Simple paleo recipes are the way to go when you’re in a hurry and don’t want to spend more than a half hour in the kitchen. Luckily the Paleo diet lends itself nicely to an on-the-go lifestyle, since our ancestors were always on the move and likely didn’t spend time assembling recipes with long ingredient lists.
Photo: Paleo Foodie Kitchen
1. Brussels Sprouts Skillet
When time is of the essence you just can’t beat a skillet meal. Not only does it save you time while you’re making it, but it saves clean up time as well, keeping it all in one pan for the most part. This skillet is jam-packed with Brussels sprouts, a cruciferous vegetable with many health benefits that can become a big part of your Paleo diet. Joining them is grass-fed beef hot dogs which speed up the cooking process, as well as sun dried tomatoes which are already ready to eat but just need to be warmed up.
Photo: Keto Diet App
2. Shamrock Eggs with Braised Spinach
These eggs are fun to cook up on St. Patty’s Day, but can also be made any other day of the year because they taste so good. They are cooked right into green peppers, so you’re getting a vegetable serving along with your protein from the eggs. As if that wasn’t enough they’ve served them up alongside a braised spinach, so you’re getting even more good stuff from the spinach like Vitamin A, Vitamin C, fiber, and iron. This is a breakfast that is quick and easy to make, but will fuel you till lunch with no problem.
Photo: Paleo Girl’s Kitchen
3. Simple Sizzlin’ Orange Hash
Here’s another breakfast entree that doesn’t take long to prepare, but will leave you satisfied for several hours after eating it. It uses sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes to make a hash, since white potatoes are not allowed on Paleo. Sweet potatoes definitely make a nice fill-in, and they provide antioxidants that regular potatoes simply don’t have. They also contain plenty of fiber, and starting your day off on the right foot with a good serving of fiber is not a bad way to go at all.
Photo: Give Peas a Chance
4. Roasted Salmon with Asparagus
Salmon and asparagus often get served next to each other and they look nice on a plate, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it takes long to make or that it’s difficult by any means. This dish goes the extra mile by placing a poached egg on top, which sort of marries the two main course and adds a bit more in the way of protein and minerals. This meal is so simple that they don’t even tell you the ingredients list because you can see all of the ingredients in the picture.
Photo: The Freckled Foodie
5. Cucumber Tomato Salad
Whenever you need a light meal or a side dish to meaty entree you can go with this cucumber and tomato salad which is just as easy as cutting up the tomatoes and cucumbers, and adding in some accompanying ingredients. The simplicity of the salad should not deter you from making it, as you’ll be adding a bit of honey for sweetness, and ginger and chili powder for a bit of a kick. This means it won’t be bland like it would if you were just eating cucumbers and tomatoes. Use ground fresh ginger to make it really special.
Photo: Paleon It
6. Simple Lemon Rosemary Chicken
Chicken is usually used as a go-to meal on Paleo, and here they’re showing you how to make it easy so you have a recipe under your belt that you can use whenever the need arises. The duo of lemon and rosemary is time-tested, and you’ll be able to rely on it here to give the chicken an amazing flavor without a lot of effort on your part. Organic free-range chicken means you’re getting chicken without all of the antibiotics and GMOs from corn and feed that is fed to conventional chicken.
Photo: The Healthy Foodie
7. Simple Western Omelette
The great thing about omelettes is that they taste great, and they’re not hard to make once you get the hang of them. There’s also a large window for error because if you mess up the omelette it just becomes scrambled eggs with other items mixed in. This western style omelet features hame and a bunch of different vegetables to keep you in line with the Paleo way of eating and to have you relish the start to your day, even if you are in a hurry and don’t have time to sit and relax.
Photo: The Iron You
8. Orange Beef
Orange Chicken may be all the rage at some Chinese restaurants, but Orange Beef is stealing the show here. Essentially it’s the same recipe, but with beef used instead of chicken. It’s spicy from the chili peppers, and citrusy sweet from the orange. Instead of wondering if there are any artificial flavorings or added MSG you can rest assured knowing it’s free of all of this because you made it yourself and had final say over which ingredients went into it. That makes it a great meal when you’re tempted to order out and can just stay home.
Photo: Civilized Caveman
9. Top Sirloin Kebabs
Kebabs might not currently be on your list of foods you think of when you want a quick and easy meal, but it’s time to put them on it. It’s as easy as skewering the steak and veggies onto the spit and popping them on the grill until they’re cooked through. This recipe will walk you through the process, and offers advice as to which vegetables are best to use, and what sort of steak you’ll want to use to make sure that this comes out just right. Once again, grass-fed beef is preferred over conventional.
Photo: Paleo Kitchen Sync
10. Chicken Soup Stir Fry
What happens when you take the contents of chicken soup and make a stir fry out of it? Surely that’s the question that went through this chef’s mind when this dish was created. It looks like a chicken soup has found its way onto the fry pan, minus all of the ingredients that aren’t allowed on the Paleo diet. Just chicken, veggies, and spaghetti squash used in place of the noodles. It’s now even better for your soul because all of the stuff that would otherwise slow you down has been removed or replaced.
