An autoimmune protocol diet, commonly referred to as an AIP diet, focuses on consuming vegetables, fruit, humanely-raised meat, and healthy fats. It is an elimination diet that, when followed, can help to lessen symptoms related to autoimmune conditions, like lupus, Celiac disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. AIP recipes exclude grains, gluten, legumes, eggs, dairy, sugar, industrial seed oils, nuts, seeds, nightshade vegetables, and thickening agents.
This diet may feel restrictive and challenging to follow for many people, especially when first starting out. Thankfully, many resources and recipes are readily available online. In this list, you will find 20 of our favorite AIP-compliant lunch and AIP dinner recipes ideas that are both delicious and nutrient-dense. And, if you're looking for recipes for breakfast, we have you covered with these delicious AIP breakfast recipes.
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1. Roasted Lemon Crispy Beef
This roasted lemon crispy beef is delicious and a fantastic option for your weekly meal prep menu. You can easily make additional servings in advance to freeze to eat later. Just be sure to store the prepared lemon beef in an airtight container. We especially love this dish because it includes budget-friendly ingredients, so if you're trying to grocery shop more frugally, this is the recipe for you.
This crispy beef is also an extremely versatile dish that can be served in a variety of ways, like adding it atop fresh greens and garnishing with avocado slices, serving alongside an AIP-friendly side salad, or simply eating it on its own!
Get the recipe from The Castaway Kitchen.
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2. BBQ Chicken Sausage Patties With AIP BBQ Sauce
Requiring minimal ingredients and just two instruction steps to follow, this recipe for sausage patties, inspired by a popular pizza, is sure to be a hit. They are nutrient-dense, full of flavor, protein-packed, and can be prepared and served in just 30 minutes.
This recipe uses store-bought barbecue sauce that makes preparing these that much easier. Plus, the BBQ sauce would pair perfectly with your other favorite protein options so, if you pick up a bottle, you can enjoy it in this recipe as well as alongside other AIP meals.
Get the recipe from A Clean Plate.
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3. Avocado Tuna Salad
One of the easiest dishes to prepare for weekday lunches is this tuna salad featuring fresh avocado. To make this easy AIP lunch, only simple and straightforward ingredients are required, which yield a resulting salad that is flavorful and satiating. Both tuna and avocado contain healthy fats that will keep you full until dinnertime. Our favorite part? You likely have all of these ingredients at home right now!
When you need something to eat that is high in protein and doesn't take long to prepare, this recipe is one you'll want to have on-hand.
Get the recipe from Real Balanced.
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4. Crispy AIP Buffalo Chicken Tenders
These buffalo chicken tenders are extra crispy and make a perfect weeknight or weekend dinner for the family. They are AIP-compliant, Whole30-friendly, paleo-friendly, and made with coconut flour and arrowroot flour rather than whole wheat flour, which contains gluten.
This recipe can easily be made on the stovetop or in an air fryer, so use whichever method you personally prefer. Serve alongside creamy buffalo dipping sauce or one of your other favorite dipping sauces and enjoy a delicious, nutritious, and filling AIP dinner!
Get the recipe from Grass Fed Salsa.
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5. Autoimmune Paleo Pizza
This recipe is so versatile that you can make it both AIP-compliant and low-FODMAP. This pizza doesn't contain cheese, but it's so flavorful that you won't even notice!
The key here is to prepare homemade “no-mato” sauce, which is free from tomatoes, an ingredient that is not AIP-friendly. Once you have baked the crust and added sauce, you can top each slice based on what ingredients you have on-hand and your taste preferences.
Our suggestions would be to include your favorite protein, like grass-fed ground beef, mushrooms, and olives.
Get the recipe from Healy Eats Real.
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6. Vegan Cheese Sauce
This dairy-free and oil-free cheese sauce recipe is a game-changer for what to top your favorite AIP protein and vegetables with. This dish is not only AIP-friendly, but it’s also compliant with paleo and Whole30, as well as being nut-free.
To make this sauce taste cheesy without including any actual cheese, a combination of sweet potatoes, coconut cream, and nutritional yeast flakes are used. You can spoon this over some steamed vegetables, shredded chicken, or use it as a dip.
Get the recipe from Grass Fed Salsa.
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7. Creamy Cauliflower Noodles With Citrus Basil Sauce
This is a dish that, once prepared, you'll be shocked that you found it on a list of autoimmune diet recipes. It's creamy, citrusy, and packed with nutrients to keep you feeling your best.
This pasta dish is low in carbs, so if you're looking for a dairy-free and keto-friendly dish, you will love this one. If you want to make this recipe Whole30-friendly, use vegetable noodles, like carrot or even shredded cabbage, in place of shirataki noodles.
Get the recipe from The Castaway Kitchen.
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8. Egg Roll in a Bowl
This homemade dish is reminiscent of an egg roll, but instead of being wrapped, it's served in a bowl. It's bursting with flavor and is extremely easy to make. It's extremely adaptable, so if you want fewer carbs per serving, for example, omit the carrots and decrease the amount of onions. You can make and serve this dish in just one pan, all in 30 minutes or less.
The recipe yields approximately 4 servings, which are quite large. If you want to prepare extra in advance to eat for lunches and dinners throughout the week, double or triple the ingredients and then store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Get the recipe from Whole New Mom.
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9. Healthy Chicken Fingers
These chicken fingers are breaded with coconut flour and use seasonings, like sage and thyme, that amp up the flavor in every bite. The key to ensuring each chicken finger is extra crispy is to mist them once breaded with avocado oil or coconut oil cooking spray before baking. This will make them perfectly crisp on the outside and moist on the inside.
