If you're on the autoimmune protocol diet (AIP), you know this struggle: the food gets flat, repetitive, and joyless fast. This video, hosted by chef and co-founder Avi Green of the SoCal Spice Company, shows you exactly how to cook a boring piece of organic chicken breast so it comes out tender, juicy, and genuinely exciting using her new nightshade free chicken seasoning blends that are fully AIP compliant.

If you've been on the AIP diet for some time, you know the struggle with the spice rack: nightshade ingredients are rarely labeled as nightshades. They show up as their dried, ground forms. They are hiding in almost every conventional chicken seasoning on the market. Paprika (dried red bell or chili peppers), cayenne (dried hot chili pepper), chili powder, crushed red pepper, chipotle powder (dried smoked jalapeño), and ancho powder are all nightshades. These are all members of the Capsicum family, and all are extremely common in poultry rubs, BBQ blends, and taco seasonings. Even a label that simply says "spices" without listing them individually is usually concealing nightshade-derived ingredients. The reason they're so prevalent is simple: capsaicin-containing peppers deliver heat, color, and a layer of aromatic complexity that is very hard to replicate without them. That's exactly what makes finding a nightshade free chicken seasoning that actually tastes good such a challenge, and why most people on the autoimmune protocol diet resign themselves to bland food.

Avi Green has been passionate about cooking for nearly 40 years and has spent 10 years running a food business working directly with people managing autoimmune diseases. She used her experience and knowledge as a chef to create AIP compliant spice blends which are perfect for seasoning chicken breast and making delicious meals that anyone on the AIP diet can enjoy.

She recently recorded this video which shows how to cook juicy, AIP compliant chicken breast. You'll want to pay close attention to the cooking techniques she uses, and especially what she doesn't do, in order to keep the chicken juicy...

What you'll walk away with: You will learn the prep steps most cooks skip on boneless skinless chicken breast, including how to get even thickness, how to trim off connective tissue, and how to caramelize it to make it look and taste wonderful.

What most people miss: A truly satisfying dish needs three flavor phases: a) foundation, b) warmth, and c) brightness. Unfortunately, those are the same exact elements that are unintentionally stripped away by the AIP protocol. These spice blends were engineered specifically to restore all three phases, so the food tastes complete rather than flat.

Stay for the moment around the 8-minute mark when Avi reveals the unexpected ingredients behind the Savory Sunshine blend's depth and brightness. It will probably surprise you to find out what AIP-compliant ingredients she uses to get that delicious taste into the organic chicken breast.

Key Moments

Click any timestamp to jump to that moment in the video.

How to Cook Juicy AIP Chicken Breast That Actually Tastes Amazing...

Why AIP Cooking Feels So Hopeless - And What To Change

Hi there. I'm Avi Green, head chef and co-founder of the original SoCal Spice Company. I am excited to show you how to make AIP cooking more delightful, more exciting, less boring, less repetitive. And I'm going to do that using one of the most boring, dull ingredients.

I've been passionate about cooking for nearly 40 years, but I've had a food business for 10 years. During that time, I've worked with many people who suffer with autoimmune diseases.

The Most Common AIP Complaint

One of the most common complaints that I've heard from people that are on an AIP autoimmune protocol diet is that it's so boring. The food is so flat. It's so repetitive.

The problem is that on an AIP diet, so many ingredients are taken out. It's a highly restrictive diet. These are common ingredients... they're foundational ingredients, they're structural ingredients, whether we're talking about the whole food ingredients or the common spices that they're not allowed to have on AIP. (i.e. nightshades in spice blends)

The Solution: Three AIP-Compliant Spice Blends

We have come up with a beautiful solution, and that is our offering, our three spice blends. We have the Fiesta Fusion, the Far East Uplift, and the Savory Sunshine. I'm going to show you how to use a boring piece of organic chicken breast and make it exciting with our AIP compliant spice blends.

In this video, you are going to learn some really great tips for how to prepare organic boneless skinless chicken breast in a way that is going to make it more tender and juicy and more pleasant - whether you're using our spices or not.

The Problem with Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Out of the Package

The thing about boneless skinless chicken breast is that it tends to be very dry. Even though it is prepped and boneless and skinless, there are a few steps that you need to take to make the experience more enjoyable.

Getting Even Thickness So Nothing Turns to Sawdust

Notice first of all the thickness of the chicken breast at the top, or in the thickest spot, versus at the bottom. There's a clear difference. We need this to be even so that it cooks evenly. Otherwise, if you just throw it in just like this, by the time the thickest part is cooked, the thinnest part is sawdust. We don't want that.

So I'm taking care to make more even slices so the thinness or thickness is the same all the way through.

