Pesto Chicken grilled or oven baked, smothered in a creamy, homemade basil pesto! Fresh, fragrant and served with cherry tomatoes, this chicken is out of this world good, low carb and only requires two main ingredients!
Pesto chicken is the perfect dinner for anyone who doesn’t have time to muck around in the kitchen. Like our Creamy French Mustard Chicken and our Creamy Garlic Chicken Breasts, this two Ingredient dish is succulent, juicy and packed with flavour.
PESTO CHICKEN
Oh lord. This chicken is unreal. Because I’m a fan of variety, I’ve included two different cooking methods in the recipe below. Personally, I love grilling and the unmistakeable barbecue, char-grilled flavour it gives the chicken, just like our Grilled Chicken Caprese. However, oven baked is just as good, drawing out the natural chicken flavours, making for a tender and juicy chicken breast.
PESTO
It all starts with pesto, and because homemade pesto is nine million times better than store bought, we already have a Homemade Basil Pesto recipe ready to go. That’s the pesto you’re going to be smothering all over your chicken.
Of course, you can use store bought pesto and save yourself a couple of minutes if you wish, but I highly recommend making it yourself. Nothing beats the flavour of fresh, homemade pesto.
HOW TO MAKE PESTO CHICKEN
Start by following our famous homemade basil pesto recipe. You’re then going to pop your chicken into a large bowl and smother in pesto. Season with some salt and pepper for a bit of extra flavour.
To Grill:
If you’re grilling your chicken, begin by preheating your barbecue grill, grill pan or skillet. Once heated, chuck your chicken on and cook for around five to six minutes each side. Remove your chicken from the grill and place on a warm plate. Pop your tomatoes on the grill and rotate until brown and cooked through.
Oven Bake:
Preheat your oven and line a baking tray with aluminum foil or baking paper. Place your marinated chicken on the tray and pop in the oven. Just over halfway through baking, remove the tray from the oven and place the tomatoes haphazardly around the chicken pieces. Return the tray to the oven and continue cooking.
Once done, top your chicken with extra pesto and serve with the tomatoes.
BAM! It’s that easy!
WHAT TO SERVE WITH PESTO CHICKEN
Serve your pesto chicken with Buttery Sautéed Green Beans, Grilled Asparagus or some Crispy Garlic Butter Parmesan Smashed Potatoes.
More pesto recipes:
Pesto Grilled Chicken Avocado Salad
2 Ingredient Pesto Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 boneless chicken breast fillets skinless
- ½ cup basil pesto plus ¼ cup extra for serving. Use this recipe for homemade pesto or you can use store bought.
- ¼ teaspoon salt optional - adjust to your tastes
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 500 g cherry tomatoes optional as a serving idea
Instructions
- Smother chicken fillets in the pesto on all sides (about 2 tablespoons of pesto for each chicken breast, depending on your taste). Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
Grill:
- Preheat a barbecue plate, grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Cook for 5-6 minutes each side or until completely cooked through. Transfer to a warm plate. Grill the tomatoes, rotating once, until soft and beginning to brown.
- Top chicken with extra pesto. Serve with the tomatoes.
Oven Baked:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F | 180°C. Line a baking dish with aluminium foil or bang | parchment paper.
- Arrange the coated chicken breasts in the baking dish and bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes.
- At 30 minutes, remove the chicken from the oven and arrange the tomatoes around each fillet.
- Place the chicken back in the oven and cook a further 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink.
Notes
- Make sure your grill is preheated well so the chicken pieces get that perfect char-grilled sear.
- Use our homemade basil pesto recipe for the best flavour results.
Gabriel says
This was so delicious! thanks for sharing!!
KB says
My family won’t eat tomatoes.. any other veggie you would recommend and how long would you cook?
Daniel says
Five thumbs up??! Awesome recipe (not surprised) Thank you so much for sharing. My family and I appreciate what you do so much!!
You are my lifesaver…..
Dan.V
caitlin says
What would you serve this with??
Patricia says
I love to serve it with penne (pasta) with extra pesto, garlic and olive oil sauce over the penne.
But I think it also goes well with steak cut fries or a good creamy mashed potato. And it goes well with plain rice too of course. I also like to add a side of steamed veggies if I’m serving it with rice.
Lee h says
Maybe oven roasted gnocchi?
Anna says
OMG it’s smells so good cooking (in the oven) we cant wait to taste ie, justput back in with the tomatoes… I’ll let U know how yummy it is later… Thanx so much!!!
Ellen says
Hi, could you give me a hint on how to freeze this recepe for 2 days? My idea is to prepare half a breast and as it is only for me I would have to freeze some and eat in small portions. Thanks
Karina says
Yes, that sounds great! I would recommend even just making it and then freezing what you don’t need at this time. I like to use my foodsaver for freezing. You can even freeze them in individual portions too so you don’t have to keep freezing it and reheating big portions. Hope that helps! Enjoy!
Ivory says
You got me at, “two ingredients”. Just my kind of cooking. Thank you so much. Yum!
Karina says
Totally! I couldn’t agree more! Enjoy your chicken!
Shannon says
We loved this pesto baked chicken! The cherry tomatoes on the side were a great accompaniment.
Karina says
I’m so happy to hear that Shannon!
Ann Schubarg says
Great recipe! I cooked the chicken in the oven and over cooked it because I tried to broil it at the end to get that nice color on it – mistake!! The pesto recipe is awesome and I will make again soon with my basil out back. The tomatoes came out so good – sweet and juicy!! Thanks for posting! I will try again!!
Shannon says
This looks so yummy and I love how simple it is ! Wondering if we used dark meat (boneless/skinless thighs) what the cook time would be?