or simply eaten straight off the spoon.
Here’s a recipe for quick and easy guacamole.
10. Hamburgers
Burgers don’t have to come on a bun! They’re incredibly versatile and a guaranteed dinner favorite, so it’s well worth your time to find a Paleo recipe.
Here’s a basic recipe for Portobello burgers – with a mushroom stepping in as the bun. And just for fun, here are some fries to go with them.
Did we miss anything? What's your favorite super-simple beginner recipe? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter!
A paleo diet is an eating plan based on foods humans might have eaten during the Paleolithic Era. The Paleolithic Era dates from around 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago. A modern paleo diet includes fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds.
Featuring lean meat and fish as well as fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, the paleo diet excludes the foods that have become popular since farming began to develop around 10,000 years ago, so processed products such as bread, pasta, refined sugar and dairy are all off-limits.
Dairy. A strict paleo diet does not allow dairy products because hunter-gatherers did not milk cows. This includes milk, butter, yogurt, sour cream and cheese.
The typical paleo diet focuses on naturally raised meat and fish, as well as vegetables and fruits. It promotes avoiding dairy products and grains. This diet can put you at risk for deficiencies in calcium and vitamin D, which are critical to bone health.
Peanuts are technically legumes, which are not paleo compliant, and that means peanut butter is off limits for paleo eaters. All other nuts and seeds are fair game, so if nuts and seeds are the only ingredients, snack away!
While we have said in the past that coffee is not Paleo, we have changed our position based on new research and now we believe that coffee is fine for most people.
Fruit: There are also plenty of delicious fruits you can eat on a paleo diet, including berries, apples, bananas, peaches, oranges, and melons. Meat and Fish: Any meat and fish consumed should be unprocessed.
Of course, any and all fruits are welcome on the paleo diet including apples, oranges, pears, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and more. And don't forget tubers such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, yams, and so on.
Popcorn is technically not considered paleo since it's a whole grain. However, most paleo experts agree that it's not a horrible snack to have in moderation, especially when it's prepared fresh and cooked in a healthy fat like coconut oil.
Why are Oats not Paleo-friendly? Although oats are a non-fattening healthy food for a more mainstream diet, oats do contain anti-nutrients that the Paleo diet aims to avoid such as phytic acid, lectins, and avenin. Not only do oats contain a few anti-nutrients, but they are also often contaminated with gluten.
Over the past few years, the bacon craze has surged in the Paleo community. While bacon is very tasty; unfortunately, bacon is not Paleo. Bacon is high in added salt, nitrates, and other unhealthy chemicals that are injected into the meat to help preserve it.
Yes, almond milk is paleo. The best kind of almond milk to consume on the paleo diet is the homemade variety, made using only water, almonds, and a natural sweetener such as honey. Certain stores may stock this type of almond milk, but many do not.
Strict paleo dieters exclude all grains from their diets — including rice — primarily due to their high phytate content. Although it's technically prohibited, many people still consume small amounts of white rice while following a paleo diet because it's lower in phytates, compared with other types.
There is no requirement for how many or how few eggs someone can eat on the paleo diet. However, while eggs offer many health benefits, you can overdo it if you consume too many every day.
Chia seeds: 1 tablespoon of chia + 3 tablespoons of water, mixed well and allowed to sit for 10 minutes to form a gel. (If you don't want to see little seeds in your recipe, grind the chia seeds down before adding the water). Chia doesn't really have a flavour and can be used in savoury or sweet recipes.
Bacon is one of the ultimately-loved Paleo foods. It is generally prepared from the fatback, the sides, or the belly of the pig. These cuts are then cured using salt, either in a brine (with water) or via dry packing.
Introduction: My name is Nathanael Baumbach, I am a fantastic, nice, victorious, brave, healthy, cute, glorious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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