This website may contain affiliate links and advertising so that we can provide recipes to you. Read my disclosure policy.
Pesto Chicken is a healthy baked dish that is loaded with flavor. The pesto sauce is made with fresh basil, spinach, garlic, walnuts and Parmesan cheese that gets added right on top of the tender chicken to make each bite irresistible!
Pesto Chicken
Hi there! It’s Jessica Gavin, Certified Culinary Scientist and I’m excited to share with you this quick and easy baked pesto chicken recipe that’s a breeze to whip up. Lean protein cooked in the oven while a fresh and flavorful pesto sauce is made to add on top. You’re not going to want to miss my critical tips for maximizing the flavor of the pesto. This meal takes only 30 minutes to make, for a healthy dish any day of the week!
When you’re looking to add a little excitement and variety to the weekly chicken dinner routine, a quick pesto sauce made with fresh herbs is your answer. Skip the store-bought jarred stuff that lacks flavor, because you can quickly make it right at home in just 10 minutes.
A classic pesto sauce has basil leaves, extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and nuts. To make the ingredients pop with their unique flavor attributes, there are some essential preparation steps before adding to a food processor or blender.
Basil has an extraordinary anise taste, which gets locked in its leaves until picked. Lightly bruising them before processing brings out the aromas of the herb, making the pesto more fragrant.
As you may have experienced, raw garlic can have a sharp bite and bitterness, which doesn’t get any less noticeable once minced. To tame the garlic flavor and coax out the natural sweetness, give whole garlic cloves a toast on a sheet pan. It tastes like roasted garlic, adding depth to the pesto.
Walnuts not only add creaminess and texture to the pesto, but also toasting enhances the oils delicate nutty smell. Doing these three things before processing the pesto turns up the flavor level, for a more bold and balanced sauce.
One of my go-to methods for making lean chicken breasts that stays tender and juicy is baking them in a high heat oven for a relatively short period. Merely drizzling the chicken with a little bit of olive oil and season with salt and pepper adds just enough flavor without overpowering the pesto sauce. The even flow and distribution of heat in the oven keep the chicken from becoming dried out, as long as you keep a close eye on doneness. I like to have an instant-read thermometer handy to check.
Each piece of chicken gets generously coated with some of the basil and spinach pesto, and topped with freshly chopped tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and walnuts.
This baked chicken pesto recipe is a satisfying and healthy dish, that can be served alongside pasta, zucchini noodles or crispy roasted potatoes. The recipe makes a generous amount of basil pesto sauce that can be saved and added to others meals for an extra bump of flavor!
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It
Pesto Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast pounded to ¾-inch thickness
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Pesto
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup packed basil
- 1 cup packed baby spinach
- 3 cloves unpeeled garlic
- ¼ cup walnuts plus more for garnish
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese plus more for garnish
- 1 cup diced tomatoes
Instructions
Chicken
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil on both sides of 2 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast. Season it with salt and pepper to taste then place the chicken in a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish.
- Bake the chicken until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, about 15 to 18 minutes.
Pesto
- Place 1 cup packed basil and 1 cup packed baby spinach in a resealable plastic bag. Use a rolling pin to lightly bruise the herbs and greens. Transfer to a food processor or blender.
- Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Toast 3 cloves unpeeled garlic until the outsides are lightly browned, shaking the pan occasionally, about 8 minutes. Remove the garlic skin and add it to a food processor.
- Place ¼ cup walnuts in the same pan and toast over medium heat, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to the food processor.
- Add ½ teaspoon kosher salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper to the food processor. Process the pesto mixture by pulsing five times to help break down the greens.
- Turn the food processor on low speed, as it's running slowly drizzle in ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil until a smooth pesto with some smaller pieces is formed, about 10 seconds from start to finish.
- Add ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese to the pesto and process on low speed for 5 seconds. Taste and season the sauce with salt and pepper as desired. Transfer pesto to a small bowl.
- Brush some pesto sauce on each cooked chicken breast. Transfer to a serving platter.
- Top chicken with additional chopped walnuts and parmesan cheese, and 1 cup diced tomatoes. Serve extra pesto sauce on the side.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
HI Hope,
Thank you for letting me know. I fixed them and they are more accurate now. Thank you!