Trimming the Connective Tissue You Can't Cook Out

There is connective tissue, it's kind of like this white thing in the middle of the breast. It does not cook up nicely. It's very unpleasant when you chew on it. So what you really want to do is trim it a little bit further. It's really not ready to use even though it's presented that way.

We're also taking off any extra little excess pieces of connective tissue or fat.

Why You Should Buy Halves, Not Tenderloins

It's always better to buy the entire piece of the boneless skinless chicken breast half versus the tenderloins, because those tenderloins have a very thick piece of sinew, connective tissue that's just really not pleasant to bite into. And by the time you take it out, you've kind of destroyed that piece. So just start with the boneless skinless halves and give a little extra care to it.

The Three Flavor Phases Every Good Dish Needs

Now, I'm using today the Savory Sunshine. One thing I want to tell you about our spice blends is that while they are AIP compliant, we have replaced the structure that's been removed. There are three phases of a really good meal that tastes solid and complete. It's the foundation, it's the warmth, and it's the brightness.

Those three stages or flavor profiles are necessary for the food to not taste flat or boring. And those are the things that are taken out when we remove nightshades and pepper. So we have developed our recipes to bring those things back in.

I have generously seasoned both sides and I'm going to put them in the pan with a little bit of avocado oil. I use avocado oil because it has a very high smoke point, so it doesn't get damaged in the cooking process. You should hear a nice little sizzle when you put the chicken in the pan.

The One Mistake That Turns Chicken Gray

The next tip is to leave it alone. A big mistake that people make when cooking chicken breast, or any animal protein, is moving it around, agitating it. What you end up with when you do that is just a very dull-looking gray piece of meat. Yes, it might be cooked correctly, but it doesn't look appealing.

So just leave it alone. Let it get a little bit of caramelization on there as it's cooking.

Knowing When to Flip

It's been about 3 minutes. I've left it alone. What you can see is that the white has come around the edges, showing that it's cooked almost all the way through. We're turning it just once, and watch how beautiful, golden, and delicious that looks. Flavor development and caramelization. We only need about 1 more minute on this side.

Today I'm using the Savory Sunshine. This is an all-purpose spice. It has a small amount of Himalayan pink salt in it, so I don't feel the need to add any more. It's got that brightness, the beautiful finish. It's got the depth, it has all of the three phases infused into the spice mixture. So you really don't need to add anything to it.

At this point, I'm going to take the chicken off and let it rest.

The Flavor Sequence: How Structure Gets Restored in AIP Dishes

Now I want to tell you about the ways that we have restored structure into a dish with our spice blends. We've talked about how AIP is so restrictive, it removes some of those very familiar and foundational elements of a dish like nightshades, pepper, common flavors, and things that we miss when we take them away.

In our development of our spice blends, we came up with a process to bring that structure back, and we call it the flavor sequence. I won't share all of our secrets, but I'll share a few.

The Foundation: Freeze-Dried Carrots and Shiitake Mushroom

In the Savory Sunshine, the foundational elements, the things that create depth, are freeze-dried carrots and dried shiitake mushroom. Interesting, right?

The Brightness: Hibiscus Flowers

Some of the elements that bring that brightness, that wonderful bright finish, hibiscus flowers. And you'll see when you taste it, you're going to go, "Wow, what is that?" It's a complete dish. It's a complete feeling.

The herbs are something that we dehydrate ourselves. The ingredients are all listed on the jars, but the blend itself and the way that we do it is proprietary and very special. It's very unique. It's something you're not going to find anywhere else.

Resting, Slicing, and Tasting

We've let our chicken breast rest. I'm going to cut into it. I can already tell it's juicy. I'm cutting against the grain. And it's got a beautiful caramelized color.

Now I'm going to taste it. [laughter] All right. Moving on to the next part of the dish.

The hardest part of cooking on an AIP diet is not the restriction itself, it is the slow erosion of enjoyment that happens when every meal starts to taste the same. What this video makes clear is that the missing element is not a specific ingredient but a structure: the three-part sequence of foundation, warmth, and brightness that makes a dish feel complete. Once you understand that, the path forward becomes much more concrete.

Start with the technique Avi walks through here, even cuts, trimmed connective tissue, a hot pan, and the discipline to leave the chicken alone. Those steps alone will change the texture and appearance of your results. Then season generously and let the spice blend carry the flavor work. Nightshade free chicken seasoning built around a deliberate flavor sequence means you are not just substituting an ingredient, you are restoring an experience.

Savory sunshine contains no nightshades or pepper. It is a fully AIP compliant spice blend. Watch the video, try the Savory Sunshine on your next chicken breast, and pay attention to that moment when you taste it and recognize all three flavor phases landing at once. That is the benchmark to chase in every AIP meal going forward.