Easy Olive and Avocado Chicken

Looking for quick and healthy meals to start the new year? Try our Easy Olive and Avocado Chicken! Make the olive and avocado topping while the chicken bakes for a tasty weeknight meal with plenty of nutrition. Read on for more details and our wine pairing for avocado chicken, or click here to jump down to the recipe. 

So New Year’s weekend is coming up. Sure, that does mean we are looking for recipes that are good for entertaining. Not to mention ideas for festive beverages..speaking of that, our 25+ Pairings for Sparkling Wine article is a good resource for New Year’s Eve!

But with the end of holiday season, we are also looking for quick, healthy recipes to make when we are done entertaining and back to work. Enter our Easy Olive and Avocado Chicken.

Not exactly a New Year’s resolution, but I’ve been looking for more ways to get healthy and tasty avocado into our repertoire. Loaded with vitamins, fiber and healthy fat, avocados deserve a regular place in our food lineup. Here’s a summary of 12 health benefits of avocado from HealthLine.

I’ve tended to relegate avocados to guacamole or perhaps a chili topping, but they can add richness and flavor to many other dishes. To get in the mode of eating more avocado, I will now often buy one or two avocados without a specific plan for how I will use them.

I was looking for a quick topping I could use for tuna I was serving recently, and put together a tasty little combo of olives and avocado. It was pretty good on the tuna, but Jodi noted that it was also very good topping some simple backed chicken. So I decided avocado chicken was a keeper, and made it again to share with you.

Our Easy Olive and Avocado Chicken recipe starts with our simple baked chicken recipe. I make chicken following this method at the start of nearly every week, using the chicken for school lunches and quick protein for midweek meals.

You can easily put together the olive and avocado mixture while the chicken bakes. Once the chicken is ready, divide up the chicken into serving portions and top with the olive avocado mixture. Boom, a healthy and tasty avocado chicken entree is on the table. Enjoy!

Wine Pairing for Avocado Chicken

Red or white wine with chicken? That really depends on how the chicken is being prepared. I thought the saltiness of the olives and fat content in the avocado would go best with a full-bodied white wine like a Chardonnay. So we opened the 2015 Taft Street Chardonnay ($22, 14.2%) to go with the Olive and Avocado Chicken. This Russian River Chardonnay has bright lemon and green apple flavors, and paired nicely with our avocado chicken.

Taft Street Winery, which originated in a garage rather than a grand chateau, produces a variety of good quality wines at an affordable price. I also get their Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc on a regular basis.

Easy Olive and Avocado Chicken

★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

Baked chicken breast fillets topped with olives and and avocado for an easy and healthy weeknight meal.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins
• Total Time: 35 mins
• Yield: 3 servings 1x
• Category: Main
• Cuisine: American

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp dried basil
• pinch salt
• 2 chicken breast fillets, approximately 1 lb total
• 1 ripe avocado
• 8 olives, sliced
• 1 tbsp parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon, optional
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Make the marinade for chicken: combine 3 tablespoons olive oil, garlic powder, dried basil and pinch salt in a medium bowl.
3. Rinse and pat dry the chicken breast fillets. Place the chicken in the bowl with olive oil and herbs, toss gently to combine. Let the chicken set at room temperature for 10 minutes.
4. Add the chicken to a roasting pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, checking for doneness at 20 minutes. The chicken should be cooked through and 165 degrees Fahrenheit when done. Remove the chicken when done and set on a serving platter.
5. As the chicken bakes, peel the avocado, then cut it into bite sized pieces. Place the sliced avocado in a bowl along with the olives, parsley and remaining tablespoon olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Gently toss the avocado with the other ingredients to combine.
6. Cut a portion of chicken and plate, topped with the olive and avocado mixture. Enjoy!

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Liking the combo of avocado and chicken together? Try our Avocado Chicken Bowls with Pineapple Salsa!