Photo: Life Currents
11. Broccoli Mascarpone Soup
When you’re pressed for time it might be a soup that can get you filled up and back on the go. This broccoli soup takes just minutes to prepare, and minutes more to heat up and enjoy. You can easily add in bits of leftover chicken if you want it to be a more complete meal, but as it stands it can serve as a light lunch. This recipe has six servings, which you can store and eat the next day, saving you even more time and making it an easier meal to whip up a second time.
Photo: Family Living Simple
12. Sweet Potato Chicken Curry
This is a chicken curry like no other because it includes chunks of sweet potatoes that are not only pleasing to the tooth but also to the palate. You can be sure that they will not detract from the overall taste of this curry, and when you follow the directions as listed you’ll be able to go from zero to curry in no time. Preparing foods from around the world doesn’t have to be hard, as long as you have a good recipe, and with this curry you’re using a lot of quality ingredients that come together for a tasty finished product.
Photo: Phoenix Helix
13. Easy Shrimp Ceviche
Keeping it simple is the name of the game, and with this shrimp dish you’re using a handful of ingredients to make a filling meal. Shrimp, cucumber, and zucchini are the main foods you’ll taste, along with avocado and citrus fruit. That’s really all that’s needed when constructing a Paleo meal that doesn’t take up a lot of your time. You’ll find that the Paleo diet is easy to follow because the meals are easy to make, and you don’t have to be a gourmet chef to make a delicious tasting Paleo meal.
Photo: Home Sweet Jones
14. Thai Chicken Curry with Potatoes and Carrots
Borrowing flavors and recipes from different cultures is part of the fun of eating Paleo. Many traditional recipes can be adapted easily and turned into Paleo with just a few substitutions. Swap out the potatoes with sweet potatoes and you’ll make this a Paleo dish and add antioxidants and fiber while you’re at it. This is a chicken curry that you soon won’t forget, and because it’s so quick and easy to make you’ll want to make it more often, making it more likely to become your favorite.
Photo: Cook Eat Paleo
15. BLT Salad with Avocado and Chipotle Dressing
This salad harnesses the goodness of a BLT sandwich, and you don’t have to worry about the bread because it uses lettuce instead of bread. Make up the chipotle dressing that they provide the recipe for and you’ll be amping up the flavor to new heights, while staying Paleo all the while. It’s always a good thing on Paleo if you can name all of the ingredients in your meal just by saying the recipe title. Keeping things simple is key, and you don’t get much more simple than this salad that provides savory flavor quickly.
Photo: Lemon Squeezy
16. Turkey Escalopes with Pepper Sauce
Nevermind what an escalope is, just know that this is a quick meal that you’ll love eating just as much as you love how fast it takes to make it. The whole meal is clocked at 35 minutes which is remarkable given how great it tastes. In the world of cooking there seems to be the connection that a delicious meal has to take longer than a fast meal, and that the only fast food out there that tastes decent is made by restaurants. Here’s a turkey dish in a pepper sauce that you can make super fast.
Photo: Allergy Free Alaska
17. Sausage and Veggies
When you mix sausage with vegetables you’re accomplishing a few things. First, you are making both the sausage and veggies taste better, because each benefits from the other’s flavor. Second, you are balancing out the meal and making it more in line with how to eat while on Paleo. And third, you’re keeping things very easy and giving yourself a lot of room for error so that this is sure to turn out well and be a yummy dish you can eat whenever you get the notion. It’s quick and health, done in under 30 minutes and you’re ready to eat.
Photo: Kaci and the World
18. Egg Foo Yung
If this is one of your favorites from the Chinese menu, learn to make it quickly and easily at home and you’ll save yourself the expense and waiting around for delivery. This dish is remarkably easy to make, and in no time you’ll have a tasty dish that you can use for a light lunch or as part of a larger dinner. The use of coconut flour keeps it Paleo and avoids using any grains so you’ll be keeping with the Paleo guideline of no grains. There’s also no dairy used here, with just some added vegetables for flavor and nutrition.
Photo: Simply 123 Allergy Free
19. Summer Gazpacho With Avocado
Gazpacho is a great summertime soup, and on Paleo you’ll want to eat along with the seasons, opting for cooling foods in the summer months, and warming foods in the winter months. This gazpacho gets it right, using summertime perfect ingredients like tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers for the soup, and garnishing it with avocado. You don’t have to wait for it to be refrigerated if your vegetables are coming from the refrigerator. You can also make this up ahead of time and let it chill overnight and it will be ready to go tomorrow.
Photo: Paleo on a Budget
20. Chicken Scampi Budget Style
You don’t have to wait to order your chicken scampi in a restaurant when you know how to make it at home. Save yourself from the low-quality ingredients that most restaurants use, and choose your own ingredients to make at home. You can still make it budget friendly and use quality items. This is a no-frills scampi that still has amazing taste, and is done in a jiffy. It cuts out all unnecessary ingredients and keeps the ones that deliver the most flavor with the least hassle.
Photo: Gluten Free If You Please
21. Orange Maple Salmon
Salmon is one of the easiest fish to work with because it stays together nicely and doesn’t flake away like many fillets of fish. Even if you’re a cooking novice you can make up this orange maple salmon dish and feel like a pro. You want to be careful not to undercook it or overcook it, erring on the side of overcooking it, but you’ll be able to tell when it’s ready and it doesn’t take long at all. This means you can have a delicious salmon meal on the table quickly and be satisfied in no time.
