This recipe is a whole family favorite! We never have leftovers when this is for dinner. Even our sweet vegetarian Hannah will eat a huge bowl of these Pesto Zoodles. She actually inspired the pesto, she has the best taste, and anything that resembles breaded chicken will go over well with all of us. Ava’s (our youngest at three) favorite food for as long as I can remember has been “crispy nuggets” and crispy they had to be! Thank goodness this chicken comes out perfectly crispy and golden.

I would love to do a post on all things spiralized! I have tried to spiralize pretty much anything I can think of and used at least three different spiralizers. I honestly LOVE the Paderno World Cuisine 6-blade Vegetable Spiralizer. It’s inexpensive and has worked better than even the electric versions. It has 6 different blades that can give you everything from thin “noodles” to beautiful ribbons. We will post soon on all things “faux noodle” but, in the meantime, zucchini is easy to transform and really delicious.

John is the sauce guy in the family. He has brought so many amazing flavors to this healthy lifestyle. I mean whole30 compliant BBQ sauce, Mayo, Curries, Ranch, Garlic Aioli, Sriracha! If it wasn’t for these we wouldn’t have made it this long. I mean really, life without sauce is sad. He also created this pesto and IT IS SO GOOD.

We hope that you enjoy this dish and feel like you had indulged in a hearty chicken and pasta dish you that you won't regret in the morning.

~ Amanda

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Recipe and Instructions:

Course: Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine: Whole 30, Paleo, gluten free, dairy free, grain free, sugar free

Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Servings: 4-5 servings

Ingredients:

4 large zucchini

3 chicken breasts cut into tenderloin pieces (about 14 tenders)  

2 cups raw almonds, plus ⅛ cup for pesto (be aware of non-compliant oils)

1 large egg

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

½ tsp pepper plus ¼ tsp for pesto

2 cups basil

1 cup baby spinach

1 small garlic clove

1 tsp lemon juice

½ tsp salt for almond crust mixture

½ tsp salt for pesto

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

2. Slice ends off of your zucchini and fit them on to your spiralizer. Spiralize zucchini using the thinnest blade attachment.

3. In a bowl gently whisk egg and set aside.

4. In a food processor, add salted almonds, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and ½ tsp of pepper. Pulse mixture until its a course flour. Place mixture into shallow bowl or plate for breading chicken.

5. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.

6. One at a time dip chicken in egg and then cover in almond mixture. Place on baking sheet.

7. Once all the chicken is generously coated place in oven and bake for 20 min or until chicken fully cooked and a golden brown.

8. In a large saucepan bring water to a boil.

9. While chicken is cooking add basil, spinach, garlic, lemon juice, salt and ⅛ cup almonds into food processor. Blend until smooth.

10. Add spiralized zucchini to boiling water at let sit for approximately 3 min or until zucchini skin is bright green and zoodles are al dente.

11. Remove, and drain zoodles well. Toss zoodles in pesto and serve with almond chicken tenders  .

12. Enjoy