The recipe yields 4 servings, making it a fantastic weeknight dinner option for the family.
Get the recipe from Healy Eats Real.
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10. AIP Ground Beef Stroganoff With Spinach
Beef stroganoff is a filling and delicious dish yet is typically far from being compliant with an autoimmune diet protocol. This recipe takes the popular dish and makes it dairy-free, paleo-friendly, and compliant with an AIP diet. For example, instead of sour cream, which is typically used in stroganoff to make it creamy, coconut cream is used here; instead of gluten-containing noodles, sweet potato noodles are used
This dish is quite simple to prepare and can be made in just about 30 minutes, so it's a perfect option to make after work to serve for family dinner.
Get the recipe from Bon Aippetit.
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11. Shepherd's Pie With Sweet Potato
This shepherd's pie is made with grass-fed and pasture-raised ground beef and is hearty and filling enough for a family. To ensure your resulting dish falls within the guidelines of AIP diet recipes, be sure to substitute cauliflower for peas, substitute coconut oil for butter, as well as completely omitting black pepper and cumin.
This meal can be made in less than an hour and will yield approximately 6 total servings.
Get the recipe from Healy Eats Real.
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12. Chicken Pot Pie Soup
This chicken pot pie soup is one of those autoimmune paleo diet recipes you will want to make repeatedly! It's hearty and full of nutrients that will keep you full, focused, and energized. To make the soup even creamier, arrowroot flour can be added, but it certainly isn't a necessary ingredient here.
This dish can easily be served in less than one hour and would be a great option for making in advance for meals throughout the week.
Get the recipe from A Clean Plate.
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13. AIP Teriyaki Bowl
This aip-friendly teriyaki bowl is one of the most popular autoimmune recipes out there. It's versatile as many of the ingredients can easily be omitted, and the resulting dish will still be successful and absolutely delicious.
To ensure this meal is compliant with an AIP diet, be sure not to use eggs, which are not AIP-friendly. If you follow a combination of AIP and Whole30, you will need to both omit the eggs and then substitute zucchini noodles for shirataki noodles.
Get the recipe from The Castaway Kitchen.
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14. Bacon Chicken Ranch Casserole
This dinner casserole is one of our favorite AIP recipes! It's an easy and flavorful meal that stores really well, making eating leftovers the next day an enjoyable experience.
If you have a family with children, especially those who are picky eaters, this dish is sure to be a winner. It includes vegetables that aren't overpowering but that will add some additional nutrients to your diet.
Besides being an autoimmune paleo recipe, this casserole is also Whole30-compliant, low-carb, and gluten-free.
Get the recipe from Grass Fed Salsa.
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15. Broiled Salmon
Packed with protein, vitamins, and nutrients, broiled salmon is one of those autoimmune protocol recipes that you could make weekly and never tire of. Including minimal, whole food ingredients, this dish couldn't be easier to make and serve. In less than 30 minutes, you can have dinner on the table.
To make this salmon, you'll simply need to marinade it, broil it, then serve. That's it! Simple and so delicious!
Get the recipe from The Castaway Kitchen.
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16. Orange-Glazed Pork Tenderloin
If you are a lover of pork, this Asian-inspired orange-glazed pork tenderloin will be a new favorite dish of yours. There are not a lot of ingredients required, nor are the recipe instructions complicated, making this meal a perfect option for weekday dinners. Just be sure to leave a little time the night before serving to marinate the pork to ensure it can soak in all of those amazing flavors!
Pair it with some cauliflower rice or a side salad and you will have a flavorful and AIP dinner on the table with minimal effort spent in the kitchen.
Get the recipe from A Clean Plate.
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17. Mojo Chicken Tostones With Mango Avocado Salsa
These paleo chicken tostones are bursting with flavor in each bite. Each bite is topped with homemade mango avocado salsa and the tostones themselves are made with mojo sauce, a sauce that can be whipped in the kitchen in no time. Be sure to omit some of the spices that are not friendly with an AIP diet, like cumin and fresh jalapeno.
We would suggest making this dish in advance and then eating it for workday lunches. You will get in a high protein meal to ensure you have enough energy to get through the rest of your day!
Get the recipe from Wicked Spatula.
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18. Chimichurri Chicken, Plantain & Red Slaw
These coleslaw meal prep bowls are an easy AIP lunch recipe to make in advance for lunches during weeks that you'll be on the go. The chicken and red slaw are served alongside homemade plantains, and each bite is nourishing and nutrient-dense. You can prep these bowls in just over an hour and have lunches ready to go for the next four days.
Get the recipe from The Unskilled Cavewoman.
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19. Easy Pumpkin Smoothie
If you're in the mood for a light and easy lunch that is compliant with an autoimmune protocol diet, this pumpkin smoothie is a great option. It's made without dairy and can easily be made vegan-friendly by substituting vegan protein powder for collagen-based protein powder. All you have to do is blend all of the ingredients and then serve. It's full of healthy fats that will keep you energized throughout the remainder of your day!
Get the recipe from Healy Eats Real.
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20. AIP Mediterranean Chicken Bake
Every bite of this Mediterranean chicken bake featuring green olives, garlic cloves, and dried tarragon is so flavorful, making this dish a winner for AIP dinners. The recipe will yield four servings and it can be made and served in only one hour.
If you are hoping to have enough for the family for a few days, double the recipe and you will be all set to enjoy this flavor-packed meal this coming week!
Get the recipe from A Squirrel in the Kitchen.
