This pesto chicken recipe is a quick weeknight meal!
Tender chicken breasts tossed with pesto and baked until tender, then topped with melted cheese and a fresh bruschetta inspired topping.
You’ll Be Making Pesto Chicken On Repeat Because…
- This dish goes from the oven to the table in less than 30 minutes.
- It’s fresh, easy to make, and packed with flavor.
- This pesto chicken recipe can be paired with pasta, roasted vegetables, or baked spaghetti squash.
- You can use homemade pesto or, to make it quick, buy a jar of pesto.
Ingredients For Pesto Chicken
- Chicken: I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts in this recipe. They can be replaced with chicken thighs (about 1 ½ lbs). You can also use bone-in (split chicken breasts), but you will need to increase the cooking time.
- Pesto: Store-bought pesto is perfect for this recipe, but you can make your own fresh pesto and have extra on hand for dips and dressings!
- Cheese: Fresh mozzarella melts perfectly over the chicken in this recipe, although, any variety of mozzarella cheese is great in this recipe.
- Topping: The topping is inspired by my favorite bruschetta recipe and adds a bright fresh flavor.
Variations
- Replace the basil pesto sauce with sundried tomato pesto, kale pesto, or another flavor.
- Sliced zucchini or red peppers can be added to the skillet to cook with the chicken.
How to Make Pesto Chicken
Pesto chicken is an easy and elegant weeknight dinner!
- Toss the chicken with pesto, balsamic, and seasonings (recipe below).
- Brown in a skillet and bake.
- Add more pesto and top with cheese. Let the cheese melt a few minutes.
- Sprinkle with the fresh tomato topping.
Storing Leftovers
- Leftover pesto chicken can be stored separately from the tomato topping in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days.
- Leftover pesto chicken is great as a sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and red onion.
More Chicken Favorites
Did you make this Pesto Chicken? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below.
Pesto Chicken
Juicy and flavorful, this Pesto Chicken is the perfect entree for dinner with the family!
Equipment
Skillet
9 x 13-inch Casserole Dish
Ingredients
- 4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts about 5 ounces each
- ⅓ cup pesto divided
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
- fresh basil and parsley for serving, optional
Topping
- 1 large Roma tomato
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a 2 ½ qt baking dish.
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Toss the chicken with 2 tablespoons pesto and balsamic vinegar.
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Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and brown for 2 minutes on each side.
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Place the chicken in the baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.
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Meanwhile, finely dice the tomato. Add to a small bowl and toss with 2 teaspoons olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, dried basil, salt, and pepper. Set aside for serving.
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Spoon the remaining pesto over the chicken breasts, top with cheese, and return to the oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese begins to melt and the chicken reaches and internal temperature of 165°F.
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Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
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Spoon tomato topping over chicken, add fresh herbs and serve.
Notes
This recipe uses small 5oz chicken breasts. If your chicken breasts are larger, they will need more time and possibly a larger baking dish.
Use any flavor of pesto in this recipe.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 448 | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 55g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 169mg | Sodium: 635mg | Potassium: 894mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 805IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 188mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Dinner, Entree, Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian
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This was really good and so easy! My family liked it alot and my husband said he felt like he was at a restaurant.
Five ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is totally amazing! I used chicken breast strips, but otherwise followed recipe exactly. Served over brown rice and quinoa fusilli
Absolutely loved this! Thank you. My wife just came home and ate it and send it was definitely a keeper. We are going to makeup a recipe card. Thank you so much for sharing.
That makes me happy to hear! I am glad you enjoyed it so much.
Outstanding, this is definitely a must have perfect for weekday or weekend. Thank you so much.
So glad you loved it!
very delicious! I served it over palmini and we loved it!
What to serve it with?
This dish is great with pasta and a tomato salad or side salad. We love crusty bread as well.
Sooo good.
Great combo of classic Italian ingredients, and the chicken stays moist. . This will be added to the rotation.
Simple and delicious. I made your homemade pesto and followed the directions exactly. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you!
Made this tonight. I marinaded the chicken in the vinegar and pesto for an hour before I cooked it. Otherwise I followed the recipe. It was very good. There’s only two of us so I have some for another day but I’ll make a fresh tomato topping for it.
I’ll definitely be making it again.